Reply With QuoteThanks for posting, in the near future I intend chucking my Submariner on to SC and buying a Pelagos as it seems to be the tool watch that Rolex should have made had they not gone down the bling it up route...
Tudor Pelagos
This is my first "expensive" watch I guess, everything before it has been around the £500 to £800 mark which to me was expensive in itself but I always intended to get something from the Rolex umbrella in time as I do love some of their designs and the attention to details in various areas (knurling fine detail, glidelock clasp, machining quality in the satin finishes of the metals etc etc).
Anyway, I've owned and worn this daily for several weeks now and I have to say I have not missed wearing my other watches much at all. I sold both the blue modded 39mm Longines Hydro Conquest and a blue Halios Tropik SS in mint condition to very happy owners, one of which is in Hawaii! I feel now is a good time to write about my experience with the Pelagos and why I chose it instead of going the popular route and what many were suggesting elsewhere in a Seamaster or Sub in one guise or another.
I was initially made aware of the Pelagos on another forum, someone posted a picture of their new acquisition and I loved how it looked. It was completely different in direction to my then SS and Hydro, both those watches employed a stand-out yet elegant design that would draw attention to themselves grabbing compliments and comments whenever someone took a glance. I've always wanted a "tool" watch, something I could wear daily without it standing out too much but something that had amazing attention to detail without being too big or too small. The Pelagos is 42mm and my Hydro was 39mm, for that watch 39 was just right for my wrist and I've had 42mm divers before (Orient Mako Pro) and found it to be a bit too bulky for me. The Tropik was 41mm so a bit smaller and better but it was a thick watch what with that domed crystal sticking out a good few mm and that cushion casing. it looked beautiful though:
I did some further research and saw the lugs of the Pelagos were much flatter in-line with the case than I imagined it would be, I've seen similar dive watches before and found them to be a bit big wearing on my wrist because the lugs didn't curve down wrapping around the top of my wrist. At this point I almost disregarded the Tudor based on this alone as I didn't want a watch that didn't wear right on my wrist.
On a whim I looked around locally to see if there was an AD I could visit to see it in person, there's only so much information you can gather online about a watch and ultimately it has to be seen and worn in the flesh to get a feel for it. I found a dealer who was asking full whack retail for one and they only had the one in. I took a trip over at lunch during a work day and the girl at the dealer ushered me to take a seat and she'll bring it right over. I noticed she was wearing a red Black Bay, it too looked stunning and my excitement grew. So excited in fact that I bungled the name of the Pelagos but being quick on my feet I recovered from my error by saying "Oh sorry I heard the Americans pronounce it Pelajios", I was safe once again.
I should add that up until now I really knew nothing about Tudor as a brand. I had no idea they were owned by Rolex and had been in business producing Submariners for the Military from way back. My research brought up everything I needed to know. I didn't care that the movement wasn't in house. I've had watches with the same 2824-2 movement before and found them to be very accurate (+1-2s a day after a year~ of use) and no problems to note anywhere else.
When I held the Pelagos I was amazed at how light it weighed. Compared to the smaller Hydro Conquest this was lighter and had a much more military "tool" approach to every part of it from the sharp creases to the satin finish on the Titanium. As the ambient air reacts with the surface of the Titanium it creates a very fine layer that has a certain look to it up close, I like that, it gives a machine like look to it which just looks professional and all round high quality. In the AD I didn't notice details I'll mention later on but I knew already I'd be walking out of there with a lighter wallet. I asked the girl about the Black Bay she was wearing, she said it was her own and some random chat followed. I think it's nice to see clerks who enjoy their job and have a vested interest in what they do too this way.
Fast forward to now and I've not regretted buying this watch. Relative to what I've owned before this is a huge amount of money to spend on a single watch but honestly I think it has been worth it. I never thought I'd get rid of the Hydro Conquest because it's such an elegant watch and has a unique style to it but the Pelagos changed all that, i is my only watch and by all accounts it will remain so for many years to come. Reading other forums it does seem the Pelagos will remain current even in 3-5 years time. I mean, what could Tudor change on it?
I've been wearing both rubber and bracelet and they both have their uses. I've also bought a couple of Nato straps for it, a Time Factors dark grey with new hardware, a black Maratac and I've got an Olive Dievas G10 on the way. The bracelet is amazing. I saw a video of the clasp mechanism before buying the watch and just had to have some of that. It works really well and on warm days the auto adjust mode is on whereas colder days I can switch it to one of the 3 presets. Excellent for comfort and flexibility. It's nice to see this clasp is unique to the Pelagos too, no other watch has it and according to the girl at the AD, she said they asked Rolex why it doesn't feature on the other watches in the range and Rolex said it was because they wanted to keep that unique only to the Pelagos.
