After a long time of hiatus, Tudor as soon as once more returns with a recent dive watch designed and labeled for Marine Nationale, the French Navy. Enter the Tudor Pelagos FXD, a titanium dive watch that meets a novel set of specs developed along with the French Navy’s fight swimmers, the distinguished Commando Hubert.
What’s new over a daily Pelagos, one of many extra underrated, but technically strongest merchandise of the model? First, the Tudor Pelagos FXD debuts a set (FiXeD) lug construction crafted from the identical singular block of titanium for added energy; second, it depends on a 120-click bi-directional bezel with retrograde 60-to-0 commencement that, admittedly, doesn’t correspond to the ISO 6425:2018 normal of divers’ watches, however as an alternative meets the precise wants of the strategy often known as “underwater navigation,” one of many specialties of fight swimmers. The bezel is wider than regular “for optimum grip, even with neoprene gloves and fingers which might be numb from lengthy dives in chilly water” and has luminescent commencement all through.
The titanium case of the Tudor Pelagos FXD measures 42mm-wide, 12.75mm-thick, and 52mm lug-to-lug. Your entire titanium case and metal caseback is satin-brushed whereas the ceramic bezel insert is sand-blasted, in all probability to attenuate reflectivity, one thing that would draw undesirable consideration. The snowflake fingers, first launched in 1969, are additionally current together with the sq. and triangular hour markers, all to enhance legibility and error-proof studying. Waterproofness is 200 meters – greater than sufficient for the Commando Hubert’s specialised divers, who function slightly below the floor. In reality, Commando Hubert was the official paratrooper commando unit for the French Navy that, on 30 March 1953, grew to become a fight swimmer unit. The navy blue dial is safeguarded by a sapphire crystal.
It’s cool that Tudor admits that, “Traditionally, the French Navy had Tudor watches delivered with out bracelets after which fitted them with their very own straps, handmade or in any other case. Two strap sorts seem to have been significantly used through the years: black straps constructed from a single piece of braided nylon and, much less generally, handmade straps constructed from parachute elastic, which could possibly be acknowledged by their inexperienced colour and yellow or crimson central thread. It’s to the latter, ultra-functional relics inextricably linked to French army divers, that the material strap of the Pelagos FXD pays tribute.”
Tudor is understandably pleased with its woven straps, produced in France on nineteenth century Jacquard looms by the Julien Faure firm within the St-Etienne area. Some 11 years after their debut, these straps tackle a brand new, extremely technical building developed by Tudor and Julien Faure, tailored to the country nature of the French Navy divers’ work. Made up of a 22mm navy blue polyethylene woven ribbon with a silver central thread, a titanium ‘D’ buckle, and a self-gripping fastening system, Tudor claims that the brand new strap and buckle “adapts to completely different wrist sizes and may be very snug to put on.”
I personally stay curious as to how these straps really put on, particularly with regard to how that giant “D” buckle feels proper subsequent to the wrist. Some cloth straps I’ve skilled have provided actually excellent sporting consolation — the Richard Mille RM50-03 McLaren and the brand new one-piece Apple Watch woven strap (my evaluation pending) being among the finest examples of wonderful put on even over prolonged use. The Tudor Pelagos FXD comes with an extra one-piece rubber strap within the field with an embossed motif and buckle — a primary for Tudor.
The Tudor Pelagos FXD is powered by the Tudor MT5602 caliber, which comes with COSC-certified accuracy, a formidable 70-hour energy reserve, a non-magnetic silicon steadiness spring, and a variable inertia steadiness with micro-adjustment screws. Tudor goes on to notice that it adjusts its utterly assembled watches to a -2/+4 second variation that’s notably extra stringent than COSC’s -4/+6 seconds.
We look ahead to discovering how the Tudor Pelagos FXD and its mounted strap bar design put on hands-on. Regardless of that, and the notable limitations the stable lug construction and strap bar introduce with regard to different strap choices, it is rather cool to see Tudor and Marine Nationale proceed their historic partnership — and achieve this with greater than only a labeling train.
Value for the Tudor Pelagos FXD is priced at $3,900 USD (3,700 Swiss Francs; €3,860).
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