HANDS-ON: The Tudor Pelagos Blue (ref 25600TB)

The Story in a second:

The perennial question for Tudor lovers has always been ‘Black Bay or Pelagos?’ Well, with a bright blue makeover and some impressive changes under the hood that question just got a lot harder to answer.

Tudor made big news at Baselworld with the introduction of their in-house flagship, the North Flag – but the watch that will make many ‘best of’ lists is a refreshing line extension of the Pelagos.

Since its introduction in 2012 the Pelagos has easily been Tudor’s most technical watch. Boasting an extensive laundry list of features including a 42mm satin finished titanium case, ceramic bezel, helium escape valve, 500m water resistance and impressive self-adjusting clasp. The Pelagos has always offered a lot of bang for buck. But if you bought one just before Baselworld this year there’s a good chance you’re kicking yourself right now, because the Pelagos just got better.

For starters it now comes in blue. This is perhaps the most expected watch news ever. Ever since we saw that snowflake hour hand we’ve been crying out for a blue version. The big surprise is that the Pelagos will now come equipped with Tudor’s brand spanking new in-house movement – the MT5612 (essentially the same movement as the North Flag, sans power reserve). So, instead of a standard ETA powering your watch, you now get a COSC certified movement with 70 hours of power reserve. That’s impressive. Especially when you consider that you’re only paying a 250 CHF premium for the in-house tech.

But it’s not just the insides of the Pelagos that got an update – there are some major (and minor) cosmetic changes too. Firstly, that blue. The matt blue of the Pelagos isn’t the cool, icy midnight blue of the Heritage Black Bay Blue, but rather a bright, almost azure blue that is reminiscent of the Aegean Sea and white beaches. It gives the watch a distinctly casual, summery feel. And while the black version can blend in and manage to look fairly unobtrusive with a suit, there’s no missing the blue. For some this lack of versatility will be a deal breaker. There are other changes too – most notably significant increases to the amount of dial text. Firstly, ‘Pelagos’ is now on the dial, as is the COSC text, bringing it up to a total of four lines. That’s Rolex Submariner territory. Another minor change is the slightly changed position of the date window, only obvious because the luminous pip at three has now disappeared from the chapter ring. Overall Tudor have done a very good job in preserving the cleanliness of the dial, which is still wonderfully rich to look at thanks to the iconic handset and raised chapter ring.

The Tudor Pelagos Blue is (to mis-quote a former Aussie PM) the Pelagos we had to have. But I don’t think anyone expected this technical dive watch to get such a significant upgrade and remain so competitively priced at 4200 CHF. For many the question has now changed from ‘Black Bay or Pelagos?’ to ‘Pelagos or Submariner?’

Tudor Pelagos Blue pricing and availability

The new Pelagos will have a retail of 4200 CHF (inc VAT) and be available from July.