Black Bay GMT, 58, S&G & Tudor 1926 First Impressions
Posted: Sat May 19, 2018 10:39 am
Thanks to everyone who came out to our Tudor event! We had a great time meeting with our fellow Tudor fans, as well as getting an early chance to see the newest models. We’d also like to thank Russel Kelly and Maxim Lamarre from Tudor for joining us and bringing rare pieces from Tudor’s history. Check out some shots to see what goes on at our events, and if you weren’t able to attend this one, make sure to join us for future events!
As much fun as the event was, the highlight of the evening was getting to go-hands on with prototype Baselworld ’18 models. We did get to see a lot more than we have photos of, but today we’re going to focus on the biggest releases this year, the GMT, the 58, the new S&G and the all-new 1926.
This watch, the Black Bay GMT, was arguably (in fact, I would argue) the most popular watch of the entire Baselworld 2018. Why is that? Two reasons, the first of which is that it looks terrific.
Tudor borrowed liberally from Rolex’s GMT heritage but also did a great deal to make it their own, which is the case with many great Tudor models. The most obvious differences, of course, are the famous snowflake hands, which, love them or hate them, are iconic and, given the prolific success of the Black Bay line in general, are borderline becoming synonymous with the brand itself. I’m a big fan of them.
Another design decision was to use a relatively “flat,” matte-finished bezel insert for the GMT numerals. This is a lot more understated than its shiny equivalent, for one thing, but it also lends it a vintage vibe. It’s not a particularly flashy watch in general.
The box sapphire also contributes to its vintage charm. As you might have guessed (but I checked anyway), the bezel is bidirectional as opposed to a diving watch’s unidirectional bezel.
The other reason this is such an important watch is that this is Tudor’s first-ever in-house GMT movement, the MT5652. This, of course, is derived from the fantastic existing line of Tudor 3-hander movements, but now with a GMT complication.
This expands the Black Bay line even more because you can have many different complications, from date, to chronograph (although that’s a different movement) and now even GMT, or, if you’d prefer, no complications at all. One wonders if they’ll lend the North Flag’s power reserve to the Black Bay next year, or perhaps we’ll see a novel combination of complications, like GMT with no date.
It appears that the riveted bracelet is here to stay in the collection, so if you’re not a fan, I highly recommend the black fabric strap with a red vertical accent. It really suits the watch’s character and it’s the way I’d order it. Interestingly, Tudor charges very little for the GMT complication, and the price goes up a negligible $225 over a 3-hander no date equivalent or an almost nonexistent $100 over a 3-hander with date like the Black Bay Steel. Order the GMT on the strap, like I suggest, and it’ll cost you $3,575. For comparison purposes, let’s look at another watch I love, the Omega Planet Ocean GMT on rubber, specifically the 232.32.44.22.01.002. The Omega costs over twice as much, really demonstrating the value proposition of Tudor these days.
Nearly as popular as the GMT was the new Black Bay Fifty-Eight. I would argue that it’s actually the more important of the two watches for the future of Tudor because, whereas the Black Bay GMT has a new in-house complication, the Fifty-Eight has a brand-new movement altogether. The new MT5402 is significantly smaller than its predecessor but seems to suffer no performance detriment, at least according to its specs. This movement will, I speculate, form the basis for many other new models down the road, including other Black Bays.
That new movement is in service of miniaturizing the Black Bay, the result of which is this new Fifty-Eight. The case is now 39mm, as opposed to 41mm, a small, but not insignificant, change. I personally prefer the smaller size of the Fifty-Eight, but what makes me like it even more is its thickness. The Fifty-Eight is more than 2mm thinner than other in-house Black Bays. I hope that Tudor eventually offers every Black Bay model in these dimensions, but that remains to be seen.
There’s more to the Fifty-Eight than its new movement and a smaller case. Visually, it’s quite similar to the black dial S&G, albeit a bit toned down. It doesn’t have the gold crown or the gold center links, if you opt for the bracelet, and it also has a red triangle on the bezel instead of the gold on the S&G. Another difference is, despite the gold accents on the bezel insert, the bezel itself is steel instead of gold. Finally, the Fifty-Eight is currently no-date only, whereas the S&G only comes equipped with a date, which may be a deciding factor for some. I prefer the Fifty-Eight myself.
You can also order this on a riveted bracelet, or on brown leather, but I’d suggest, once again, the fabric strap with its color-matched accent. Do that and the watch costs just $3,250 (as opposed to $3,575 on bracelet), which makes it the most affordable way to get a Tudor with an in-house movement.
Speaking of the S&G, it received a new version, specifically this one with its brilliant dial.
It’s essentially identical to the original S&G, but with the black and gold elements swapped on the dial. That, however, is a pretty profound change, and the finish on the dial looks great. This new Black Bay S&G, along with the Black Bay Bronze, I suspect, are the least-subtle Black Bays offered these days, which will probably make it a bit divisive. That ultimately comes down to a matter of taste, but the design is well executed, and the elements work nicely together.
Unlike the other two Black Bays we’ve looked at, I think I would recommend this one on the bracelet, since it’s thematically appropriate. That said, unlike most Tudor models, due to the gold content of the bracelet, the price goes up substantially from $3,775 on leather to $4,975 on bracelet, certainly something to consider. Nonetheless, the price of both the new gold and original black dial S&G is the same, and if you choose to go with a strap, at $3,775 it’s not substantially more expensive than its closest Tudor competitor (owing to them both having a date), the Black Bay Steel, at $3,475 on strap, so it’s not as if the S&G is a bad value either.
Finally, we take a look at the new 1926, a well-received new dress watch from Tudor. The 1926 is more classic than vintage, lacking intentionally aged visual attributes. The ’26 is available in a wide variety of metals, colors and sizes (36 in all), including models with diamonds, but my personal favorite is this one, with the opaline dial and blued accents. Despite the presence of new Black Bays, the ’26 got quite a bit of attention as well at the event. People are especially impressed with the price. The one in the photo is just $1,850.
So that’s our Tudor event with first impressions on these new watches. We’ll no doubt do full reviews of the Fifty-Eight and GMT when production versions become available, so stay tuned for that, and also let us know if you’d like to see any other Tudor, like the new S&G or 1926 reviewed!
