DEEP IMPACT
Developed in collaboration with a specialist unit of the French Navy, Tudor’s Pelagos FXD was designed for underwater navigation.
Since the 1950s, Tudor has had a strong relationship with the French Navy (Marine nationale). From the time they created the first modern professional divers watch in that decade up until the 1980s, the watchmaker has regularly supplied the Marine nationale. With this year’s introduction of the Pelagos FXD model, Tudor is reviving this historic collaboration. The brand presents a technical watch that meets a unique set of specifications that was developed in conjunction with the French Navy's combat swimmers, the prestigious Commando Hubert.
HISTORY LESSON
Back in 1956, the Groupe d’étude et de Recherches Sous-marines (G.E.R.S.), a scientific body attached to the French Navy and based in Toulon, took delivery of some Oyster Prince Submariner watches in order to assess them in real-life situations.
They were references 7922 and 7923, both waterproof to 100 metres (330 ft) and fitted with self-winding and manual movements, respectively. The waterproofness of these watches was judged to be "perfect" and their performance "entirely correct" by the G.E.R.S. commanding officer at the time. Persuaded by the potential of the instruments offered by the Genevan brand, he quickly placed more orders, enabling Tudor to attain the status of "official supplier to the French Navy" in 1961.
The brand’s divers' watches continued to be developed and the French Navy would use many of these timepieces over the following decades.
Today, the most famous Tudor divers’ watch used by the French Navy is the reference 9401, with its trademark blue dial and bezel. Engraved on the case back with the initials "M.N." followed by the year of issue, the watches were delivered in two configurations. It had "Snowflake" hands and hour markers and later, with triangular hour markers.
This model was launched in the mid-'70s and was supplied to the French Navy until the 1980s. It continued to be used into the 21st century, particularly at the French Navy's diving school, as well as by combat swimmers. Although officially removed from the French Navy's supply stocks some twenty years ago, it can still be seen sometimes today on the wrists of reserve and retired sailors alike.
UNIQUE SPECIFICATIONS
The Pelagos FXD model is inspired by this historic reference, and is based on a set of specifications that are as precise as they are demanding.
For this reason, it includes many functional features that are new to Tudor, such as its fixed strap bars that are machined into the main body of the 42 mm titanium case for increased robustness and reliability. Shaped as an extension of the lugs, they are key to the model's silhouette.
Another feature specific to this model is the 120-notch rotating bezel. Bidirectional with retrograde graduation from 60 to 0, it does not correspond to the ISO 6425:2018 standard of divers' watches, but instead meets the specific needs of the method known as “underwater navigation,” one of the specialities of combat swimmers.
The navy blue Pelagos FXD has the characteristic square hour markers and angular hands. Known as Snowflake, Tudor introduced this in 1969 to increase the intensity of the luminescence of its watches in poor light conditions—a feature that Commando Hubert finds particularly useful.
The watch also features a rotating bezel with a sand-blasted ceramic insert with luminescent material. Its 42 mm titanium case is waterproof to 200 metres and is entirely satin-brushed to produce a matt effect to limit light reflections. To highlight the watch's official character, its case back bears the logo of the Marine nationale, which is an anchor topped with a sailor’s hat. There is also a historically inspired engraving of "M.N.21" for “Marine nationale 2021.” Historically, the French Navy had Tudor watches delivered without bracelets and then fitted them with their own straps, handmade or otherwise.
For the Pelagos FXD model, a new, highly technical strap construction was developed by Tudor and Julien Faure, adapted here to the rustic nature of the French Navy divers' work. Made up of a 22 mm navy blue polyethylene woven ribbon with a silver central thread, a titanium "D" buckle and a self-gripping fastening system, it adapts to different wrist sizes and is comfortable to wear.
An additional one-piece rubber strap (featured) with an embossed motif and buckle is also included with the Pelagos FXD. It is the first time that this very supple, comfortable strap has been offered by Tudor.
MANUFACTURE CALIBRE MT5602
The Manufacture Calibre MT5602 that drives the Pelagos FXD model displays the hours, minutes and seconds functions. It has the finish typical of Tudor Manufacture Calibres: its rotor in tungsten monobloc is openwork and satin-brushed with sand-blasted details, while its bridges and plate have alternate sand-blasted, polished surfaces and laser decorations.
Its build has been designed to ensure robustness, longevity, reliability and precision, as has its variable inertia balance, which is maintained by a sturdy traversing bridge with a two-point fixing.
Together with its non-magnetic silicon balance spring, the Manufacture Calibre MT5602 is certified as a chronometer by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC), with its performance going beyond the standards set by this independent institute.
In fact, where COSC allows an average variation in the daily running of a watch of between -4 and +6 seconds in relation to absolute time in a single movement, Tudor insists on between -2 and +4 seconds’ variation in its running when it is completely assembled.
Another notable feature is that the power reserve of the Manufacture Calibre MT5602 is “weekend-proof”; that is to say about 70 hours, which enables the wearer to take the watch off on a Friday evening and put it back on again on Monday morning without having to reset it.
All of these features just highlight the fact that the Pelagos FXD is ready for any kind of action.