Post by timelessluxwatches on Jan 16, 2016 12:20:41 GMT -6
Tudor Black Pelagos 2.0 Review
The Pelagos has been the standard bearer for Tudor's modern dive watches, the contemporary alternative to the brand's celebrated, but vintage, Black Bay. Unlike the Black Bay, the Pelagos has always featured cutting edge materials, like a ceramic bezel and titanium case. Stylistically, it's also been a watch with both feet planted firmly in the current era, yet it hasn't forgotten its Snowflake heritage. In 2015, Tudor released a new version of the Pelagos, with a blue dial and bezel, which was not only a different color, but brought a high-tech movement to match its new look. It took a while, but Tudor finally got around to updating the original black Pelagos as well, which is the one we're looking at today. But there's much more to the new Pelagos than the movement. Read on to learn more.
The Pelagos is a really interesting watch, and it only gets more interesting with this new 2.0. I say that because, long before it had this cool in-house movement, it was a watch that managed to be so thoroughly contemporary yet include a number of authentic heritage cues throughout. The hands and hour markers, for instance, are taken from one of Tudor's most beloved classics, the Snowflake of the late 1960s.
The case is also quite interesting. It's a hair larger than the Black Bay, but what's really impressive is that Tudor has smashed three different materials together. The bezel is made out of super scratch resistant ceramic, the case from lightweight titanium, and the case back from stainless steel. At 42mm, it's not a super light watch, at least not on the titanium bracelet, but neither is it super heavy. It's very well balanced. The back of the 2.0 is entirely new in this watch, apparently to accommodate the new movement.
The updates to the dial are small, but somewhat controversial. Most fans seem to prefer the new date placement at 3:00, replacing the shortened marker that used to live there, but they're somewhat split about the additional text at 6:00.
Naturally, the biggest and most important update to the Pelagos is the new movement. Because all Pelagoses have solid backs, I can't show you it, but here's a photo I took of the North Flag's movement (the MT-5621), which is nearly identical to the Pelagos' MT-5612. I'll be addressing the movement briefly in this article, but because I've already done a much more thorough review of it in my Blue Pelagos review, those looking for a refresher or a reference should check out that article.
Aside from the movement, the dial has received the most attention of this update. Before we address the differences between the Pelagos 2.0 and the original, let's just talk about it in isolation. It's mostly interesting as a study of contrasts, between this and the Black Bay. While both have a great deal of heritage, the Pelagos is not a vintage piece. Like other great, but contemporary, watches, like many Grand Seikos, for instance, it pays homage to its predecessors without looking out of place in the store windows of 2016.
The black Pelagos is the more serious of the two, and for those who are really into the tool watch look, this is probably the one to get. The lume is so powerful, however (and yes, we'll get to lume shots later), that it adds a nice blue tint to many elements strictly from luminescence.
The hands are one of the two main areas where you can really see the history and lineage of the watch. These are the famous Snowflake hands from the popular Tudor Submariners of the late '60s. They're named that, apparently, because of the crystalline shape which can resemble a snowflake. The white paint on the hands, as well as the white lume (glows blue) also helps give it a bit of a snowy association. History or not, they look terrific. Take note how the minute and hour hands have extremely different shapes. In the real world, when the lume has faded after a while, it can become difficult on some watches to tell the time at a glance because the hour and minute hands are just straight lines (for instance). That confusion can't happen here. It's stylistic, yes, but it has practical application.
The markers are another area where the Pelagos borrows from its ancestors. Interestingly, these are the "vintage" Snowflake markers, which the Black Bay doesn't receive. They get these markers right: a very precise application of a very large amount of luminous paint. It's not a complicated formula, but it works.
Alright, it's time to address the changes made to the dial from the original. Because there was no original blue model of the Pelagos (all blue Pelagoses are 2.0, basically), I chose to wait until this black 2.0 came out for the comparison. To do that, we have to look at the original model. The big differences are in the text on the dial and the date, so focus on those for a moment.
I suspect the date change was somewhat forced due to the new movement, which may have necessitated a different position. Still, the date is now placed quite perfectly, taking almost the exact same placement and dimensions as its neighboring hour markers. In 1.0, the date was closer to the center of the dial, and in its place was a truncated hour marker. There's nothing wrong with the original, but this is a slight improvement in my opinion.
The other important difference is the additional text here, and this decision has divided a number of fans. This may also be due to the new movement, which is a chronometer. Therefore, in typical Rolex fashion, the watch now gets Chronometer and Officially Certified, a choice which has oddly never been reported to Rolex's Department of Redundancy Department. This wouldn't have added so much except that they retained the also redundant "rotor self-winding" text and added the name of the watch itself to the top. Does it bother me? No, I got over this kind of redundancy as a Grand Seiko fan many years ago, but I do think this is the one area of the original that I prefer.
The lume is fantastic, as you'd expect. It's extremely bright and sharp, and I particularly appreciate the luminescent bezel. It really is one of the easiest watches to read at night. How's it compare to the original?
As far as I was able to tell, the lume was identical in every way, except you'll notice the marker at 3:00 on the original that the 2.0 lacks. The 1.0 has slightly more lume, but it's a bit awkward looking with the shortened marker.
