TUDOR has launched 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. Boasting a nautical inspired “brown-bronze” colour palette, this extra-ordinary timepiece is available exclusively in around fifty TUDOR boutiques throughout the world. This new model is equipped with the in-house self-winding calibre MT5400.
The new Black Bay Fifty-Eight model (reference 79012M) comes with a 39 mm bronze case. Its material choice is an aesthetic nod to the bronzes on old ships and other deep-sea diving equipment. Its proportions are based on 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 case of Black Bay Bronze has an entirely satin-brushed finish that guarantees 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.
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.
Inspired the brand’s naval heritage, TUDOR presents a free complimentary strap with its Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze model. This “brown-bronze” woven jacquard strap carries the signature central yellow thread. Woven in France on 19th century Jacquard looms by the Julien Faure Company in the St-Etienne region, this fabric strap’s manufacturing quality and comfort on the wrist are unique.
The Manufacture Calibre MT5400 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.
Equipped with a variable inertia balance and a 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.
Like other models in the Black Bay line, the Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze model (reference 79012M) features a dial inspired by the TUDOR divers’ watches produced during the 1950s. It adopts the characteristic angular hands known to collectors as “Snowflake” that appeared in the brand’s 1969 catalogue. Finally, its unprotected crown and the holes of the bars that pass through the horns are inspired by that of the first generations of TUDOR divers’ watches.
Technical details
Model: Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze Boutique Edition
Reference 79012M
Case
Bronze case, 39 mm in diameter, 11.9 mm thick, 48 mm from lug to lug, satin-brushed finish
Bronze coloured PVD-treated steel case back
Unidirectional rotating bezel in bronze with 60-minute graduated matt “brown-bronze” anodised aluminium disc
Screw-down, bronze winding crown, engraved with the TUDOR rose
Domed sapphire crystal
Waterproof to 200 m (660 ft)
Dial
“Brown-bronze”, domed
Movement
Manufacture Calibre MT5400
Self-winding mechanical movement with bidirectional rotor system
Swiss Chronometer officially certified by the COSC (Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute)
Power reserve: Approximately 70 hours
Variable inertia balance, micro-adjustment screw
Non-magnetic silicon balance spring
Frequency: 28,800 beats/hour (4Hz)
Total diameter: 30.3 mm
Thickness: 5 mm
Jewels: 27 jewels
Functions
Centre hour, minute and seconds hands
Stop-seconds function for precise time setting
Bracelet
Riveted bronze bracelet, satin-brushed finish
Complimentary “brown-bronze” fabric strap with band and bronze buckle, included in the box