You want to be Connery’s Bond and wear a Rolex 6538 “big crown” while lusting over its warm gilt dial with elegantly proportioned case and sharp deep chamfers… but need something robust and modern that doesn’t cost you a house deposit.. meet the modern 114060 Ceramic Rolex Submariner, but wait..it’s way too modern and clinical.. Or perhaps like me, you also simply wanted a 4 or 5 digit Submariner with YOUR name on the warranty and you don’t have a time machine… say hello to the Tudor Black Bay 58 79030N.

Is it really that good? Is it perfect? Yes and no. The 58’s 39mm case is great, it has a good heft with amazing chamfers, but the slab sidedness remains despite the case thickness reduction from the regular Black Bays. It gets compensated with a very thin case back which works wonders on a NATO strap (attached picture comparing the side profile with a late Rolex 14060). Case finishing is arguably finer than 5 digit Rolexes but the lack of finesse at the end of the lugs leave them annoyingly sharp, the lug holes are sorely missed, the matte dial is beautiful with minor fauxtina and warm rose gold details, the gilt is understandably printed instead of etched at this price point, the bezel action is amazing but the coin edge is slippery with the same problem on the crown, the bracelet is solid but lacks the finesse and micro adjustments.

I speculate that Rolex did reinvent Tudor to move on from being the ‘poorman’s Rolex’ into a brand that proudly answers the growing demand for vintage revival with modern build quality and vastly improved performance.

The Tudor Black Bay 58 79030N is the culmination of this effort: a reborn Tudor 7922 with the in-house COSC certified MT5402 movement with 70 hours of power reserve and 28800 vph. All of this for 45% the RRP of the Rolex, the long gone Tudor Submariner really is back, and under a new proud name: Black Bay 58