Tudor released the Tudor Pelagos FXD in 2021 as a purpose-built take on its Pelagos dive watch, designed with direct input from France’s Marine Nationale. Today, Tudor has announced the next iteration of the Pelagos FXD, this time inspired by its history of watches made for the United States Navy. Except for the new black color, the latest Tudor Pelagos FXD is similar to the existing model that was developed with input from the MN. The dimensions of the brushed titanium case on the new Pelagos FXD are familiar: 42mm diameter, 52mm lug-to-lug, and 12.75mm thick, along with fixed spring bars (FXD is short for FiXeD). True to the Pelagos’ purpose, it’s a modern, do-it-all-diver, now with military inspiration.
The ceramic bezel is black, fully graduated, and lumed. The only functional difference compared to the MN is that the new Tudor Pelagos FXD has a uni-directional rotating bezel. The bezel meets the ISO standard for dive watches. The new black FXD comes on a one-piece fabric strap in forest green with a red strip down the middle. It’ll also come with an additional one-piece rubber strap.
Tudor explains that its dive watches were tested and evaluated by the U.S. Navy as early as the mid-1950s and officially adopted by 1958. It says that the new Pelagos FXD is closest to a vintage ’60s 7016, most notable for its snowflake hour hand, but also incorporates mil-spec and design elements from other generations of issued Tudor divers.
While issued watches in many other military watches often had caseback engravings, Tudor says that U.S. Navy-issued Tudor watches didn’t follow this convention. Many were sterile or marked at the unit level, which can make it difficult to determine the military provenance of Tudor Subs today, though many of them were, in fact, issued. Just like with the Marine Nationale, the continued connection to elite Navy units makes the latest Pelagos FXD more than just another example of Tudor drawing on its heritage to make a killer-looking modern dive watch.
James will have a full hands-on review of the new Pelagos FXD in the next few days, so stay tuned – after spending just a few minutes hands-on with it, he said the vibe is kind of like an Tudor Pelagos FXD crossed with the Pelagos 39, which is a vibe I can certainly get behind.
When ending his hands-on of the original Tudor Pelagos FXD, James said, “If you asked me three times in a single day which Pelagos I’d like to own, you’d likely get three different answers. But I’ll tell you this: one of them would certainly be the new Pelagos FXD.” After seeing even just a few photographs of this release, I’m inclined to say the same thing about the new, black Pelagos FXD.
Tudor has revealed the Pelagos FXD, a brand-new diving model that nods to the brand’s decades of association with the Tudor Pelagos FXD U.S. Navy.
Dubbed by Tudor as the “spiritual successor” to all the diver timekeepers that were used by the Navy since the ‘50s, the Pelagos FXD arrives in a 42mm satin-brushed titanium build. It’s attired with a unidirectional rotating bezel that’s incoporated with Super-LumiNova, which frames the matte black dial in a complementing light. Adorning the dial are lume-filled indices and Tudor’s hallmarked “snowflake” handset.
A modern take on the robust “Milsub” category, the Pelagos FXD is operated by the COSC-certified MT5602 Manufacture caliber, which provides up to 70 hours of power reserve as well as 200 meters of water resistance
Accompanying the watch is a forest green fabric that’s highlighted with a red stripe down the center. For additional styling options, the timepiece also comes with a complimentary dark gray rubber strap, which features an allover woven pattern.