Alongside the North Flag, this is about as "tool watch" as Tudor gets, and is a step up in seriousness, and subtlety, over the blue dial. Versus the original dial, I'd say it's about a wash, with more text than I'd like but better date placement.
The 42mm case is almost identical to the original, but did receive one update. Like the 1.0, it's a very interesting mix of materials in a very form follows function kind of design.
This photo shows the main reason the case is so interesting, the rare combination of materials. The bezel is, of course ceramic, which will fend off scratches, but to keep the watch reasonably light, the middle case is titanium. The back, interestingly, is stainless steel. Trying on the Pelagos is not like trying on a Grand Seiko Snowflake, which feels like wearing nothing. This is simply a watch that's lighter than it looks, and it's about perfect for me. I tend not to like the weight of titanium watches, preferring a little heft, but the Pelagos is not so light as to feel weird or unusual.
The ceramic bezel is excellent, with a very refined feel to it. It's loud, but it's a very clear, precise sound. It's not the buttery smooth kind of feel you get from a Grand Seiko SBGA029, for instance, this has a much more industrial feel to it with very clearly defined detents. Of course, another great feature is that it's highly luminescent.
The profile shows the helium escape valve, the only Tudor model to offer this feature.
The titanium bracelet is excellent and highly sophisticated, but in terms of looks, I prefer it on the rubber strap. Quite conveniently, Tudor throws both in with every watch
The crown is always one of my favorite parts of Tudor as they seem to pay more attention to it than most companies. This one is emblazoned with the Tudor shield, a logo that's been in use for a very long time at the company, but seems to be used today to signify their more modern pieces. It appears to be titanium, like the rest of the case, with a nice, dark gray look.
Naturally, the crown screws down, securing the Pelagos for 500 meters, the greatest depth Tudor offers.
The Pelagos 2.0, which we're looking at now, also received an updated case back. This one is a bit wider (insofar as the extended section is wider, you'll see what I mean when you compare it to the next photo) in the convex portion and also has unique in-house movement writing on it.
Here's the original's back, which is much more generic. Which is better? Well, honestly, it makes no difference to me. I just wish we could see the MT-5612 inside.
Naturally, the main reason for the update is the totally new in-house MT-5612 movement, which, alongside the almost identical MT-5621 in the North Flag, is the first in-house movement Tudor has ever made. For this section I'll be using photos from the North Flag, merely because it has a display back. The movement inside the Pelagos is virtually identical (the only the difference being a power reserve complication) so this is what you'd see if you took the back off of your new Pelagos. Because I've reviewed the movement in the Blue Pelagos in-depth already, I'd say check out that review if you want a refresher, as I'll just be doing an overview in this article instead of just copying it over here.
This is the most important part of the MT-5612, or really, any mechanical watch movement. This group of components, namely the escape wheel, pallet fork, balance wheel and hairspring, are the components that are ultimately responsible for timekeeping. Being a chronometer, precise timekeeping is paramount, so Tudor's new in-house movement has borrowed a great deal of Rolex design, improving it where they can.
The MT-5612 has gone with the free sprung balance approach, which at least in the realm of Swiss watches, has become the favorite of high-end watchmakers and has been widely adopted by Rolex and Omega, as well as Patek and Audemars Piguet, among several others. Also borrowed from Rolex is the balance bridge, securing the balance wheel by two points, as opposed to the much more common balance cock. By far the most interesting addition here, however, is the silicon hairspring, which is immune to magnetism. Omega is the only company to really make a full scale transition to silicon hairsprings, and Rolex has only just recently begun to use them. Even then, they’re almost entirely in their models aimed at women (with the exception of the smaller new Yacht-Master).
The rotor is skeletonized, ostensibly to show off the movement underneath, although it's not particularly decorated. Of course, this won't matter much for the Pelagos, which has a solid back, but still, a nice touch.
The Tudor MT-5612 is really an amazing movement, particularly in that it can offer both a 70 hour power reserve and chronometer certification from a big brand name at this price range. This alone makes the new Pelagos worth the upgrade in my book.
The Pelagos 2.0 doesn't mess too much with success. The original Pelagos was a big hit and, aside from two small modifications on the dial and a new case back, they didn't deviate from the formula. That was a wise decision.
The Pelagos' combination of contemporary tool watch looks with important cues from the brand's history is a very effective one. If you're looking for a "serious" dive watch, the black Pelagos is really your go-to model from Tudor, as it lacks the playful blue color of the other Pelagos or the vintage styling, and lower water resistance, of the Black Bay.
Would I take it over the original Pelagos? In a heartbeat. While I'm not in love with the additional text (although I somewhat prefer the new date placement), the new movement is reason enough to upgrade. It's not merely the fact that it's in-house that motivates the fans, it's that it is an extremely sophisticated movement. On a functional level, it really is up there with the best of them.
The new Pelagos is certainly one of my favorite dive watches from any brand, but that said, I think I still prefer the blue model a little more. Tastes were very divided on the blue Pelagos, so I suspect most readers will know immediately which one they like more. I will concede that the black Pelagos is far more versatile, however, so if you want to wear it to the office every day, it's going to be a lot subtler. If you like the old model, you're not out of luck, at least not at the time of this writing, as not all of them have been sold yet, but if you prefer the old one, you probably shouldn't wait too long.
So what do you think? Blue Pelagos, Black Pelagos 2.0, or the original Black Pelagos?
