Imagen: Tudor, web oficial
The storyWhy this reference matters
Tudor has spent the best part of a century as the way in — the brand that makes serious watches without asking a year's salary for one. In 2021 it tore up that script and presented a diver in solid 18-carat yellow gold, the first in its history, with the dial and bezel in a muted military green. This was not a limited edition or a trade-fair stunt. It walked into the catalogue through the front door and left a fair few people baffled.
The interesting part isn't the gold, it's how it has been handled. The case is brushed all over, without a single polished facet, so the metal reads as a material rather than as glitter. The hands and applied indices are solid 18-carat gold too, which Tudor had never done before. And the back opens: this is the brand's first diver with a sapphire case back, and in a house that makes a point of solid, sealed backs, that counts as a statement.
That open back dictates the engine. Inside sits the MT5400, a big calibre — 30.3 mm across, 27 jewels, silicon hairspring, 70 hours of reserve, COSC-certified — which fills the window instead of floating lost in the middle of it. The bill for the decision comes in thickness: 12.7 mm against the steel Fifty-Eight's 11.9. Eight tenths of a millimetre for the right to look inside.
SpecificationsThe numbers, in one table
| Brand | Tudor |
|---|---|
| Family | Black Bay |
| Reference | M79018V-0001 |
| Years made | desde 2021 |
| Calibre | Tudor MT5400 |
| Movement | Automático |
| Frequency | 28.800 alt/h (4 Hz) |
| Power reserve | 70 horas |
| Jewels | 27 |
| Diameter | 39 mm |
| Thickness | 12.7 mm |
| Case | Oro amarillo de 18 quilates |
| Crystal | Zafiro, con fondo de zafiro atornillado |
| Water resistance | 200 m |
IdentificationHow to tell it apart
Green and gold, brushed throughout. The bezel insert is matte green anodised aluminium with gilt graduations, mounted on a gold bezel, and the dial matches it in the same muted green. If the flanks of the case come up mirror-polished, somebody has been at it since: that is not how it leaves the factory.
The case back is sapphire and screws down. The steel Fifty-Eight's is solid, so turning the watch over settles the question. The crown is gold, screw-down, with the Tudor rose in relief, and the whole thing still holds 200 metres despite the see-through back.
The -0001 suffix is the strap version: it left the factory with two, a dark brown alligator with beige stitching and a green jacquard fabric strap with a gold stripe, both on 18-carat gold buckles. The -0006, from 2024, is the one on the solid gold bracelet. Listings mix the two up far too cheerfully. And there is no date.
CollectingWhat collectors check
The brushed gold is the whole argument. A later polish wipes that finish out and there is no sensible way back: restoring factory brushing on gold is expensive and rarely comes out the same. Tilt the watch and look along the lug edges and the case flanks; the brushing should run continuously and in one direction across the whole surface.
Gold dents rather than scratches, and dents show up at first glance. Go over the lugs and the bezel edge. Check that both straps and both gold buckles are present, too: they are expensive pieces in their own right, and their absence bites into the negotiation far harder than it would on a steel watch.
The rest is standard modern Tudor: COSC papers, purchase date for the transferable five-year warranty, and a bezel insert without nicks, because that green aluminium is not something you pick up just anywhere. And if you are torn between this and a steel Black Bay 58, be clear that the real difference is not eight tenths of a millimetre. It is the weight, and what you are willing to carry on your wrist every day.
Common questionsWhat people ask us about this reference
Is the Tudor Black Bay 58 18K solid gold?
Yes. Case, bezel, crown and case back are 18-carat yellow gold, and so are the hands and the applied indices, something Tudor had not done before.
Does it have a display case back?
Yes, and it is the first Tudor dive watch to get one. The sapphire back screws down, and even so the watch keeps its 200 metres.
Which calibre does the Black Bay 58 18K use?
The in-house MT5400, 30.3 mm across, with 27 jewels, a silicon hairspring, 70 hours of reserve and COSC chronometer certification.
How does it differ from the steel Black Bay 58?
Beyond the solid gold, in the sapphire case back and in the thickness: 12.7 mm against 11.9. The dial and bezel are green, and there is no date version.
Keep readingWhere to go from here
Close relativesThe ones it gets confused with
Confidence: media — this page was checked against the sources below. If a detail looks wrong to you, write to us and we will fix it.