Tim Mosso's "Watches Tonight" reviews the 2021 Tudor Black Bay Fifty Eight and this year's standout class of luxury sub-$5,000 dive watches. While the Tudor Heritage Black Bay is an established name in dive watches, this year's Black Bay 925 in sterling silver reinvents Tudor's signature diver. With a revitalized taupe dial and bezel, the Black Bay 58 is ready to tackle a muscular challenge from the Oris Carl Brashear Cal. 401, Bell & Ross, and Ball Watch. Tonight, we discuss the best dive watches for $5,000 or less. When the budget doesn't support a Rolex Submariner, tonight's show has you covered!

2018 marked the first year of the Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight. Inspired by early Tudor and Rolex Submariner dive watches from 1950s, the Black Bay Fifty Eight measures 39mm in diameter compared to the 41mm case of the standard Heritage Black Bay. The 2021 Black Bay Fifty Eight 925 adds an exciting new case metal and styling features never seen on the most popular Tudor watch of the twenty first century.

Tudor's new Black Bay starts with the "Fifty Eight" case and swaps stainless steel for sterling silver. Rarely used in the wristwatch era, sterling silver was popular as a corrosion-resistant case metal in the pocket watch era. Later innovations in Staybrite stainless steel limited silver 925's applications in wrist watches, but Tudor took the road less traveled and launched the 2021 Black Bay as the brand's first silver watch. Although sterling silver contains six percent copper, Tudor advises that its newest Black Bay will NOT tarnish or dye skin like conventional sterling will.

Tudor adds appeal with a soft grey "taupe" dial and bezel insert. The new color reads primarily as a matte grey with subtle tobacco and violet undertones. As with most Black Bay watches, the 925 includes a vintage inspired no-date dial with Tudor "Snowflake" hands and a dial design that harks back to Submariner 7922 and 7924 vintage divers. A unidirectional bezel enables to Black Bay Fifty Eight to operate like a modern dive watch, and 200-meter water resistance should serve all but the most demanding of professional divers.

Inside the 39mm silver case, Tudor employs a movement created expressly for the Black Bay Fifty Eight. Caliber 5400 is thinner and smaller in diameter than the 41mm Black Bay's caliber 5602. Despite the compact dimensions, the bespoke movement boasts the same 70-hour power reserve, balance architecture, silicon hairspring, and COSC Swiss chronometer certification. For the first time, 2021 Tudor fits a display caseback to the Black Bay Fifty Eight. Moreover, Tudor back its retro diver with a newly arrived five-year warranty to match its corporate cousin, Rolex.

In a year in which Tudor also launched a nearly $17,000 Black Bay Fifty Eight 18K, the $4,300 Black Bay 925 seems like a bargain at just $600 more than the steel model.

The 2021 Oris Aquis Date Caliber 400 is a technical tour-de-force, but its 43.5mm case is too large for many wrists. Enter the 2021 Oris Carl Brashear Cal. 401. Now packaged in a 40mm bronze case, Oris's breakthrough caliber 400 (here with small seconds) is ready to impress on wrists of any size.

As the third Oris dive watch honoring American Navy dive Carl Brashear, this bronze dive watch includes the image of a handsome vintage diving helmet and Brashear's personal motto on the caseback. Under the case back lies the Oris caliber 401, a manufacture movement with five days of power reserve and automatic winding. In addition to is standout 120-hour power reserve, the calibre 401 allow Oris to back the Carl Brasher 401 with a ten-year warranty. And to be clear, the service intervals are of ten year's duration.

Oris doesn't neglect aesthetics, and the 2021 Carl Brashear might be the most handsome of the trilogy. A bronze case and bezel are provided in the style of Oris' blockbuster Divers Sixty Five watch collection. Bronze hands and hour indices pop against the gloss blue no-date dial. And a custom textile "MN strap" has been provided by Erika's Originals.

Ball Watch and Bell & Ross remain competitive for your sub-$5,000 dive watch dollars. For 2021, Bell & Ross launches the BR03-92 Diver Military. This $4,300 black ceramic dive watch combines the Bell & Ross "instrument" watch style is a sharp military olive green dial. Ball's Engineer Hydrocarbon Original dive watch enters its second model year, but the 40mm stainless steel chronometer's raft of features make it a tremendous value. Ball includes a COSC Swiss chronometer certification, a locking crown guard, advanced anti-shock technologies, tritium traser dial lume, and 80,0000 a/m antimagnetic protection for the price of $3,200.



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