In the pantheon of modern enthusiast brands, it’s hard to deny that Tudor sits at the top of the heap. One simple explanation for this is that Tudor is really good at giving us what we want — almost. They also have a history of giving us something exceedingly close to exactly what we ask for, with a slight twist, then having us fall in love with it anyway.
When Tudor introduced the Black Bay 58, it was a clear winner. If you’ve ever been to an event where watch collectors gather en masse you’re sure to have run into one. But the original black colorway, with its heavily vintage coloring and gilt accents, wasn’t quite the modern aesthetic some people were looking for. That watch came three years later when Tudor dropped the Black Bay 58 Blue kind of out of nowhere on a random day in July 2020 (although pretty much any day that summer would have felt decidedly random).
The Black Bay 58 was off like a rocket. So it wasn’t much of a surprise when, in 2021, Tudor released two more versions of the 58. What was a massive surprise was that the two new additions to the lineup were each made in precious metal. Naturally, people had thoughts. I, for one, was on board with the move, and the Black Bay 58 925 Silver is easily one of my favorite Tudors.
For as much as people seemed to generally like these watches, there was a clear sense that something was missing. That something was a bracelet. Now, Tudor has solved that problem, at least for the Black Bay 58 18K. In just about every way, this is the same Black Bay 58 we’ve known and loved for years now. That’s because, well, this is the same Black Bay 58 we’ve known and loved for years now — it just finally has a bracelet.
This isn’t technically the first solid gold bracelet we’ve seen from Tudor recently, the bracelet on the one-off solid gold Prince Chronograph produced for the delayed Only Watch 2023 holds that honor, but it is the first time we’ve seen a production gold bracelet in the modern Tudor lineup.
Like with the earlier silver and gold releases, this version of the Black Bay 58 is slightly thicker than the steel model, with a display caseback that adds a little under a millimeter to the overall thickness of the watch, bringing it to a still-thin 12.7mm. In every other dimension, this is a Black Bay 58; 39mm across, 47mm lug-to-lug, with 20mm lugs.
One thing to note, however, is that it doesn’t appear the Black Bay 58 18K with Bracelet will come with the complimentary fabric strap that came with the version on leather. That said, the 18K gold bracelet is T-fit equipped, so I’d be hard-pressed to think of a reason to take the bracelet off. If you’re gonna go for a solid gold Tudor, go all in — that said, see if you can talk your AD into throwing one in for you.
The Tudor Black Bay 58 18K with matching 18K yellow gold bracelet is available now for $32,100. The Tudor Black Bay 58 18K on a leather strap (with complimentary fabric strap) remains available for $18,000. Tudor
