Tudor: Born to dive

PLEASE don’t take this the wrong way. But to all of you who are lusting after watches that can perform immense feats of water resistance – perhaps complete with stories of having been strapped on the wrists of the world’s most elite athletes and frogmen – well, when was the last time you wore one of these timepieces on a real diving expedition?

We are not suggesting that only real divers are qualified to wear dive watches; neither are we saying that fans of dive watches do not truly appreciate them.

The point we are making is this: The best kind of watches are the ones that can teleport you away from the mundaneness of everyday grind.

Tudor’s dive watches are endowed with rich legacies, robust features and evocative looks that appear as if they’ve just surfaced from some life-endangering adventure – the sort of undertakings that brand ambassadors, French national free diver Morgan Bourc’his and Portuguese big-wave surfer Nic Von Rupp, get up to daily.

Certainly, when we see Tudor’s breathtaking advertisement images of these men in their wetsuits and Pelagos dive watches, as they navigate ocean depths and ride towering waves, we never once thought that the association appeared too tenuous. Quite the opposite.

In fact, we may even feel that somehow, we, too, can be a part of the action. Especially when these are the same Pelagos watches that we could also be wearing to the office.

Pride in performance

For those who are unfamiliar, Tudor’s canon of dive watches comprises two collections: the Black Bay and the Pelagos. Incidentally, both collections, which draw inspiration from Tudor and Rolex’s vintage dive models from the 1950s, were introduced together in 2012.

Where the Black Bay watches brought a distinctive throwback flavour to the table coupled with dive-ready credentials, the Pelagos models appeared more contemporary and utilitarian, touting hardiness, and performance-driven qualities.

Bearing impressive specs, the first Pelagos model laid down the gauntlet for other dive watches. Arriving fully formed, this was a bona fide underwater tool watch as far as dive capabilities are concerned.

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The titanium-clad beast boasts 500 m water resistance, and is equipped with all the essential features that ensure optimum underwater performance.

These include a screw-in crown to keep the watch’s inner mechanisms bone dry; a crown guard to prevent accidental knocks; a helium escape valve that regulates the pressure within the watch during a diver’s ascent; and a unidirectional ceramic bezel with timing markings for the diver to calculate when his oxygen runs out.

And there are other tiny details, too, that complete the package – such as a spring-loaded, self-adjusting mechanism within its clasp, which makes use of water pressure to make fine adjustments to the watch’s bracelet at different depths of a dive.

Deep impact

Since 2012, Tudor has been steadily building the Pelagos’ DNA.

Today, all Pelagos watches come in titanium cases, are driven by in-house, COSC-certified automatic movements that are precise to -/+2 seconds a day (greater accuracy than the prescribed COSC standard of -4/+6 seconds a day), and guarantee proper dive functionality with at least 200 m water resistance.

Although the repertoire has expanded judiciously in the past decade, it does offer a bit of variety. Additions to the Pelagos family include the Pelagos LHD (short for ‘left hand drive’) in 42 mm titanium case featuring a left-placed crown for left-handed users who wear their watches on the right, and the Pelagos FXD (short for ‘fixed’) in 42 mm titanium case with fixed bars for its strap, designed in collaboration with a specialist unit of the French Navy.

This year, Tudor introduces the Pelagos 39, a smaller-sized reference that adds dress watch-inspired versatility to the collection’s hard-wearing, tool watch expression.

With its 39 mm titanium case, the Pelagos 39 welcomes men with slimmer wrists as well as women into the fold.

The unisex appeal of the new model helps Tudor cast the net for a larger audience as the brand spreads its gospel of high-performance, high-value dive watches. Indeed, despite its more diminutive dimensions, the Pelagos 39 delivers the same uncompromising dive capabilities and features as the rest of the models in the collection.

In fact, the Pelagos 39 is an ISO standard-certified dive watch that promises reliability in areas of water resistance, legibility, and precision.

The watch guarantees 200 m water resistance and comes with luminescent monobloc hour markers that glow with uncompromising brightness in dark conditions, ensuring that it remains a trusty companion in ocean depths.

Outstanding technical features that, in all honesty, you will not need if your deep dives pertain solely to work e-mails. However, you can rest assured that all the Pelagos watches are ready and able if you ever decide to take the plunge for real.