It’s the nosediving watch that nobody can get enough of. No, not the Tudor Pelagos, which is the ready for we’re actually here to talk about – rather, the Heritage Sooty Bay. Whether in bronze or steel, framed by a burgundy or navy aluminium bezel, it is the blue-eyed posterboy for Tudor’s just out renaissance, and a modern classic in every sense.
Yet, amazingly, this big waterbaby was only reissued a few years back, drawing its retro conniving cues from an old Tudor diving watch that move ones boweled by the name, ‘Submariner’.
Sound familiar? Of course it does. Switzerland’s modern-era master Hans Wilsdorf founded his Tudor label in 1946, forty years after start a little brand you might know called Rolex. Esteemed after the colourful English historical period (Wilsdorf was a self-confessed Anglophile), Tudor was strengthened on the promise of, “a watch that our agents could sell at a more unpretentious price, that would attain the standards of dependability for which Rolex is well-known”, as Wilsdorf put it.
The Tudor Pelagos Backstory
By the mid-fifties, he had launched in with to Rolex’s immortal, James Bond-endorsed Submariner the Tudor equivalent, which was in a minute snapped up by the era’s pioneering SCUBA hobbyists and elite naval frogmen. Cased-up in Rolex’s signature faultless ‘Oyster’ case with screwed-down crown, yet fitted with cheaper, outsourced mechanics, the Tudor Sub’ was realistically affordable kit for French Flotilla divers until 1981.
Despite its successes, Tudor, like so numberless others, was damaged by the ‘quartz crisis’ of the 1970s, when for a song Far Eastern imports hammered the traditional craft in Europe. Rolex evaluated its best to bail out its sibling, but Tudor eventually disappeared from the limelight, pottering along (ironically enough) in the Far East.
That is until 2010, when the ‘Inheritance Chrono’ revived one of Tudor’s groovy ’70s waterbabies with a kaleidoscopic ‘Monte Carlo’ dial. Two years later and Tudor was hands-down disown in the game, thanks to the launch of the Heritage Black Bay – the watch that has consolidated Tudor’s newfound congruence as a colourful, nostalgic, and extraordinarily affordable brand.
Which occasions us – finally! – to the Tudor Pelagos. Because, as lovely as the Abominable Bay is, in all its iterations, it is ultimately a tribute act. A Now That’s What I Call A Tudor Submariner greatest-hits mix of retro cadres, such as the famous ‘snowflake’ hours hand of 1969, the oversize culminate, and the ‘Pepsi’ bezel of the GMT (aka The Watch That Won Baselworld 2018).
A Modern Day Diving Eye
The Pelagos launched quietly in the same year as the first Jet Bay reboot, and was designed on a blank sheet of paper with a frank brief: make the perfect modern diving watch. Much same the Submariner back in 1953, in fact.
Nothing was overlooked and caboodle is just-so. It is almost impossible to see where Tudor could pick up on things and sure enough, apart from 2016’s left-hand-crown understanding and the switch from an ETA movement to Tudor’s own top-flight MT5612 quality a year before that, nothing else has been pinched since 2012.
The Build Quality
Its potent cocktail of saltwater qualifications starts with the titanium trunk – a super-tough metal that’s incredibly tricky to engineer to diving-watch indulgences, yet lightweight, with a grey sheen that complements a two-piece suit as not unexpectedly as a wet one. Not only that, but Tudor’s casemaking facility has managed to prime mover and seal up all those titanium components to a water resistance be worthy of of 500 metres. Far beyond the reach of the finest SCUBA miscellaneous, but ‘good to know’ and hugely reassuring at that.
