A “one-watch collection” that actually deserves the title.

Specs
Diameter: 39mm
Lug to lug: 47mm
Thickness: 11.9mm
Lug width: 20mm
Water resistance: 200m
Movement: Caliber MT5402, COSC certified, 70 hrs power reserve

TLDR

It’s the multivitamin of watches. If you can’t be chuffed to build a well-rounded collection, why not just get one piece that covers all your bases and delivers the watch nutrients that you need as a growing lad/lass?

The Meat n’ Potatoes

There has been an incredible amount of hype surrounding this watch since its release in 2018. When I first became truly interested in watches the following year, the BB58 was probably the number one watch on my radar. It was everywhere on Reddit and online forums and most people seemed to agree that the BB58 was the best value luxury diver on the market. At the time, luxury diver sounded like an oxymoron to me and while I certainly loved the look of the thing, I couldn’t imagine spending so much money on a watch. Fast forward three years and several lightyears down the rabbit hole and I’m finally getting my hands on the BB58 to see what the hype is all about and whether it’s deserved.

As with pretty much all my watches, I bought this one used. Watches are like cars after all, and they depreciate in value the moment you drive them off the AD’s lot. It came well-loved with plenty of hairline scratches and even a small nick in the bezel insert to show for it. Considering its condition I figured it wouldn’t be too crazy to take it on my hike that very day.

It is a bit surreal seeing and wearing a watch in the flesh/metal that you’ve seen only in media for so many years and I have to admit that it was a bit disappointing at first. The watch is nearly perfect, almost to a fault. There is nothing off or quirky about it and that cookie-cutter perfection can feel a little bit bland, uninspiring. But this watch continues to grow on me every day that I put it on. The month is like a reverse honeymoon phase. It’s true love. It grows rather than recedes with time.

The watch wears perfectly on my 6.5-inch wrist at 39mm across, 47mm from lug to lug, and only 11.9mm tall. I hope that more brands take note of the BB58’s success and release more pieces that don’t look like clocks repurposed for the wrist. While I understand many people prefer larger watches, especially tool watches, I think that a 39mm bezel-laden watch fits just about any wrist size and looks a touch classier than a 44x15mm chonkster. I’m looking at you Seiko Marinemaster 300.

It isn’t just the dimensions that make this watch so desirable, it’s the design choices as well. Tudor is hearkening back to their earlier days with this model taking many cues from their Submariners of the 50’s (hence the name “58”). While those dials featured square indices aside from 12, 3, 6, and 9, the BB58 has circles. Judging by the reactions I’ve seen on the forums, I’d say this choice is a bit controversial. I think some find the dial to be shape overload, filled to the brim with triangles, rectangles, circles, squares, sideways squares (aka diamonds) if oriented a certain way. But in this case, the more shapes the merrier, as far as I’m concerned. Another point of contention seems to be the faux riveted bracelet, another nod to a bygone age of watchmaking. I understand how it can seem a bit inauthentic and cheap; form over function, but that pretty much describes most of the design choices. The lume has faux patina, albeit a light patina, the bezel is only 60 clicks, though they’re the smoothest 60 clicks I’ve ever handled, and the insert sports rose gold painted markers rather than lume even to the 10-minute marker. This is basically a dress diver where form is clearly chosen above function and that’s why it’s so beautiful. All this being said, you may still find the faux rivets to be tacky or ugly and you certainly aren’t alone. However, I simply don’t even notice them and they weren’t a feature that I had even considered before reading all the negative comments on the forums.

The colorway of the original Black Bay 58 ‘Noire’ is by far the most appealing to me of Tudor’s offerings. The rose gold indices and bezel insert accents contrast nicely with the matte black backdrop. They’re warm, but still subdued and cozy like old oil lamps dotting a dark city street at night, a metaphor that will no doubt resonate with my 19th-century readers (as numerous as my 21st C. readers at the time of writing). The subsequently released and also quite popular Black Bay Blue just feels a bit sterile to me when compared to the Noire. It’s no doubt a beautiful hue of blue, I’ve seen it in person, but it just feels a little milquetoast next to the OG. One of the main things I miss on that reference is the pop of color at the 12 o’clock on the bezel. That little dash of red is what brings everything together for me. Like those corny photos edited so that only the reds remain in an otherwise sepia-toned landscape. But unlike those photos, it isn’t trite and played out. It’s more classic, like Spielberg’s use of the tactic in Schindler’s List, it makes the scene. It’s “the girl in red.” Ok maybe comparing a red triangle to a scene in a harrowing masterpiece about the Holocaust is a tad melodramatic, but the comparison is to the visual effect, not the emotional one. As of February 2022, no other Black Bay’s have that triangle accent, and until they do I don’t think any offerings will be as alluring as the Noire.

Beyond the cosmetic appeal, there is even more to desire under the hood. I tend to prefer the mass-produced and easily serviceable movements of ETA and Sellita for practical reasons. They’re reliable enough and much cheaper to maintain. So I was hesitant to get a three-year-old watch housing an in-houser with no service history. So far, however, this MT5402 is the most accurate mechanical movement that I’ve ever owned, gaining around .5-1s/day. That’s almost quartz-level accuracy. As someone who is a bit OCD about watch accuracy, I find myself resetting my watches every two days or so to avoid the humiliation of being 16 seconds too early to a party. So it has been bizarre setting my watch only once a week and even that is overkill considering I’m still within ten seconds of atomic time. I guess I’m just always itching to fiddle with that big crown. While I haven’t taken this watch off for even a full day yet, hypothetically, with a power reserve of 70 hours this watch can sit on the shelf ticking away accurately for a weekend while I give another piece some wrist time and still be ready to throw back on without the need for winding or setting.

It’s the dimensions, vintage design language, tasteful colorway, and reliable timekeeping that make the Black Bay 58 Noire the perfect one-watch collection. I hate that phrase! It’s thrown around all over the internet for just about every single damn watch, but…I think it’s just too spot-on in this case. I have to use that annoying phrase. I can wear it hiking, I can wear it to a fancy dinner or a not fancy dinner (pictured above), I can wear it to a wedding, and I can wear it in my room writing my first ever blog post. It doesn’t seem out of place in any setting. It’s neither too dressy nor too casual. Some, like my good friend and fellow watch enthusiast Jacob, might say boring. For me though, it’s a goldilocks watch and I think I’ll be hanging on to it for some time.

Jk, lol, I’m sure I’ll need to sell it to fund the next impulse purchase and keep this whole blog thing going. Cheers, friends. May this glorious February, my birthday month, bring you joy and laughter.

-G

P.S. Did I mention it’s a strap monster?

FASHION SHOW!!!!