Behind the Build: Tudor Black Bay 58 Mods

In the world of watches, we have to see Tudor for what it is, an amazing Geneva-based factory that may best Rolex in both design and creativity. The freedom of Tudor’s designs is amazing, and the snowflake handset is an eternal part of watch design.  

Not only does Tudor have a historical advantage over many other companies out there, but Tudor is also a sister brand of Rolex. As such, the watch manufacturer had a plethora of historically important and extremely well-made pieces to draw inspiration from.

Source: Professional Watches

In addition to being directly inspired by just one model from their archives, Tudor is more of an amalgamation of 20th century watch design. 

While Rolex was Hans Wilsdorf's well-established first love, Tudor was born to be his response to the demand. In this way, Tudor was everything people already knew and loved about Rolex but at a more affordable price. 

Source: Watchfinder & Co.

The term 'bang for buck' comes to mind with Tudor and there aren’t many other timepieces out there that better represent the value proposition than the Black Bay line.

If you are looking for a robust diver that values its heritage, it's hard to look past the Black Bay.

The Tudor Black Bay 58 Evolution

Stepping out of its big brother Rolex’s shadow, Tudor became a major player in the luxury watch space. Considered by some to be Tudor’s most popular current model, the Tudor Black Bay 58 is one of the best divers and a great everyday watch for just about anyone. 

The Black Bay 58 is based on the Tudor Submariner from 1958 a watch that is beloved by watch enthusiasts aplenty.

Source: Tudor

Everything about the design works - such as the thin black aluminum bezel with its red triangle, the generously domed sapphire crystal, or the symmetrical no-date layout on the matte black and gilt-accented dial.

If you love the diver’s retro design but are not a fan of its 41mm case size and thick profile, the BB58 with 39mm case and 11.9mm thickness makes it much more in line with its mid-century design. 

Combine the compact size with its thin coin edge bezel, oversized unprotected crown, and beveled lugs, the watch gives you a perfect vintage-styled diver.

On the other hand, the dial is perfect when it comes to paying homage to mid-century cool.  

Source: Professional Watches

By using modern-looking Super-LumiNova offset with gilt printing and gilt snowflake hands and indices on the matte black dial, Tudor brings to the timepiece a classic, vintage feel without veering into “trying too hard” territory.

The Black Bay 58’s dimensions are a dream, so it’s no surprise that the watch wears wonderfully. 

Anyone with wrist sizes ranging from less than 6.5” to more than 7.5” will love how the BB58 wears. It’s suitable for many wrist sizes as well as almost any occasion - even the office. 

After all, it’s not hard to see why the Black Bay 58 became such a winner for Tudor. Its vintage styling is perfectly executed, and its dimensions should be the blueprint for every modern dive watch. In addition, its COSC-certified automatic chronometer movement is a solid performer.

The Black Bay 58 is not only graceful and comfortable but also visually striking and cool to wear. 

Let’s look at why this watch’s form factor is almost perfect. 

Specs

Source: Time and Tide Watches

Case Size: 39mm

Lug to Lug: 47mm

Case Thickness: 11.9mm

Lug Width: 20mm

Case Material: Stainless Steel

Water Resistance: 200m

Movement Type: Automatic

Power Reserve: 70 Hours

Movement: Tudor Manufacture Calibre MT5402

Lume: Super-LumiNova

Crystal: Sapphire

Make Your Own Black Bay 58 Homage

Luxury watches are as mainstream as they have ever been, and the Black Bay 58 is a clear Rolex Submariner homage. If you want to make your own homage to the BB58, you can create a luxury homage with high quality Seiko parts.

You will need some watch mod parts, if you want to make your own Black Bay 58 homage, and we have you covered. 

The Dial and Hands

At namokiMODS, we have Divemaster dials that feature the iconic markers of the Black Bay, with a triangle for the 12 marker, rectangles on the 3, 6 and 9 markers, and circles for the rest. For the hands, you can choose between 5 Snowflake variations ranging from polished steel to skeleton style.

Just using these two would be enough to evoke the charm of the Black Bay, but of course you can also pick up a matching case to really nail the look.

The Case

Made of 316L Surgical Grade Stainless Steel Construction and evoking the same slim and elegant visage of the BB58, our NMK939 Case has been widely praised in the modding community. Looks like we got the measurements down right, especially the 39mm case diameter and the very slim 9.5mm thickness which are perfect for the mini diver.

You can spec it with a leather strap to dress it up, or with a rubber strap to make it more casual. For purists, you can get the matching metal bracelet bundled with the case. 

The Bezel Insert

Adding a ceramic bezel insert will switch up the look of your Seiko mods as well. We offer black and gold ceramic bezel inserts that are inspired by the BB58. Also, our ceramic bezel inserts come with an adhesive ring for you to attach the insert to your bezel.

The Ready to Wear BB58 Homage

From the acclaim of the case bundles, we found that there is also a demand for something ready to wear for the non-modding crowd. That's why we also released the BB58 homages, the NMK11 which is the black and gold version, and the NMK12 in navy.

Source: @socalwatchreviews on IG

Making The Mod

If you want to make a solid Luxury homage mod, we have all the Watch spare parts you need. Our extensive collection of OEM Seiko spare parts can be used on any SKX007 mod, or any other kind of Seiko mod you want. 

Seiko Mod Watches let you embrace modern watch design, so you can make watches you love. Check out all the watch part options we offer, and create the watch designs that make you happy.

Happy modding!