Here's something you don't see every day: a Tudor Black Bay Fifty Eight with a co-branded dial — in hot pink, no less. If any brand can get away with this kind of thing, though, it's Rowing Blazers. Previous watch collaborations, most notably with Seiko, were (deservedly) hype phenomena, but partnering with Tudor feels like a new level within the watch world for the young apparel brand. So what's the story with this one?
It won't be easy to get
Want to get your hands on one of these unusual Tudor dive watches? Sorry, but that's going to be near impossible, or at least expensive. The Seiko x Rowing Blazers watches were also limited editions, but unlike them this Tudor collab isn't even available to the public. Only 100 examples were made and they were offered for sale only to the brands' "friends and family" (including celebrities like Daniel Dae Kim, Henry Eikenberry, Ziwe, Ronny Chieng and Barbora Strycova). Take solace in the fact that even if they'd been publicly available, they probably would've sold out immediately.
A little branding goes a long way
The Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight by itself is a runaway success story — you might even call it a modern icon — that retails for $3,950 in steel on a bracelet. This isn't an extensively redesigned "BB58," by any means. It's a version of the original (and still produced) model with a retro-styled black dial featuring gilt elements and a matching bezel. The additions are the obvious branding on the dial and a caseback engraved with "aut viam inveniam aut faciam" ("I shall either find a way or make one" in Latin), a favorite slogan of Rowing Blazers. Despite the changes being minimal, the bright pink dial text makes the watch stand out immediately.
Dual-branded watches continue to appeal
Dual-branded watches have been some of the most hyped items among collectors. The Tiffany x Patek Philippe is one of the most prominent examples, but the practice has a long history that includes, yes, Domino's Pizza-branded vintage Rolexes. Vintage watch expert Eric Wind, who has been involved in every Rowing Blazers watch collaboration, is a collector of such watches — as is Rowing Blazers founder Jack Carlson.
Tudor isn't new to co-branding
Such a dual-branded modern Tudor isn't unheard-of, either. There have been a number of other modern Tudor Black Bay watches with co-branded dials made in small runs for other brands and also only available to friends and family. Apparel brand Undefeated and watch website Hodinkee are a couple of examples, but the brand also makes special editions for military units and other organizations. The brand notes that this is the first time for either Tudor or Rolex to feature pink dial text.
Those Tudors are certainly interesting, but so is Rowing Blazers' newly blazed path as a watch collab leader. We don't really expect something similar to this Black Bay to be available from Tudor in the future, but we do look forward to more cool and colorful collab watches in Rowing Blazers' continuing hot streak.
