Tudor has announced the release of a special FXD chronograph.
The Pelagos FXD Chrono Tudor Pro Cycling Team Edition is dedicated to the brand's partnership with the Tudor Pro Cycling Team (a Swiss professional road cycling team participating in the UCI Europe Tour). You might experience a sense of déjà vu with this latest release from Tudor. It initially reminded me of the Tudor Pelagos FXD Chronograph Alinghi Red Bull, launched last year.
It seems that (for now) Tudor is using the FXD chronograph platform to emphasize the brand's connection with various sporting events. From a design perspective, this makes perfect sense. Tudor focuses on its robust 43mm chronograph for various sports, aligning with the brand's broader appeal.
Pelagos FXD Chrono Pro Cycling Edition
Today's release builds on this initial platform. This time, Tudor celebrates its partnership with the Tudor Pro Cycling team in Switzerland. Starting this year, the Tudor Pro Cycling team will participate in the Giro d'Italia, one of the world's greatest cycling races. Now let's look at the watch: the Pelagos FXD Chrono Tudor Pro Cycling Team Edition features the same 43mm case size, carbon composite case, and fixed strap lugs.
The fixed bezel with a 60-minute elapsed time scale. Water resistance of 100 meters, in case you ever find yourself cycling beneath the ocean (the Red Bull model had 200 meters). Jokes aside, the main purpose of the watch - water resistance - makes perfect sense. However, it's still strange that a watch named Pelagos doesn't have sufficient water resistance, especially considering its predecessor under the Alinghi brand had a 200m rating.
Matte black dial with numerous luminescent markers made from ceramic composite. The luminescent material is Super-Luminova X1 class. Inside is the Tudor MT5813 caliber, a certified chronometer. The caliber is equipped with a silicon spring and a 70-hour power reserve. Speaking of COSC certification: as with many other modern Tudor models, this mechanism actually exceeds COSC parameters. This specific caliber was adjusted to an accuracy of -2 to +4 seconds per day, which was verified on each fully assembled chronograph. The FXD chronograph comes with a beautiful all-black fabric strap from Julien Faure of Saint-Étienne, who has been producing fabric straps for Tudor since 2010, using 19th-century Jacquard looms.
Tudor, Designed for Cycling
The Pelagos FXD Chrono Tudor Pro Cycling Team Edition stands out with a thoughtful design. For decades, tachymetric scales were developed to determine speed in car racing. This led to iconic watch models amidst the fierce competition of the golden age of motorsport from the 1950s through the 1970s.
But today's Tudor is different: Part of the tachymeter function was specifically designed to measure cyclists' speed. This scale is neatly arranged along the edge of the dial, providing a pleasant visual balance and readability for a cyclist moving at speed. The tachymeter text is applied on the watch's rehaut at a 45-degree angle, which likely improves readability. Three different concentric red rings with white numbers display this information. The red text “units per hour” truly adds an extra racing flair. For cyclists, this inner ring focuses on riding speed.
First Impressions of Pelagos FXD Chrono Pro Cycling Edition
The use of a matte black background with white markers and red elements creates an undoubtedly very readable design. And it's not the first time the brand has used such a bold trio of colors. The Tudor Black Shield Fastrider chronograph comes to mind, which belongs to the era preceding the resounding success of the Black Bay line.
First impression? I find this release much more appealing than the previous Red Bull version. It is explained by numerous reasons. Firstly, the branding here is much more subtle, highlighting practical design changes in favor of the cycling team. Secondly, the color scheme of these watches is bold and evokes associations with military equipment thanks to the black case with a small amount of red. And finally, the watch design is timeless, meaning they should look just as good in the coming decades.
Final Thoughts
The Tudor Pelagos FXD Chrono Cycling Edition is a special but not limited series. To get your hands on it, you will have to pay 5,390 euros (the exact price of the Alinghi Red Bull Racing FXD chronograph). Honestly, I really like this release from Tudor. If I were looking for a lightweight, sporty chronograph, it would hold an important place on my list. Besides the backstory, which is very interesting, it's a reliable design that seems honest to the brand's tool watches with a subtle and functional cycling-oriented twist. If you want to learn more about them, visit the Tudor website.
These are my thoughts, friends. I would like to hear your opinion on these Pelagos FXD Chrono Tudor Pro Cycling Team Edition watches. I think Tudor's decision to make design elements reflecting the use of the watch in cycling is pretty cool. Let me know what you think in our Telegram channel.