Best of Watches & Wonders 2026: Tudor
Ref. 7939G1A0NRU
BLACK BAY 58 GMT
The Black Bay 58 GMT is Tudor doing what it does best: taking a proven case and making a genuinely useful watch out of it. The 39mm Black Bay 58 proportions have earned their reputation since the reference arrived in 2018, and bringing a GMT function into that chassis rather than the larger 41mm Black Bay GMT makes straightforward sense. The result sits noticeably thinner on the wrist at 12.8mm, with a 47.8mm lug-to-lug measurement that wears closer to a dress watch than a sports watch despite the tool watch credentials.
The bezel is bidirectional, black and burgundy anodised aluminium with a gilt 24-hour scale, and the warm colour palette runs consistently through the gilt hour markers, hands and bezel numerals. The matt black dial is subtly radial-brushed for a faint shine under direct light. The lollipop seconds hand references the brand’s early diver aesthetic, and the Snowflake hour and minute hands, introduced to the Tudor catalogue in 1969, remain present. The crown is flush to the caseband with the tube not visible, a detail that improves the profile considerably. The winding crown carries the Tudor rose in relief.
Inside is the new manufacture calibre MT5450-U, a GMT movement developed without additional modules, integrating the GMT function directly into the base architecture rather than layering it on top. The variable inertia balance wheel sits on a traversing bridge with two-point anchoring. The balance spring is silicon. Frequency is 28,800 vph and power reserve is 65 hours, certified by METAS. The date at 3 o’clock is instantaneous and synchronised with the jumping hour hand. COSC certification on the movement precedes the full Master Chronometer certification on the assembled watch, which requires precision within a 0/+5 second daily tolerance and confirmed resistance to 15,000 gauss. Water resistance is 200 metres.
Bracelet options are the five-link steel bracelet with polished centre links, the three-link rivet-style bracelet referencing the stepped riveted bracelets Tudor used in the 1950s and 60s, or a rubber strap. All three use the T-fit clasp with an 8mm adjustment window across five positions and ceramic ball bearings in the closure.
Ref. 2639W1A0U
MONARCH
The Monarch is the more interesting release. Tudor has revived a name from its own history and applied it to a watch that reads as genuinely different from anything else currently in the collection, or much else at the price point for that matter.
The 39mm case is finely faceted stainless steel with sharp polished and satin surfaces, 11.9mm thick with a 46.2mm lug-to-lug, and the two-link faceted bracelet carries the same geometry so the case and bracelet read as a unified object rather than separate components bolted together. It is a particular look, angular and considered, that references Tudor’s early aesthetic vocabulary without simply reprinting it.
The dial is dark champagne, described in Tudor’s own materials as papyrus-toned, with a vertical-brushed texture that gives it warmth and depth. The hour markers are applied and mixed: Roman numerals from 10 to 2, Arabic from 4 to 8, a layout Tudor calls Error-Proof style that appeared on early references and has a satisfying strangeness to it once you notice it. Small seconds sits at 6 o’clock. There is no date. The overall effect is quiet and slightly unusual, which at 39mm and in this case architecture feels right.
The movement is the manufacture calibre MT5662-2U, unique to the Monarch and finished to a higher decorative standard than Tudor’s standard sports watch calibres. Perlage on the mainplate, Côtes de Genève on the bridges, and an 18ct gold inlay on the rotor are details that are visible through the full display caseback. The movement runs at 28,800 vph on a silicon balance spring with a variable inertia balance wheel on a traversing bridge. Power reserve is 65 hours, METAS certified. Precision standard is 0/+5 seconds per day, magnetic resistance is confirmed to 15,000 gauss. Water resistance is 100 metres.
The Monarch is a 39mm steel watch with a manufacture movement, traditional finishing and a dial that doesn’t look like anything being made at the same level. For Tudor, whose identity has been largely built around the Black Bay and Pelagos families, it represents something worth paying attention to.