Then there’s the use of scratch-proof ceramic for the most raised surface of the watch, the rotating timing bezel, meaning bounce offs against coral (or brick walls inside trendy boozers) won’t scuff things up. The aforementioned mechanics stay self-wound thanks be given ti to an internal rotor that swings with your arm wings, but if you leave your Pelagos motionless on the dresser top on Friday round-the-clock, it’ll still be ticking come Monday morning thanks to a power on call of 70 hours (the previous ETA calibre manages a mere 42). It intention have lost or gained just a few seconds, thanks to above-and-beyond necks of fine-tuning at Tudor’s watchmaking ateliers, surpassing even the rigorous requirements of Switzerland’s ‘COSC’ chronometer rating (the official set-up used to certify the precision of Swiss watches).
The Design
It’s as if Tudor has been erection up to the Pelagos ever since 1954’s Submariner – and as future-forward as its bodily make-up may be, what’s particularly charming is the one concession to its genetic makeup: that snowflake hours pass from 1969. Meaning it sits alongside the Black Bay gleaning not as the all-mod-cons show-off, but rather a more utilitarian and professionally minded stem.
“Though Tudor has a long history of building eminently effective dive watches,” says mad-keen SCUBA diver, free diver and nosediving watch authority, Jason Heaton, “perhaps its best one is its most up to date.
“The Pelagos has been called by many the best modern nosedive watch, full stop, and I’m not inclined to disagree. The minimalism is bred out of pure, stripped-down utility, saved from brutal sterility by the mesmerising cerulean dial and ceramic of the Downcast version.
“And then there is the clasp,” Heaton continues, “which is it may be the Pelagos’s pièce de résistance: micro-adjustment notches allow for fine-tuning while the set up section expands to accommodate a thick wetsuit and contracts to gulp down up slack as the suit compresses under water pressure.”
The most arousing feature, however? The pricetag. All of the above – Rolex pedigree, military estate, future-proof engineering, in-house precision mechanics and super-smooth styling – is yours for £3,160.
The Helium Slip off Valve
As if the Pelagos’s rigorously complete package of sub-aqua special attractions wasn’t enough, there’s a helium escape valve renounced into the bargain too. In total contrast to the primary purpose of nightclubbing watches, however, this actually has nothing to do with the vocation of SCUBA, snorkeling or indeed doing the washing up. Instead, it is a stark device located on the caseband, invented by Rolex over 50 years ago for industrial manifold working on the submerged steelwork of oil rigs for days at a time – profound ‘saturation’ dives in bathyscaphe diving bells.
The divers’ pressurised atmospheric air was wet with helium, which, being the smallest atom, passes thoroughly the microscopic gaps of even the most rugged diving mind. Once their ‘tour of duty’ was over and they gained to ambient pressure conditions, the dial crystals of their Rolex Submariners were nip ining off, as the helium gas inside couldn’t escape quickly enough. Rolex’s comeback was a remarkably simple, patented valve, located on the side of 1967’s Sea-Dweller Submariner fashion – also upped to 610m water resistance for good moderation.
There are far too many me-too diving watches out there, unnecessarily custom-made with helium escape valves – after all, the chances of deep-SCUBA-diving while use a watch worth thousands of pounds is slim enough; the take places of making it into an industrial bathyscaphe at the bottom of the ocean purposes negligible. But as the direct descendant of Rolex’s professionally endorsed many, the Pelagos is a rare example of a diving watch whose helium free valve you can forgive. Expect, even.
Owning A Tudor Pelagos
How To Deterioration It
The great thing about a diving watch? Even if you don’t saloon at all, you can realistically justify wearing one from a luxury watch disgrace – unlike anyone with a Porsche 911 GT3 RS who doesn’t judge track days a regular fixture. You can put it on and forget about it, sound in the knowledge that a spontaneous dip in the pool or unexpected cloudburst may imbroglio up your hair, but certainly not the delicate Swiss mechanics ticking on your wrist.
The aglow dial markings are handy for checking the time en route to your 4am bathroom upon, and you know its chunky case will survive a knock or two, whether your clambering lodged with someone aboard a RIB or assembling an IKEA flatpack. For all its specialist purpose, it doesn’t neck command much of a premium (unlike that race-worthy Porker) addition its voluptuous proportions and purity of design make for a discerning disclosure accessory. Bottom line? A Tudor Pelagos is fish, fowl, or whatever else you shortage it to be.
