Tudor: Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze

TUDOR presents a bronze version of its famous Black Bay Fifty-Eight model, featuring for the first time a bronze bracelet fitted with a new clasp with rapid adjustment system.

The characteristic elements of the new Black Bay Fifty- Eight model are a 39 mm bronze case, an aesthetic nod to the bronzes on old ships and other deep-sea diving equipment, but also the characteristic proportions of the first TUDOR divers’ watches dating from the second half of the 1950s, particularly the famous 7924 reference or “ Big Crown”, the first TUDOR watch to be waterproof to 200 metres (660 ft), presented in 1958. 

The choice of a “living” metal – in this case a high- performance aluminium bronze alloy used particularly in naval engineering for submerged parts required to demonstrate a high level of resistance to corrosion such as propellers, for example – ensures the development of a subtle and unique patina on the case of every watch to match its user’s habits. In addition to a highly functional appearance, in line with the naval world to which it pays tribute, the Black Bay Bronze presents entirely satin-brushed finishes that guarantee the homogeneous development of this patina. 

The combination of a domed dial in matt “brown- bronze”, shaded concentrically from the exterior towards the centre, and a bezel presenting the same gold accents found on the hands and hour markers, completes the face of this model. 

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While TUDOR has been exploring bronze in its collection for several years, the Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze model marks the first time that the brand has produced a bracelet entirely from bronze. Its satin-brushed links adopting the style of TUDOR bracelets of the 1950s and ‘60s, with rivets, are coordinated with the case and will develop a patina at the same pace. A new bronze clasp, also satin-brushed, with a redesigned cover and TUDOR «T-fit» rapid adjustment system for the length, completes the total bronze look. Easy to use, requiring no tools and offering 5 positions, this practical system allows wearers of the Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze to carry out a fine, instant adjustment on an adjustment window along the entire length of the 8 mm bracelet. 

In the spirit of an aesthetic tribute to the brand’s naval heritage, TUDOR presents a free complimentary strap with its Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze model. The brand has identified the historic uses of its watches and reinterpreted them in its latest models. For several decades the French Navy had TUDOR watches delivered without bracelets and then fitted them with their own straps, handmade or otherwise. One of them, found on a period diving watch and conserved in the brand archives, is made of elastic recovered from a French rescue parachute. It is to this ultra-functional relic, recognisable by its central yellow thread, that the “brown-bronze” woven jacquard strap alludes.

The Manufacture Calibre MT5400, which equips the Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze, displays hour, minute and second functions. It has the finish typical of TUDOR Manufacture Calibres: Its rotor in tungsten monobloc is openwork and satin-brushed with sand-blasted details, and its bridges and mainplate have alternate sand-blasted, polished surfaces and laser decorations. 

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 MT5400 is certified as a chronometer 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 an average variation in the daily running of a watch of between -4 and +6 seconds in relation to absolute time in a single movement, TUDOR insists on between -2 and +4 seconds’ variation in its running when it is completely assembled. Another important feature of the MT5400 Manufacture Movement is the autonomy of approximately 70 hours.

Confident in the knowledge of the quality of its watches, TUDOR is offering a five-year guarantee on all its products sold after 1 January 2020. This guarantee does not require the watch to be registered, or any maintenance checks, and is transferable. All TUDOR products bought between 1 July 2018 and 31 December 2019 will therefore benefit from an 18-month extension to their guarantee, that is to say, a total of three and a half years. (TUDOR also recommends having a watch serviced approximately every 10 years, depending on the model and daily usage). (Prezzo CHF 4.300)