Tudor Introduces The New Pelagos FXD GMT ‘Zulu Time’

The Pelagos FXD was originally created in partnership with the French navy and specifically, with its team of combat swimmers. The watch is something of an anomaly as a dive watch as it does not have a count-up bezel; instead, the FXD has a countdown bezel, which lets you count down any interval of time up to 60 minutes. The countdown bezel is meant to be used for underwater navigation and specifically, for underwater dead reckoning, when a route is planned along waypoints meant to be traversed at a certain speed and for a certain time. The new FXD (which stands for FiXeD, meaning the fixed lugs of the watch) introduces a GMT function to the line, and is the very first non-diver Pelagos.

Tudor says that the watch is designed to meet the needs of the French navy’s air arm, or Aéronautique Navale, which is currently represented by the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, the only nuclear powered catapult-assisted flattop outside of the US Navy, as well as three helicopter carriers designed to support amphibious landings. The name “Zulu Time” refers to military zulu time, which is equivalent to GMT/UTC (Greenwich Mean Time/Universal Time Coordinated; it is so called because it has a zero or “zulu” offset from GMT). This is the time standard used for all military and civil flight operations as a single time standard is essential for aircraft crossing multiple time zones (you can imagine what a charlie foxtrot you’d have on your hands if you didn’t have a single time standard, and I bet you can imagine what charlie foxtrot stands for too).

The watch is structurally identical to previous Pelagos models; the case is grade 2 titanium with a grade 5 caseback, 42mm x 12.7mm, and the caseback is engraved with the Aéronautique Navale logo as well as M.N.24, which stands for Marine Nationale and the year 2024.

The lugs are fixed as always (it wouldn’t be an FXD if they weren’t) and water resistance as usual for the FXD family, is 200 meters.

The bezel is titanium as well, with a matte black ceramic insert.

The First Pelagos Master Chronometer

Aside from the GMT complication, the other big news about the FXD GMT is that it is the first Pelagos to be Master Chronometer certified; Master Chronometer certification as you’ll probably remember, is administered by METAS, the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology. It includes chronometer certification by the COSC but also has additional stipulations and requirements, the most notable of which is that any Master Chronometer watch must be able to resist magnetic fields as strong as 15,000 gauss. The movement is the Tudor Manufacture Calibre MT5652-U, which is equipped with a silicon balance spring and has a 65 hour power reserve.

The lume on the dial is beige, which is a little lower contrast than white on black; it seems obvious that here it’s not particularly meant to be a nod to vintage Pelagos watches because there are not any. It may be that for daytime flight ops in bright sunlight, beige is easier on the eyes. This is the same lume color that Tudor used in the Pelagos LHD, though, and that was intended as a reference to vintage Tudor divers made for the French navy; specifically, references 9401 and 9411. Interestingly enough, the lume is uniformly beige under daylight but Tudor has opted for two different colors for nighttime – the hands and markers for the local time glow blue but the GMT functions, including the bezel and independently settable 24 hour hand, glow green. As is the case with other Tudor GMT models as well as the Rolex GMT Master, you can track time in up to three different time zones.

The pass through polyester strap is like all Tudor fabric straps, produced in France on antique Jacquard looms by Julien Faure in St. Etienne. I have one on an original Black Bay from 2015 and can attest to its durability; it shows no sign of slowing down. The strap is the same color as flight suits worn by French naval aviators.

This looks like an instant home run for Tudor; a tough, full-spec watch with a very useful modern complication and Master Chronometer certification to boot. Tudor is certainly not averse to occasionally taking risks (this is after all the company that makes a dive watch in sterling silver) but this latest addition to the Pelagos family is I think going to be very much in demand; normally I make predictions with some caution and caveats but in this case I feel pretty safe in saying that this is going to be a big hit for Tudor. On top of everything else, the price is very approachable – $4625. Unless you have an aversion to the case size, this is going to be on anyone’s short list of GMT watches to consider.

The Pelagos FXD GMT ‘Zulu Time’ – case, 42mm x 12.7mm, grade 2 titanium body and grade 5 caseback, with fixed strap bars. Supplied with a pass-through fabric strap with titanium pin buckle. Water resistance, 200M, Master Chronometer/METAS certified to 0/+5 seconds per day maximum deviation in rate; movement, Tudor caliber MT5652-U, with silicon balance spring and 65 hour power reserve. Bezel, titanium with black ceramic insert. Price, $4625; for more info visit Tudorwatch.com.