Modern Classics: Tudor Pelagos
Daniel PintoIn this section, we'll take a weekly look at the modern watches that are making their mark on the industry, charting their own paths with their own unique identities, to become future icons of their respective brands.
When we strike up a conversation with any stranger at a barbecue, we can usually tell that everyone, even those who aren't watch nerds , knows what a Rolex Submariner is. If they don't know the Submariner, they know the Daytona. The Omega Moonwatch? The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak? Probably too.
You could say there are watches that are true classics. The equivalent of a Porsche 911 or a Converse All Star. Items that have remained in the pop universe until they became part of the landscape, generally acclaimed for their timeless design, for being pioneers in their field, or simply for their undeniable beauty. They are the must-haves in any collection, the ones that generally retain their value over time, and the ones their respective creators squeeze to the extreme to coat the rest of their less commercial catalog with a layer of desirability.
The problem with classics is that they sometimes cloud our vision and prevent us from seeing the beauty of those new models that seek to break the mold of tradition and create a new paradigm around a design approach that is sometimes radically different, and other times very similar, but with a special appeal. With the perspective that time and its unstoppable march give us, today we look in the rearview mirror and realize that recent decades, also known as the modern era , have witnessed the creation of true watchmaking icons that are in no way inferior to the venerated Nautilus. These are true modern classics that have created their own unique recipe and stand out for having brought something new to the table, attracting both seasoned collectors and the "casual" who worship them on social media.
They weren't designed by Genta, they don't have a long history, and yet we believe they are the foundation upon which their respective brands plan to build their catalogs for decades to come.
The Tudor Pelagos
It was 2012, and Tudor was a brand in the shadows. For decades, known as the younger, or even poor , brother of Rolex, the rose-colored brand had been in steep decline, with a collection of Rolex derivatives that failed to excite fans and failed to bring great quality or innovation to the table. But everything changed. In a single masterstroke, Tudor simultaneously launched the Black Bay and the Pelagos , two dive watch collections that are now classics in their own right. But today we'll focus on the Pelagos.
With a market flooded with recycled designs with a strong nostalgic charge, the Pelagos's face was something completely refreshing that took half the world by surprise. Inside this small war tank, all the technical elements were combined to put together an ultra-capable diver , including the anti-corrosive titanium case, the helium escape valve for saturation diving, the unidirectional rotating ceramic bezel, and the highest-quality luminescent material. All executed to Rolex standards, with a design that nods to nostalgia through the snowflake- shaped hands, typical of Tudor watches from the 1970s, in a modern 42-millimeter case. Add to this the infinitely adjustable spring-loaded buckle system and a super-robust movement like the ETA 2824, and it's hard to understand how Tudor managed to achieve a price tag under $5,000.
What the brand did was truly masterful, creating an instant icon. Its 500-meter water resistance puts a Submariner to shame, and at the time of its launch, it was the only watch from both Tudor and Rolex to be made of titanium. It's precisely this kind of boldness and perfect execution that Tudor was lacking in its rebirth, and after 10 years, the Pelagos has only cemented its position as the best mid-range diver's watch and a modern classic.
True to Rolex style, Tudor has made small improvements over time. In 2016, a blue version was added, a truly special addition that stands out against the industrial aesthetic of the titanium case. Another left-handed version would follow, several years before Rolex "copied" its little brother's move with the GMT Master "Sprite" in 2022. In between, it paid another homage to its military past, launching the Marine Nationale , a version designed for the French Navy's tactical divers, who currently use the watch as part of their service equipment. More importantly, Tudor's rebirth brought fresh resources to develop its own movements, in this case the caliber MT5612, released in 2015, transforming the Pelagos into a 100% in-house product without significantly increasing its price.
https://youtu.be/T1LhP9hJwPgBut for us, the masterstroke would come very recently, with the introduction of the new Pelagos 39 , a reduced version in 39 millimeters that retains most of the technical capabilities (except for the water resistance, which drops to 200 meters) but brings the dimensions to something more usable for the vast majority of those of us who wanted a Pelagos but found the 42 diameter too large for our wrists.
Unlike Rolex, Tudor does listen to its fans. That's how we got to where we are today, with a Pelagos that, while not the brand's mainstay of sales (that would be the eternally photogenic Black Bay), is undoubtedly the preferred family for those looking for something with Tudor DNA, without necessarily having to look to the past.
This Pelagos is a modern classic in its own right, and every year we eagerly await what variations will be released on this foundation, which apparently will continue to be a source of new developments for the brand. Perhaps a Pelagos GMT with tropical-colored dials? No one can take away our right to dream.
