Tudor test drive day

[dannyp]

Was a great day for Tudor try-ons (and no, I'm not a pic-snapper, so none of those... sorry), but was in an AD that had essentially every Tudor I've been curious about:

BB54 rubber
BB36 anthracite
BB36 blue
Royal 34 blue

My takeaways, the short version: Liked all, 36 blue my favorite, Royal a great value.

Long version:

The 54 was awesome and love the idea of a 37mm dive watch. However, the silhouette and aesthetic just didn't go with the rubber. I think the leather/rubber hybrid (or even fabric) from the Ranger would have been perfection on this one (or aftermarket tropical).

The 36 anthracite was the one I expected to love. However, it just didn't sing to me. I think it was the combined polished links/bezel and gold hands/hour markers. Too much going on that felt out of sync (a little like the AK dial). At first I thought it was just my aversion to PCL, until I tried...

The 36 blue. This was an all-round winner. I'm not typically a blue dial guy (per my comment on trying the Zenith Defy in another thread) but Tudor just got this right. And, with WG hands/hour markers, I was completely unbothered by the polished surfaces on the case/bezel. If someone stood over me at that moment and said: "Pick one," this would have been it.

Which brings me to the final sampling, the Royal 34, also in blue. Didn't expect to like this one as much as I did, especially given my experience trying an OP34 in blue (contrast between dial and rest of watch made watch feel tiny vs. the silver). But I really did like it, especially since the integrated bracelet watches were historically smaller when introduced (Nautilus, Ingenieur, Constellation).

However, it just didn't feel like quite the same level watch as the BB36 (makes sense as it's just over half the price). Also don't love the bracelet style with the minute center links that feel a little off on an integrated bracelet. In many ways, it's stuck in the middle between the Zenith Defy 36 and new Tissot PRX 35 auto (haven't seen/tried). Were I to want a watch at that price point, it would likely be between this and the Baume et Mercier Riviera 36 with titanium bezel/RG accents.

Ok, sort of long, but since it involved several new models thought it might be of interest.