Tudor Pelagos FXD Black Watch Review

If you took a trip to Tudor’s website in the past few days you’ll have seen a big countdown clock marking the time until last night when their newest watch was revealed. Naturally, as with any teased new release, speculation began to fly as to what the new watch might be. The leading theory was that it would be a heritage style release and to a certain extent that turned out to be accurate. Last night we set off to the Tudor boutique to get hands on with the new watch, which turned out to be a new colourway of the Tudor Pelagos FXD.

The Pelagos FXD is a tribute to the history of Tudor’s US Navy heritage, a spiritual successor to the Tudor Submariner that was first used by the US Military in 1965. What that means for the watch itself is that it’s pretty utilitarian with a large focus on functionality. The 42mm case in titanium is no-nonsense, featuring a relatively straight curve from lug to lug, a fluted crown with guards and a unidirectional, elapsed-time bezel. It features 200m water resistance. All this is also true of the 2021 Pelagos FXD Marine Nationale that reintroduced the Pelagos to Tudor’s current range.

All this means that on the wrist the new watch feels exactly the same as the previous version. It’s relatively lightweight thanks to the combination of titanium case and fabric strap but that leans into its military inspiration – the last thing you want when trying to disarm a bomb underwater is a massive weight on your wrist. But again, that’s not unique to this specific model.

What is new is the dial and bezel colour: black. The Marine Nationale model was a vibrant blue colour and the recent Alinghi Red Bull editions were navy blue. Black gives it a much darker aesthetic and leans yet further into its tactical tool watch vibe by providing even higher contrast between the dial and square hour markers.

It makes a lot of sense for there to be a black Pelagos FXD and it will likely be an incredibly popular version of the watch. It’s essentially the new baseline, standard model. However, when it comes to talking about the watch as Tudor’s big new release, it’s a little bit difficult to get majorly excited. In some regards Tudor have done the releases of the Pelagos FXD backwards, starting with two special collaboration editions and now releasing the regular model. The unintended consequence of which is that the new watch feels less special than its predecessors.

Of course, how special it felt at launch is not going to matter in the least when you walk into the Tudor boutique or look at the online shop and decide that the black version is your favourite. What will matter at that time is that it’s equipped with the Manufacture Calibre MT5602 with COSC chronometer certification. An automatic movement with 70-hour power reserve and time only indication.

In terms of value, it’s priced the same as the blue dial Marine Nationale at £3,490. That puts it on a pretty even footing with the vast majority of Tudor’s watches – for example it’s only £140 more than a steel Black Bay 58 on bracelet. Not the most exciting Tudor release ever but a virtually guaranteed staple for years to come.