After waiting with bated breath, Tudor fans around the world may now breathe a collective sigh of relief as the Swiss watch manufacture reveals its latest release: the new Pelagos FXD. In homage to the decades of Tudor watches worn on the wrist of US naval divers, the Swiss horology house is introducing this new model, housed in a 42 mm black titanium case. Crowned the ultimate modern ‘Milsub’, the timepiece is powered by the high-performance manufacture calibre MT5602 and is water-resistant to 200 m.
The history of the Tudor divers’ watch dates back to 1954 with the launch of reference 7922, which boasted water resistance to 100 m. Since then, the manufacture’s diver’s watches have garnered much attention for their robust architecture and reliability, with the tool watches even being in favour amongst many major navies across the globe. More specifically, the US Navy has been wearing Tudor diving watches ever since the late 1950s, and were famously used by SEAL teams from their commissioning in 1962 all the way through to the late ‘80s. From teaching scuba diving to carrying out submarine maintenance, the Tudor watches have proved indispensable to America’s navy time and again.
Housed in a 42mm satin-brushed titanium case with fixed strap bars, which is machined from a single block of titanium, the watch has a rather slick, dark aesthetic. Equipped with a unidirectional rotatable bezel in titanium with ceramic insert and water-resistance to 200 m, the watch is ideal for professional divers, as well as those looking for a robust and sporty watch. The black bezel, with its 60-minute graduation covered with Super-LumiNova, matches smartly to the dial and corresponds to the ISO standard 6425:2018 for divers’ watches. Last but not least – and as is typical for the brand today – the titanium crown bears the Tudor shield.
Despite its sultry colour scheme, the matt-black dial’s design makes it a good choice for those descending the depths of the ocean, with its applied hour markers and hallmark ‘Snowflake’ hands filled with grade X1 Swiss Super-LumiNova. The dial offers only hours, minutes, and seconds, allowing the reading of the dive time to stay at the forefront of the design – vital for those using the watch professionally.
Tudor equip the new Pelagos FXD in black titanium with the manufacture calibre MT5602. This self-winding movement with bidirectional rotor system offers a solid 70-hour power reserve, while beating at frequency of 4 Hz. As well as displaying the hour, minutes, and seconds, the movement integrates a stop-seconds function for precise time setting. In addition, the non-magnetic silicon balance spring and variable inertia balance help the highly precise calibre MT5602 on its way to its COSC certification. Naturally, decoration is also of importance at Tudor, even with its diver’s watches. Therefore, the calibre’s rotor in tungsten monobloc is open-worked and satin-brushed with sand-blasted details, while its bridges and mainplate have alternate sand-blasted, polished surfaces and laser decorations.
Last but not least, the new Pelagos FXD in black titanium comes with a 22mm fabric strap with self-gripping fastening system. This fabric strap was a conscious reference to the US navy divers, who often choose the material as their preference when wearing a Tudor watch. Adding a splash of colour in forest green and red central thread, the wearer can also switch the strap up in favour of another option, which they will find in the box. This second option comes in the form of an additional black rubber strap with a woven motif and titanium pin buckle. Last but not least, the price of the new Pelagos FXD in black titanium is 4,080 euros.
