Tudor Pelagos

The Tudor Pelagos is a function-oriented diving watch with a linear design and robust technology. The Genevan manufacturer and Rolex sister company Tudor brought this watch to the market in 2012. It has a water resistance of 500 m (50 bar) and was outfitted with the ETA caliber 2824 until 2015. As of 2015, each new Pelagos comes with an in-house caliber.

Its name comes from the Greek word "pélagos," which means "sea" or "ocean." Thanks to its helium escape valve, this titanium diving watch is also suitable for saturation diving, where divers breathe a mixture of helium and oxygen. The helium escape valve allows any helium that has made its way into the case to be released without damaging the watch.

A highlight of the Tudor Pelagos is the patented fold-over clasp on its three-piece link titanium bracelet. It has a special diving extension for finer adjustments. This enables you to size the band quickly on your wrist. Moreover, the clasp can lengthen or shorten itself depending on the environmental pressure.

The current Pelagos collection contains four models, the newest of which is the Pelagos FXD from 2021. The letters "FXD" stand for "fixed" and refer to the fact that the lugs and case are crafted from a single block of metal. Unlike the three other editions, which come on your choice of a titanium or textile band, the FXD is only available on a textile strap.

There's also the Pelagos LHD, the first Pelagos with a crown on the case's left side. As you may have guessed, "LHD" stands for "left-handed."

The most affordable Pelagos watches are the two standard editions with black or blue dials. These timepieces sell for around 4,400 USD each. The Pelagos LHD with a black dial demands similar prices. The Pelagos FXD with a blue dial breaks the mold with asking prices of about 6,500 USD.

Each Tudor Pelagos comes with a 42-mm case in satin-brushed titanium. Each watch has a unidirectional rotatable diving bezel with a black or blue ceramic insert. The insert color depends on the model's dial color. A helium escape valve at 9 o'clock means professional divers can use this timepiece for saturation diving.

Square hour indices made of stamped SuperLuminova sit atop the dial and glow in the dark. Thanks to their shape, fans refer to these indices as "snowflakes." There's also a date window at 3, bar indices at 6 and 9, and an inverted triangle at 12 o'clock. The minute hand is perfectly straight, while the hour and second hands also boast the unique snowflake design. All three are coated in luminous material, enabling you to tell the time under all lighting conditions. The inscriptions "Pelagos," "Chronometer," "Officially Certified," "Rotor Self-Winding," and "500m-1640ft" just above 6 o'clock complete the dial.

Tudor outfits Pelagos watches with the in-house calibers MT5612, MT5612-LHD, and MT5602. Each has a 70-hour power reserve. Thanks to their silicon balance springs, these movements are anti-magnetic and very accurate – so much so that Tudor has them certified by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC). The caliber guarantees a high level of precision and an average deviation of just -4 to +6 seconds per day.

The references M25600TB and M25600TN are the two "standard" Pelagos editions. The former has a blue dial (Pelagos Blue), while the latter has a black dial (Pelagos Black). Both models come on titanium bracelets with Tudor's patented folding stainless steel safety clasp and convenient bracelet length adjustment system. When purchasing a new watch, you will also receive a complimentary rubber strap in the same color as the dial. You can call one of these timepieces your own for about 4,400 USD.

The Tudor Pelagos LHD ref. M25610TNL is unique among diving watches due to the crown's location at 9 o'clock. Very few manufacturers include such special watches in their catalogs.

A special edition of the Tudor Submariner made in 1981 for the French Navy with the reference number 94010 served as the design inspiration for the Tudor Pelagos LHD. This gives the new watch a retro touch, setting it apart from the other Pelagos models. The beige hands, indices, and bezel markers underscore this vintage look.

If you look closely, you will see a so-called roulette pattern on the date display at 3 o'clock. Every even-numbered day is red, and every odd-numbered day is black. The red Pelagos inscription on the dial also pays homage to historic Tudor watches. The dial's other inscriptions are identical to those found on the Pelagos Blue and Black.

The caliber MT5612-LHD is very similar to the basic caliber MT5612. The only differences arise in the position of the crown and the two-tone date display. Mint-condition timepieces with a titanium bracelet and extra black rubber strap change hands for roughly 4,400 USD on Chrono24.

Introduced in 2021, the Pelagos FXD pays tribute to the historical partnership between Tudor and the French Navy (Marine nationale Française), which lasted from 1956 into the 1980s. This collaboration is the source of now highly-coveted Tudor Oyster Prince Submariner models like the refs. 7922, 7923, and 940/1. Both parties remember this partnership fondly and, thus, decided to develop a new diving watch for the French Navy. The result is the Pelagos FXD, which is available to the general public under the reference number M25707B.

At first glance, you might mistake the FXD for the Pelagos Blue as its case is also made of titanium and measures 42 mm across. However, the main difference is that the FXD's case and lugs are one solid piece of metal. Thus, the lugs are "fixed" (hence FXD). One major advantage of this construction method is that the band will never fall off because a spring bar has come loose. On the other hand, you are limited to one-piece straps, and it is impossible to mount the watch on a titanium bracelet. Another difference between the FXD and the standard editions is the use of the caliber MT5602, the no-date version of the MT5612.

It's also worth noting that the Pelagos FXD is only water-resistant to 200 m (20 bar, 656 ft), while other models can dive down to 300 m (30 bar, 984 ft). Thus, it seems French military divers explore shallower depths than the average Pelagos wearer enjoys in their bathtub or when snorkeling.