Founded in 1926, Tudor is the brainchild of well-known watchmaker, Hans Wilsdorf. Having first founded a little watch brand, you may have heard of called, Rolex. The TUDOR brand, often referred to as the little sibling of Rolex, offers the same unparalleled quality, assurance and dependability, sharing the technical prowess of its older sibling but at a more accessible price point.
After an absence from the UK watch market, returning in 2014, the brand are particularly focusing on their Heritage range, which is distinguished by the creative process of the brand’s Style Workshop. Each piece takes inspiration from Tudor’s vast and historical archive, updated with modern design tweaks for the ultimate in nostalgic and new.
The aesthetic and function of each TUDOR piece is unique. For example, their specialist diving watch – The Pelagos – was created and developed in collaboration with a large panel of professional divers and regular frequenters of the 320-meter deep Geneva Lake. The iconic ‘Montecarlo’ Chronograph, on the other hand, originally dates back to the 70s, with the latest reinterpretation boasting a bidirectional bezel with a sapphire crystal.
Additionally, since the 1950s, TUDOR has been officially supplying the Marine Nationale (French Navy) with reliable diving watches used to carry out the daring duties of naval troops for decades. The first Pelagos FXD model – “FXD” referring to the extra robust FiXeD strap bars of the watch case – was introduced in 2021, continuing the legacy of TUDOR and the French Navy. After years of use in the field, the Pelagos FXD platform has a proven track record of service. In 2024, the FXD family is expanding to the meet the needs of the Aéronautique Navale (French Naval Aviation), the force responsible for naval aviation operations. The Pelagos FXD GMT can keep track of time in up to three time zones at once, one being Zulu time, the military name for Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) and the standard reference time for all aviators—a valuable tool when undertaking crucial missions. Zulu time corresponds to zero-meridian time or the time at zero degrees of longitude, commonly known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Its standardized use in global aviation prevents confusion in communications between nations and time zones. The word “Zulu” is the standardized phonetic alphabet code word used in aviation for “Z” or the first letter of the word “zero”.
Zulu time is tracked by the highly legible bright orange hand that completes a full lap around the dial every 24 hours. Once set, this hand typically is not reset, allowing sailors of the French Naval Aviation to check the global aviation reference time at a glance. The angular hour hand, commonly nicknamed “Snowflake,” indicates local time. It is set through the winding crown and “jumps” in increments of one hour for easy setting when changing time zones. The date changes when the hour hand passes midnight, in either direction—backwards or forwards. A third time zone can be checked using the 24-hour luminous bi-directional bezel and the orange Zulu time hand.
Breaking convention has been the modus operandi of Tudor since it’s founding. Nothing about a blue flamingo blends in, and that’s why the new Black Bay Chrono model was born to stand out, with a dial in a vibrant blue hue that’s unlike anything else in the TUDOR line-up. Like the Black Bay Chrono Pink released in 2024, this is a watch for those who dare to be different. The Black Bay Chrono was already quite a bold watch even before this new dial colour was introduced.Since the launch in 1970 of the Oysterdate model, TUDOR’s first chronograph, the brand has always produced watches that are closely tied to the world of motorsports.
The Black Bay Chrono model seamlessly fuses these traditions in a sports chronograph, with contrasting sub-counters and a high-performance automatic Manufacture Calibre, with column-wheel construction and vertical clutch. The Black Bay Chrono “Flamingo Blue” departs from the norm. But that doesn’t mean it’s any less of a TUDOR.
