Tudor Black Bay 58 GMT: An Unexpected Standout (Live Pics)

Tudor hears what you’re posting on the internet, they hear what you’re saying to your authorized dealer, and they hear what you’re telling your buddies at watch meetups. You said you wanted a smaller, thinner, Black Bay GMT. Guess what? Tudor heard your prayers and answered them, introducing the Black Bay 58 GMT. Better yet, we at Everest got hands on with the watch. Let’s discuss our first impressions of your hopes and prayers to the Tudor watch gods.

Past Tudor GMTs

So, where do we start? Let’s begin with why this watch was needed. Up until this weekl, there were two watches in the Tudor collection offered with a GMT movement. The first is the Black Bay GMT, released in 2018. This watch photographs really well and, from pictures, it looks near-perfect. However, the watch is somewhat oversized and lacks the svelte proportionality of a Rolex GMT Master II, for instance. The lug-to-lug is a significant 50mm and the overall thickness is 14.7mm. The watch itself is frankly not my favorite on the wrist. However, the overall look is a 10 out of 10. Next up is the Black Bay Pro. Tudor nailed this watch in almost every single way. They reduced the lug to lug, they cut the overall width, and the 1655-inspired design makes for a super stunner. One area that still needed adjusting, however, was the case thickness. It is a seriously girthy watch at 14.6mm tall. Once again, Tudor made a beautiful watch that just wasn't comfortable to wear. Then came the new guy.

Black Bay 58 GMT: Our Initial Thoughts

The first thing that I have to mention about the new Black Bay 58 GMT (quite a mouthful, by the way) is the thickness of the watch: it's just 12.8mm. Thank you, Tudor, for crushing this beautiful watch down to a perfectly-wearable size. At just 39mm in diameter with a flawless 47.8 lug-to-lug (with the female endlinks), the Black Bay 58 GMT is a dream to wear. I had about twenty minutes with the watch and I was super impressed with its size in just seconds. 

Another impressive aspect of this watch is its coloration. The dial and bezel feature gilt accents, with the former featuring a semi-matte finish and the latter somewhat glossier. Many people have compared this bezel to that of the bakelite Rolex GMT-Master, and I see where they’re coming from, however, this is a black and red bezel. To that point, the online consensus leading up to this release was one of desire for a ‘Coke’ Rolex GMT. Tudor picked up on this and decided to make one for themselves. I have heart eyes for this one for sure.

The rest of the watch really embraces the Black Bay 58 design logic: 20mm lugs that taper down to a 16mm clasp, similar overall proportions, and a near-identical feel on the wrist. Unlike the Black Bay 58 itself, the watch features a T-Fit toolless microadjustment clasp, which is awesome. The bezel ring is somewhat thin and has the coin edge grip that has become synonymous with the Black Bay line (but is on its way out with the core Black Bay). Just like the other 58 models, the slightly domed crystal has a bit of a radius on the edge of it. The crown doesn't have crown guards like the other 58 models, and has been updated to a more Rolex-style one (which was a great idea, by the way). Overall, this is an evolution, not a revolution of the Black Bay 58 into a GMT model. As I said before, Tudor is listening and taking feedback about their designs.

Final Thoughts 

I’ve heard people hypothesize that a GMT version of the Black Bay 58 was on its way. To be perfectly honest, I was doubtful that it would ever exist, and if it did, that it would wear similarly to the Black Bay 58. Well, Tudor more than exceeded my expectations. Not only did they make a Black Bay 58 GMT, they made one that wears nearly identical to the widely-beloved Black Bay 58. Not only were our prayers answered regarding a thinner Tudor GMT, we even got the Coke we’ve been looking for. If you’re listening Rolex, this doesn’t mean you’re off the hook – I still need to see this bezel in ceramic.