Ever faithful to its long tradition of blue sports watches, Tudor now offers a Navy Blue version of its flagship model, the Black Bay Fifty-Eight. The Black Bay Fifty-Eight Navy Blue gets its name from its color, of course, but also from the year 1958, in which the first Tudor divers’ watch waterproof to 200 meters —660 ft—, reference 7924 or “Big Crown”, was presented. Among other aesthetic nods to this historic watch, this model offers a 39 mm diameter case in 316L stainless steel in keeping with the characteristic proportions of the 1950s. Additionally, the total diameter this model boasts is 26mm with a thickness of 4.99mm. Ideal for people who like more compact watches and a vintage feel, the Black Bay Fifty-Eight Navy Blue carries on with the long Tudor tradition of blue sports watches.
In 1969, Tudor introduced a divers’ watch with a matte domed blue dial and bezel, the former of which is grained with applied hour-markers. The other sports watches in the collection were soon adorned in blue, creating a lasting aesthetic hallmark known as “Tudor Blue”. The noble hue was adopted by the French navy for its own Tudor dive watches during the 1970s, and this livery became part of the collective imagination. The Black Bay Fifty-Eight Navy Blue follows in this tradition with its navy blue dial and bezel insert. This is a color that also appears on the “soft touch” strap offered with this model and made from a synthetic, tactile material resembling flannel.
Navy blue is also the dominant color of the fabric strap offered with this model. The fabric strap is one of the hallmarks of Tudor, which, in 2010, became one of the very first watchmaking brands to offer it with its products. Woven in France in the 19th century, Jacquard looms by the Julien Faure company in the St-Etienne region, its manufacturing quality and comfort on the wrist are distinct. In 2020, Tudor and Julien Faure, a 150-year old family company, celebrate 10 years of a partnership that started in 2010. It began with 2010’s Heritage Chrono, the first Tudor to be fitted with a fabric strap created by the artisan. This year marks a fine anniversary for an enduring collaboration built on outstanding expertise.
The Tudor Manufacture Calibre MT5402, which equips the Black Bay Fifty-Eight Navy Blue, displays hour, minute and second functions. It has the finish typical of Tudor Manufacture calibres. Its rotor in tungsten monobloc is open-worked and satin-brushed with sand-blasted details, and its bridges and main plate have alternate sand-blasted, polished surfaces and laser decorations. Likewise, its build has been designed to ensure robustness, longevity, reliability, and precision, as has its variable inertia balance, which is maintained by a sturdy traversing bridge with a two-point fixation. Together with its non-magnetic silicon hairspring, the Manufacture Calibre MT5402 is chronometer-certified by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute —COSC—, with its performance going beyond the standards set by this independent institute. In fact, where COSC allows for an average variation in the daily running rate of a watch movement of between -4 and +6 seconds in relation to absolute time, Tudor applies a tolerance of between -2 and +4 seconds’ variation in its daily rate on the watch fully assembled. Another notable feature is that the power reserve of the Manufacture MT5402 Calibre is "weekend-proof"; that is to say about 70 hours, which enables the wearer to take the watch off on a Friday evening and put it back on again on Monday morning without having to wind and reset it.
Additionally, like other models in the Black Bay range, the Black Bay Fifty-Eight Navy Blue adopts Tudor’s characteristic angular hands, known as “Snowflake” hands, which appeared in the brand’s 1969 catalog. Likewise, the “Snowflake” hands come with grade A, Swiss superluminova luminescent material. That said, the result of a subtle blend of traditional aesthetics and contemporary watchmaking, the Black Bay line is far from offering identical rereleases of classics.
Sticker Price $3,700 USD on a bracelet and $3,375 USD on fabric or ‘Soft Touch’ strap. For more info on Tudor click here.
