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HANDS-ON: The Tudor North Flag (with in-house MT5621 movement) HANDS-ON: The Tudor North Flag (with in-house MT5621 movement)

HANDS-ON: The Tudor North Flag (with in-house MT5621 movement)

Felix Scholz

The story in a second:

The Tudor North Flag is the first Tudor with an in-house movement, the first with a sapphire caseback and the first you can put down on Friday and pick up on Monday still ticking. Boom.

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Since 2012, Tudor have given the best  Basel buzz. So when we received a mysterious invite to get a sneak peak at the new watch we weren’t entirely surprised when it started with a convoy of Defenders and ended with a smoke-filled tent and a bar stocked with vintage rum in the middle of the woods. All leaning towards the release of another Heritage piece. And that would follow, given they’ve had such success with the Heritage collection over the last three years. The Black Bay Red, the Black Bay Blue, the Ranger…

But we were headed in the wrong direction – after bumping through paddocks outside Basel, we ended up at the North Flag.

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The North Flag is definitely not a heritage piece, even though it makes a few nods to the past. In fact, give it a casual glance and you’d be forgiven that Tudor have released another sporty three-hander. Nothing special.

 

But the bright yellow power reserve disc should give you a hint, the dial text at six is a bigger clue. And flipping it over and seeing the unprecedented (for Tudor) sapphire caseback totally gives the game away. The North Flag is the first Tudor to be powered by an in-house movement.
For years the value proposition of Tudor has been Rolex relation, ETA movement, good design, very strong legacy game for those that cared to ask. The North Flag entirely changes this proposition. In fact it represents a significant change in Tudor’s strategic direction. In what Tudor describe as that “first stage in a major industrial strategy aiming to provide greater independence to the brand” the North Flag is powered by the in-house MT5621.

Tudor-North-Flag-MT5621-movement
The MT5621 is impressive, particularly the 70 hours power reserve and silicon balance (which isn’t the same as the Rolex Syloxi silicon in case you were wondering), oh and the movement is COSC certified. The biggest news here is that Tudor have done very well to stay within their price-point – even with an in-house movement. No word on official Australian pricing yet, but on leather the watch will be 3,400 CHF (inc VAT), and 3,500 on a bracelet. That’s a good price for a whole lot of watch.

But the watch is more than the sum of its movement parts. There’s the style of it, too. Tudor have created the sort of watch they do best, a good-looking sports styled three hander. A watch that fits into the now customary fictional/aspirational universe of Tudor, where men wrestle wolves, speed across volcanic landscape, or, as appears to be the case with the North Flag, scale icy crevasses in the name of discovery.

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The Ranger II (image via tz-uk.com)

The North Flag represents the future of Tudor, as it forges new pieces to add to their Heritage collection. Having said that there’s a good dose of Ranger in the mix – particularly in the hands. The first thing I thought of when I saw the press shots of the North Flag was ‘Ranger II’. The Ranger II is a fairly obscure 1973 version of the original Ranger, using the same integrated lugs as the Rolex Oysterquartz.

Tudor have revitalised this case design on the North Flag, and I suspect it will be the major stumbling block for people getting this watch. For some reason people have a love/hate relationship with integrated lugs. But aside from this foible – which doesn’t bother me in the slightest, it’s just a different shape, the 40mm case is sharp. Clean lines and crisp angles make it wear very nicely. And the case construction is far from simple either – the bezel is a double ceramic/steel number. The crown is big, but designed with comfort and function in mind. The watch comes on a sporty textured leather strap with yellow stitching, or a h-link monobloc tapered bracelet.

Tudor-North-Flag-Strap

The final point to make about the MT5621 movement is how it looks. It is finished fairly simply, which is in line with both the price and the strong tool watch vibe of the piece. But the movement design is well beyond utilitarian – note the interesting bridge architecture and a cut-out rotor. No wonder they broke with tradition to show it off with a sapphire caseback.

The North Flag is a very ‘now’ Tudor watch, and while not everyone will warm to the design, that’s somewhat missing the point. For Tudor to release an in-house movement is impressive, but to deliver such an impressive movement that is deliberately not a rebranded Rolex movement clearly demonstrates that Tudor are scaling up their independence in a big way.

Tudor North Flag Pricing

The North Flag will retail for 3400 CHF on leather and 3500 CHF on steel – including VAT. Australian pricing to follow.

Specifications

Brand

Tudor

Model

North Flag

Reference No

91210N

Case Size

40mm

Case Material

316L stainless steel, satin finish

Dial

black, matt finish

Strap

316L satin finished steel bracelet or black leather strap with yellow stitching and lining

Movement

MT5621 manufacture movement, COSC certified, 70 hours power reserve, variable inertia balance and silicon balance spring

Functions

Power reserve disc and instantaneous date

Bezel

Double bezel in steel and matt black ceramic