Tudor Introduces New Pelagos FXD in Black

Tudor expands their FXD family today with a new regular production reference that features a black dial and bezel. The watch follows the same formula as the Marine Nationale FXD that was released in late 2021, a flat 12.7mm thick, 42mm titanium case with a fixed lug design. There are a few changes here worth noting, however, and this might just be the most approachable FXD to date. While there is no official affiliation with this watch, the latest FXD was released alongside a display of the brand’s rich history in issued watches, right next to the original Sealab I at the Man In The Sea museum in Panama City Florida. 

The setting is a fitting reminder of the remarkable Sealab program, and an era when watches like this were used as indispensable tools, the same as a compass or knife. This the spirit of the FXD and even the broader Pelagos collection as a whole, and as such we’ll be putting the new watch through its paces on a dive in the Gulf of Mexico, keep an eye out for the full report from the experience coming soon.

The black FXD welcomes the same bit of red text at the bottom of the dial that we saw in the Pelagos 39 released last year. It provides the same benefit here, serving to reduce the visual weight of the 4 lines of text at the bottom of the dial. The matte black dial is joined by a matte black bezel insert (no sunburst pattern here), and the bezel is the biggest departure from the original FXD. Rather than counting down, and bi-directional (features done for the benefit of the Marine Nationale), the black FXD uses a more traditional elapsed time bezel, which turns in a single direction. 

Additionally, there is a new strap offered here that’s a base khaki color with a single red stripe down its center. Much like the Red Bull Alinghi Racing FXD watches released earlier this year, the hook and loop portions of the strap feel much more robust than the original FXD. It threads through the fixed lug design, which remains unchanged. 

Inside, Tudor is still using their manufacture caliber MT5602, which has the same snappiness in the winding that we enjoy across the Pelagos range. It is COSC certified, though not METAS as we suspected we might see in this release. It remains to be seen how we’ll see that standard rolled into their modern dive watch range. 

The Tudor Pelagos FXD black is available now from Tudor retailers, at the price of $4,150, and it ships with an additional black rubber pass through strap. We’ll have much more on this watch and the experience of dicing with it in the coming days so stay tuned for much more on this one. Until then, learn more at Tudor.