In the world of horology, Tudor occupies a very interesting place that is kind of hard to expound on. A large part of this has to do with the fact that it has long been in the shadow of its older and more prestigious brother company, Rolex. It’s a little-known fact outside of the world of watch collectors, but Tudor and Rolex were actually both started by Hans Wilsdorf.
Because we felt that Tudor is not always taken as seriously as it should be, we decided to dedicate this piece to the company, and arguably, its most famous watch – the Black Bay. We’ve decided to compare and contrast the Black Bay 58, which is the line’s most current incarnation, with its original model to see how the two watches stack up to one another.
Tudor has been making high-quality watches for decades, and Rubber B is proud to manufacture equally high-quality custom rubber watch straps that complement their timepieces. However, before we do that, we would like to take just a brief moment to talk about the history of the company first, as it provides a little context for the way these watches were designed.
Why Was Tudor Initially Founded?
Some companies don’t always have the luxury of knowing what their mission statement is going to be when they are first founded – luckily for Tudor, they’ve never had that problem. Since being founded in 1926, the company has always had one express goal – to make a more affordable version of Rolex watches for the “common man.”
This is certainly reflected in the designs of their watches. The Black Bay owes a lot to one of the big brother’s most famous lines – the Submariner. At their respective cores, both of these watches are diving watches, and anyone who is a bit familiar with both Rolex and Tudor watches will be able to immediately notice the parallels in terms of aesthetics and design.
What Are the Specs of the Original Black Bay Watch?
Released in 2012, the original Tudor Black Bay was seen as the timepiece that sparked a major revival in interest when it came to Tudor watches. The piece measures 41 mm and is 14.75 mm thick/tall, which makes it slightly hefty by traditional sports watch standards, especially for a diving watch. As for what’s under the hood of this piece, the Tudor Black Bay runs on the 2824 caliber.
It became well-known for its ruby red bezel, which we will admit is beautiful and very well crafted. An interesting point of note about the dial for this timepiece is that it doesn’t have crown guards. And similar to the watch it was based upon, the Tudor Black Bay has an oyster-style bracelet. One of the very nice things about this watch is that it has a folding clasp and a diver’s extension, which always comes in handy.
Tudor seems to have listened to some of the more critical feedback regarding the last release and attempted to fix those issues in this newest iteration. Did they succeed in doing so? Based on what we’ve seen thus far, we’re inclined to say that they did.
What Are the Specs of the Black Bay 58 Watch?
One of the most obvious places that we’ve seen changes is in the heft of the watch itself. The Black Bay 58 is a much sleeker model, as it measures a smaller 39 mm and is 11.9 mm thick/tall. This is much more in line with the proportions of modern dive watches and was the most prevalent criticism of the previous model, so it’s good to see that it was taken seriously by Tudor.
Tudor has also introduced a new caliber, the MT5042, into this watch, and we will note that this is an in-house caliber for Tudor, which is not something they do too often. It is chronographer certified and has a silicon balance spring – the efficiency of this redesign has allowed them to increase the power reserve to a very impressive 70 hours.
Some changes were also made to the bracelet as well, as this one has a series of fake rivets, but it lacks a diver’s extension – sometimes, the old ways are best, guys.
What is the difference between Tudor Black Bay 58 vs Black Bay?
The Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight is a smaller version of the normal Black Bay Heritage diving watch, which debuted in 2018. It is distinguished by its 39mm case diameter.
Need a Custom Watch Band For Your Tudor Black Bay? Contact Rubber B Today
If you’re looking for a new custom rubber watch band for your Tudor Black Bay timepiece, your first and only stop should be at Rubber B. We carry a wide variety of watch bands for Tudor products, and you can see our complete line of up available bands right here. We update our catalog frequently, so be sure to check in with us to see what we’ve been up to!
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