Tudor Drops Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze With Full Metal Bracelet
Bronze is the new gold.
Tudor has produced a full bronze version of its slimmed down Black Bay Fifty-Eight, secured for the first time on a bronze bracelet.
The 39mm diver and its bracelet are made of Tudor’s aluminum-rich bronze alloy, meaning it will develop a patina over time, but not the kind of green skin that develops on more copper-heavy bronze alloys. The nautical metal is paired with rich brown bezel and matte brown gradient dial.
Inside is Tudor’s COSC-certified, in-house MT5400 4Hz automatic movement with silicon balance spring and 70-hour power reserve.
Bronze is increasingly being used as an aesthetic alternative to gold, offering a similar appearance at a much lower price. However, there has been some reluctance to move forward with full bronze watches given the metal’s reactive nature, especially when placed up against skin, which is why the casebacks of most bronze watches are usually steel or titanium.
Tudor first released its Black Bay Bronze in 2016 with a chocolate brown bezel followed by a blue version exclusively for retailer Bucherer in 2017 before dropping a more subtle Slate Brown model in 2019. The ‘brown-bronze’ coloring of the new Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze is closer to the 2016 watch.
Tudor’s bronze bracelet is fastened with a new “T-fit” clasp allowing for rapid fine adjustment and the watch is supplied with an additional “brown-bronze” jacquard fabric strap.
The Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze is available exclusively through Tudor’s fifty boutiques around the globe, priced £3,390 GBP ($4,730 USD).
In other watch news, defunct watch industry trade show Baselworld could be back from the dead.
