Two years after the runaway success of Black Bay Fifty-Eight, Tudor has introduced a new version of this vintage-style diver that borrows its colour palette from a watch issued to the French Navy in the 1970’s. Meet the new Black Bay Fifty-Eight Navy Blue.
The first Black Bay Fifty-Eight was an instant classic because it distilled what collectors loved about the Black Bay into a smaller 39-mm case (the original Black Bay was 41 mm) while still retaining details like the “Snowflake” hands and the enlarged crown stamped with the Tudor Rose. The watch’s old-school appeal and name come from the Tudor Submariner Reference 7924 “Big Crown” originally released in 1958.
The colour scheme of the Black Bay Fifty-Eight Navy Blue is a throwback to a diver’s watch Tudor introduced in 1969. When the French Navy (Marine Nationale) adopted this watch in the 1970s for their combat divers, it instantly elevated the status of this watch in the collecting community. The Tudor “Marine Nationale” Submariner is a much sought-after watch in the vintage market. The new diver follows in this tradition with its navy blue dial and bezel insert.
It uses a 39 mm stainless steel case with those distinct beveled lugs and is topped by a domed sapphire crystal and a navy blue anodized aluminum bezel. Fitted with a closed caseback, it is water resistant to 200 meters. The watch is fitted with a matt navy blue domed dial and hands and hour indices are rhodium-plated and filled with SuperLuminova.
The watch runs the chronometer-certified Calibre MT5402 with a power reserve of 70 hours. Made in-house by Tudor, the self-winding movement has a tungsten monobloc rotor that is open-worked and satin-brushed with sandblasted details. The bridges and mainplate have alternate sandblasted, polished surfaces and laser decorations.
The watch is paired with a riveted 316L steel bracelet with polished and satin-brushed finish, or a new “soft touch” strap offered with this model and made from a synthetic, tactile material resembling flannel. The popular jacquard NATO strap with silver band and buckle also returns on this model. We will update the story once we know the price of this watch but expect it be around the $3,500-mark.
