Specifically engineered for riders of the TUDOR Pro Cycling Team, TUDOR is unveiling a brand new Pelagos FXD model: a cycling-themed chronograph made with light weight and functionality in mind. With a carbon composite case fitted with a high-performance Manufacture Calibre, this watch echoes the daring spirit of a team competing in some of the most challenging cycling races around the world, including, from 2024, the Giro d’Italia.
Professional cycling isn’t for the faint of heart. Riders’ bodies and minds are pushed to the absolute limit with every pedal stroke, not to mention the incredible danger of the sport. A watch engineered with professional cycling in mind needs to stand up to the extreme demands of the sport, while being easy for the rider to operate. It’s no secret that the fastest bikes are made of carbon fibre, and that’s why TUDOR opted for carbon composite for the case of the new chronograph designed with daring riders in mind. The implementation of titanium elements help make the watch necessarily robust, as it will certainly face the unpredictable conditions presented by cycling.
It’s not only the durability of the watch that was considered during its design phase. It’s also meant to be useful to riders while they’re putting in time on the bike. It’s typical for the tachymetric scale of a chronograph to be calibrated to the speeds an automobile is capable of; indeed, many TUDOR chronographs feature a scale typically associated with motorsport. What makes the “Cycling Edition” special is that the scale is presented in a way that’s suited for the speeds that cyclists can sustain. The chronograph scale is “wrapped” around the dial in a spiral, allowing the average speeds that cyclists routinely operate at to be read at a glance. The tachymeter function on the Pelagos FXD Chrono “Cycling Edition” has been specifically designed for cycling.
KEY POINTS
1. 43mm black matt-finished carbon composite case with fixed strap bars
2. Fixed bezel with 60-minute graduation
3. Cycling-specific tachymeter scale on dial
4. Black matt dial with luminescent ceramic composite monobloc applied hour markers
5. Manufacture Calibre MT5813 certified by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC) with a hairspring in silicon and a 70-hour power reserve
6. “Snowflake” hands, one of the hallmarks of the TUDOR divers’ watches introduced in 1969, with Grade X1 Swiss Super-LumiNova® luminous material
7. One-piece technical fabric strap in black with matching hardware
RACE READY DIALS
The matt black dial with red accents puts legibility first and foremost and is reminiscent of the TUDOR Pro Cycling Team colours. The signature square hour-markers and “Snowflake” hands, designed back in the sixties by TUDOR to offer larger luminous surfaces and thus improve legibility, are fashioned from luminescent ceramic composite for optimal legibility in challenging conditions. Around the circumference of the dial, printed on a 45°-angled rehaut, is a re-calibrated tachymeter scale whose inner ring focuses on the speeds that cyclists ride at.
A FABRIC STRAP FOR RIDING
The single-piece fabric strap is one of the hallmarks of TUDOR, which in 2010, became one of the first watchmaking brands to offer it with its watches. Woven in France on 19th century Jacquard looms by the Julien Faure company in the St-Etienne region, its manufacturing quality, robustness and comfort on the wrist are unique. For the Pelagos FXD models, a highly technical strap construction was developed by TUDOR and Julien Faure. Made up of a 22mm solid black jacquard-woven technical fabric and a traditional buckle, it’s perfect for putting in time on the bike.
MANUFACTURE CHRONOGRAPH CALIBRE MT5813
The Manufacture Calibre MT5813, powering the Pelagos FXD Chrono, displays hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph and date functions. It also bears the matt finish typical of TUDOR Manufacture Calibres and comes complete with a signature tungsten openwork monobloc rotor.
Boasting a “weekend-proof” 70-hour power reserve and a silicon balance spring, the Manufacture Chronograph Calibre MT5813 is certified by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC), with its performance exceeding the standards set by this independent institute at -2 and +4 seconds’ variation per day, tested on every fully assembled chronograph. A high-performance movement, it was crafted in the purest watchmaking tradition, with a column wheel mechanism and vertical clutch. In keeping with the TUDOR philosophy of quality, it presents extraordinary robustness and reliability, guaranteed by the array of extreme tests applied to all TUDOR products.
Derived from the Manufacture Calibre Breitling 01 chronograph, with a high-precision regulating organ developed by TUDOR and exclusive finishes, this movement is the result of a lasting collaboration between the two brands.
