Tudor Black Bay 58 On Full-Gold Bracelet: The Best Watch of 2024

It's over the top and impractical; that's the point

Our good buddy D at Hobby of Hours had a livestream during which we discussed our picks for the best and worst watches of 2024. My top pick was the Tudor Black Bay 58 all-gold with gold bracelet. I thought I’d take a minute to explain what it is about the watch that made me choose it.

Why does this watch exist? Who would splash out 32 grand plus tax to take away what’s essentially a $4,000 watch dressed up in precious metal and priced in a way that D rightly points out could buy a much more upmarket offering from Rolex.

What attracts me to this watch is precisely the thing that makes it a puzzle.

This watch didn’t need to exist. It’s entirely superfluous. But it is very much an artistic statement.

To get this one has to step away from thinking about watches as an entirely economic construct. Wristwatches really don’t need to exist at all. We’re staring at one screen or the other most of the time, and those screens usually have a clock in the corner. To know the time, you only need to glance down. Strapping a timekeeping device to the wrist is entirely unnecessary.

But let’s say you’ve decided to wear a watch anyway. What’s the most cost effective way to do that? A quick search of Amazon and eBay show quartz and digital watches listed for between $2.50 and $11.00. There you have it; an economical way to tell time on your wrist.

Of course we watch enthusiasts don’t go that direction. We like quality mechanical watches - an anachronism in our world - completely unnecessary. We appreciate them for what they represent; old world craftsmanship, beautiful construction for its own sake.

Particular watches can convey a kind of meaning due to something specific they represent. A Cartier Santos, for example, has a rich history dating to a specific time and place, and even a specific person. To wear it is to signal a connection to that.

So on to this Tudor Black Bay 58 all-gold. What kind of sense does it make?

Is it an economically viable watch for the company to manufacture and sell? Of course not: why would you want to spend 32 grand on a Tudor to begin with? Surely they’ll sell a few, but not enough to make it worth building and marketing the thing.

The answer is what Tudor is attempting to communicate: that Tudor isn’t just a cheaper cousin to Rolex. Instead it’s its own entity, its own brand, that it deserves respect, and that right now in 2024, both Rolex and Tudor are making an adjustment; both are going upmarket. Rolex is intending to be more desirable, more scarce, more upmarket. And that Tudor is asserting its related-but-independent identity.

These ideas are not being communicated in a marketing brochure or a television ad or academic white paper. But the intent is being conveyed just the same. That’s what this piece is, and it’s appealing for that reason.

To own this watch is to show that you understand what Tudor was trying to do.

Would I today go out and spend the purchase price, even if it weren’t my own money, on this particular watch, I’d have to say I don’t know. I’d certainly like to but there are other watches I also like.

Let’s ask a different question. If the honchos at Tudor saw my interview and maybe saw this article, and said “This guy get it, he understands,” and just sent me one of these, would I turn around and flip it and take the money? No. This watch would go in to my collection as one of my most treasured pieces. It’d probably still be there someday when I depart this world. For as long as I owned it, I’d be able to look at it, to wear it, to show it to friends and family, and have a story to tell about this being the moment Tudor wanted to send a message, and with this watch they were sending it.

Would a normie understand? No. Would people who love watches for what they are, not for how much they cost? Yes, probably.

The Tudor Black Bay 58 all-gold is a work of art and a statement. I hear that statement loud and clear. To me it’s the best watch of 2024.