BLUE LAGOON

Tudor has expanded its popular Black Bay Fifty-Eight series of dive watches. The latest addition is a blue version with a manufacture caliber and a moderately sized 39-mm case that has already won the “Challenge” watch award at last November’s Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). How does Tudor’s new entry fare in our test?

- Jens Koch

The Tudor label has been trendy in recent years and can look back on a steadily growing fan base. Rolex’s second brand was stagnant for many years, but since 2009, Tudor has begun accelerating again. Tudor’s history, which is rich in characteristic design, is being emphasized in the brand’s newly launched retro models. The Heritage Black Bay, which looks back to Tudor’s early dive watches, was released in 2012. Its debut was followed by the premiere of the smaller Black Bay Fifty-Eight in 2018. The blue version, which we are testing here, was unveiled in 2020.

The name “Fifty-Eight” refers to 1958, the year in which Tudor introduced its first divers’ watch, Reference 7924, known as the “Big Crown.” The new watch’s diameter of 39 mm corresponds to the dimensions of the case of the historical model. In other respects, too, this new version, at first glance, actually looks like a vintage watch, an antique model. It even looks somewhat delicate, thanks to the rotating bezel and the smaller dial.

The vintage impression is further underscored by the domed scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, which is highly curved along its rim like the acrylic crystals of models from previous decades. The dial, too, is slightly convex like the faces of classic antique watches. The narrow strap lugs and the typography on the rotatable bezel also allude to Tudor’s history. The designers even opted to omit a date display, thus completing the historical impression.