It’s been a while since my last review, so I thought I would get back into the swing of things with a review of my now departed Tudor BB58 Blue. My encounter with this particular watch was a fleeting romance but one that hopefully you can all learn from, then disregard and do what you want to do anyway. I got into this watch in a kind of weird way. I was selling my 861 Omega Speedmaster because I didn’t wear it anymore due to boredom and various disciplinary action taken against me by my employer left me sick to the gills with the brand. Rather than exiting the speedy and blowing all the cash on margaritas, I decided to take half the proceeds in cash and the rest in the form of a watch.

The watch I opted for was the Tudor BB58 Blue. I had always liked the look of this vintage inspired diver and the idea of having a modern luxury watch in my collection was pretty appealing. Dane from The Watch Vault dropped off the watch at my palatial one bedroom first floor penthouse bachelor pad and I didn’t even open the box. Such was the excitement of the purchase. I put my trusty Rolex Air King Precision on and put off the unboxing til the next day. This was probably not the best sign.

When I did get around to opening the box it didn’t seem to be much better. A tremendous sense of being underwhelmed enveloped my body. The Tudor BB58 Blue is an attractive and very well constructed watch but that is about all it has going for it. Well, shouldn’t that be enough? Not for me. This watch is bland. Obviously designed on CAD by people lacking a personality of their own. For me, vintage reissues have always been a confusing topic. Most of the time they offer a classic design at a more accessible price point but always at the cost of design degradation. The Tudor BB58 Blue is no exception. The round hour markers are such a huge mistake and probably the easiest one to rectify. It feels though that at this stage they would be unwilling to make a change like this that would impact the entire and every expanding Black Bay line.

There are things to like about this watch but nothing really worthy of love. The bezel is great and the bracelet is solid, although this could do with micro adjustment on the clasp. The watch didn’t really get much wrist time until I changed it onto an elastic MN strap from my friend. This transformed the Tudor BB58 Blue from a bland luxury dive watch into more of the authentic dive watch that I was actually looking for.

In conclusion (what a bullshit start to a final paragraph) the Tudor BB58 Blue is a bit confused. Quasi vintage design with rock solid modern construction struggle to coexist together on the wrist. Ideally suited for desk jockeys who aren’t brave enough to wear vintage and definitely aren’t brave enough to dive.