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Introducing the Tudor x Marine Nationale Pelagos FXD
News
Introducing the Tudor x Marine Nationale Pelagos FXD
Tudor began working with the French navy in 1956. Groupe d’Étude et de Recherches Sous-Marines (G.E.R.S.) was a scientific wing of the French Navy that took delivery of a batch of Tudor Submariners to test them in the field. The two references that they first tested were the self-winding 7922 and an unusual manual wind reference 7923. Both were waterproof to 100 metres. Following rigorous testing by the MN, the watches were deemed “perfect” by the G.E.R.S. Following these trails, Tudor became an official supplier to the French Navy in 1961 and continued officially supplying the navy with Submariner watches until the early to mid 1980s.
The bezel is something new for Pelagos. It is deliberately wider than the case to allow for easier operation by the commandos. It is also bi-directional which means that the watch doesn’t meet the criteria for the ISO 6425:2018 standard for dive watches, but then it isn’t meant to. It has been devised to be used by Commando Hubert divers for underwater navigation. For this purpose, the bezel has a retrograde reading on it, as it is a countdown bezel, not for measuring elapsed time. The underwater navigation takes place at a shallow depth (hence the 200m waterproofness of the FXD) with divers working in pairs, connected by a ‘lifeline’. One diver sets the course on a compass and the other diver times the swim exactly using his watch. The course is predetermined before the mission with a set number of swims in precise directions. The Important part is timing each leg of journey, which is why the bi-directional countdown is key to the watch’s function for this application.
Tech Specs
Case: 42mm brushed titanium with fixed strap bars.
Dial and bezel: Blue with snowflake hands and bi-directional countdown bezel insert in ceramic.
Movement: Manufacture calibre MT5602 automatic movement that is COSC certified.
Strap: Comes with navy woven strap with new Velcro fastening system and additional blue rubber strap with woven motif.
Price: USD 3,900/CHF 3,700/SGD 5,370
Learn more about Tudor’s historical partnership with the Marine Nationale, here.