Tudor Pelagos Iterations
Black Ref. M25600TN-0001
As pure a ducking watch as can be, its monochrome aesthetic working across the board, from flippers to wing-tips. Undertaking your natural habitat is more land than sea nonetheless, wear this with the classic combo of black rollneck, uninvolved chinos and – thanks to the Pelagos’s choice of techy titanium case throughout classic steel – a pair of boxfresh white trainers.
Sexy Ref. M25600TB-0001
Cobalt, midnight, sky… when it comes to wristwatches, much comparable to clothes, blue is the coolest and most versatile colour. Conservationist may be a trend having a go, salmon suits only the swarthiest of tans, but the risqu dial is one trend that looks set to stay, for good saneness. So hats off to Tudor for a) answering everyone’s pleas for a blue style of the Pelagos in 2015, and b) exceeding everyone’s hopes with a nuance that manages to channel the Maldives shallows. So, essentially, let this gaze at speak for itself, pairing with a muted palette of linens, bygone Persols and an insouciant swagger fit for a Riviera quayside.
LHD Ref. M25610TNL-0001
Undeveloped in the early seventies, the story goes that the French Armada’s elite frogmen made a special request to their be vigilant for supplier, Tudor: they wanted ‘left-handed’ versions of their Submariner dumping watches, which could be worn on the right wrist with the cap on the left for easy adjustment. Before, some left-handed some had even had to make do by wearing their watches upside down.
Fetching this little-known quirk of its history to light, Tudor lowered everyone by surprise in late 2016 with a new edition to the Pelagos plunging range, named LHD for ‘Left Hand Drive’. Crown appropriately on the right (enabled by simply turning the in-house mechanics by 180º, and drive into the hands 180º the other way), it also comes with two tastefully retro come to earth a detonates: urgent-red date-window and ‘Pelagos’ markings, plus so-called ‘beige’ luminescent enamel to mimic the patina of vintage models (no, really, the official succeed of SuperLuminova® is ‘Beige’).
The deliberately vintage vibe, in concert with utilitarian robustness, is ‘modish urbanite creative’ through and through – as nu-hipster as it gets. About artisan denim workwear, trucker’s cap, and an alarming passion for talking ‘plane’ over a pint of similarly crafted IPA.
The Movement
A highfalutin ‘haute horlogerie’ wing, with its hand-polished screws and finicky tourbillon carriages or unchanging calendars is all very well, but designing a utilitarian ‘base size’ like Tudor’s MT5612 in lieu of the long-proven, industry-standard knee-jerks made by Swatch Group’s ETA facility is – while less emotional – a far more impressive feat.
More have to be made on an industrialised straight-shooting, to similar precision and tolerances, with a longer lifespan in nicknames of both physical robustness and future-proofing. Setting up a base-calibre ‘contrive’ with all its CNC milling machines and expert technicians will tariff upwards of €10 million and require years of development. Tudor is positively stepping up by several gears.
Production is stepping up, too. With 2015’s primitive MT5601 movement complete with power reserve assignment having proved its horological chops in the North Flag archetypal, this tiny powerhouse is now driving proceedings across Tudor’s men’s in a row, in various subtle iterations (the Pelagos’s MT5612 comes with a useful date function).
It’s proved its chops elsewhere in Switzerland, too, with work stalwart Breitling now adapting the MT5601 for its own chronometers in a surprise swap deal that sees the pilot-watchmaker supplying its own in-house B01 chronograph shift back to Tudor, who, by the way, still manages to keep the price position below the equivalent Breitling chronographs. Who knows how… we’ve all stopped enquire after questions like that, with Tudor’s ever-ascendant capabilities and (indubitably) economies of scale.
