Tudor Pelagos FXD GMT: A real statement from Rolex stablemate

In the realm of watches at least, we are truly living in a Tudor period. Not ‘Wolf Hall’ Tudor, as was the inspiration for Rolex’s anglophile founder Hans Wilsdorf when he registered his more affordable sub-brand; rather, a period that sees Tudor established distinct from its once-big brother. The new Pelagos FXD GMT proves this with all the pomp of a royally decreed divorce or beheading.

Lending more credence than any crown could bestow, the Pelagos FXD has, since its launch in 2021, been specced alongside and subsequently deployed on the wrists of the crack frogmen of the French Navy’s Marine Nationale – just as Tudor’s early version of Rolex’s Submariner was, back in the 1960s (a legacy that informs the brand’s more ‘fashion-forward’ Black Bay collection).

The vowel-less contraction of ‘fixed’ refers to the Pelagos diving watch’s ‘lugs’ or ‘horns’ protruding at 12 and 6 o’clock. Normally holding the bracelet or strap in place via a sprung bar, the difference here is that the case, lugs and bar are all machined from a single, monobloc of titanium, for ultimate rigidity. What’s extra different is the addition of Tudor’s in-house-developed ‘GMT’ second time-zone functionality. 

It’s a daredevil switch-up, aesthetically, that’s for sure, but also an affirmation that – along with purpose-built manufacturing premises in Le Locle, up in the Jura mountains – Tudor is a brand in its own right. It has a coherent catalogue whose stall sets out one thing: the best-possible watch at the best-possible price. More pertinently, its a nautical mile from ‘the cheaper Rolex’.

It’s also high time (so to speak) that the utilitarian modernity of Pelagos was heard over the restless buzz of Black Bay’s various retro iterations (despite both being launched in 2012). Now, its rocksolid breed of combat swimmer crosses time zones and date lines with ease, thanks to the dive-time bezel swapping 12 hours for 24, with the addition of a 24-hours hand. 

So, like its Rolex GMT-Master II cousin, ‘home time’ can be tracked abroad via the latter, while a third time can be aligned to local hours via the bezel.

Needless to say, all the other bells and whistles we’ve come to expect from Tudor are present and correct: in-house-manufactured mechanics certified to ‘chronometer’ precision and a ‘weekend proof’ 70 hours per full wind, complete with five-year warranty. 

• £4,000 – BUY IT HERE