My piece appears to be keeping decent time.. It's around 8 seconds ahead per day and I recall my Hydro Conquest being 6 seconds ahead when it was new before settling into +1-2s. I fully expect this will settle into something similar in a year or so.
The Titanium case and bracelet as mentioned are really excellent but they do scratch easily. Thankfully I've got some pads to restore the original condition if that happens and I've done this twice already after scratching the clasp while helping someone jack up their car... Good thing Titanium is easy to work with during restoration :)
I love how the Bezel clicks, lots of feedback even if it's 60 clicks only. Once the zero point reaches 12 the feedback is one click louder and it locks in place at 12 to prevent overshooting, this is a nice feature I thought, not seen it on any other diver before. I also love the knurling detail on bezel, crown and case back. The crystal isn't double AR coated but it is very legible and I can't tell much difference between it and say an SMP with double sided AR coating. The dial looks like it is floating on the glass from a low angle too which is neat.
The lume is really good too. My Hydro Conquest had the lume upgraded by a guy in MI, USA. It was very bright after the mod and very blue but the Pelagos is much brighter and lasts longer. It gives my friend's Lumtec a run for its money!
Other things I have noticed are on the bracelet, the Tudor references in the engineered design of the components is really amazing:
I also like how the buckle on the rubber strap is shaped like the Tudor Shield and also Titanium:
And how the clasp lock mechanism has white ceramic ball bearing to securely lock the clasp in both places:
I think to finish off all I can say is that I enjoy looking at the Pelagos not just to tell the time but to appreciate the little details that make it all up and it's things like that which make the cost seem completely worth it. Isn't that what it should be about?
Sorry if some of that has been a wafflefest, maybe some will find it useful or maybe not, just my few pence!
Edit*
And here's how it looks on an Olive G10 from Dievas (via Gnomon Watches):
Last edited by robbiekhan; 29th November 2014 at 11:04.
Thanks for posting, in the near future I intend chucking my Submariner on to SC and buying a Pelagos as it seems to be the tool watch that Rolex should have made had they not gone down the bling it up route...
A very interesting read and great pictures. Thanks for posting.
Enjoy that beauty :-)
Excellent post, enjoyed the detail in your description the Pelagos and the photo's were pretty damn good too - I gotta try one of these sometime.
Thanks folks!
It's one of those watches where even though you read about stuff on it online you still discover cool things some time into ownership. I think that hallmarks a good watch whether it be cheap or expensive. It becomes more than just a watch and indeed I suppose most of us buy them for specific reasons, for me it's those little details that are otherwise discreet :)
Good review, I have the Pelagos in mind as a retirement present to myself.
The more I see of it the more I like.
Great post, many thanks.
I've been thinking about a Pelagos for ages and have tried it on a few times already :-), and your thread isn't going to help my bank account ;-)
Great review Robbie, but more than that you also clearly know your way around a camera! A whole heap of great shots, easily some of the best I've seen of the Pelagos - pro standard, (I'm guessing you are a pro!?).
Rob
I wouldn't call myself a pro as I don't work full time behind a camera but I do freelance work here and there as well as my own projects!
Today I had the TF Nato on it and during a Sharepoint meeting, one of our developers kept glancing at it, he had an orange G-Shock on :p
Nice review, the devil is in the details and I enjoyed reading about them, Thanks Robbie.
Most welcome!
Originally Posted by robbiekhan
Don't want to throw your thread too far off topic, but some great shots on your Flickr Robbie - good work!
Thanks! It's an ongoing accumulation of everything I do outside of the day job I suppose :p Been an awesome freelance hobby so far, has taken me to Pakistan, Finland (Igloo Village, saw the Aurora 4 nights in a row!), Around Europe, Canada for a wedding shoot... Who knows what's to come :D
I'm with you entirely. I feel my Subc is far too blingy for an everyday watch, maybe mine will also be in the SC someday soon swiftly followed by the Pelagos.Thanks for posting, in the near future I intend chucking my Submariner on to SC and buying a Pelagos as it seems to be the tool watch that Rolex should have made had they not gone down the bling it up route...
Fantastic post OP, however you're not helping me in bonding with my current 'one' watch
Haha sorry!
Although it's ok for me, I have found my "one" watch :D
Excellent pics and write up!
I never took mine off the bracelet and if Eddies new Nato was out at the time I may have ended up keeping it. I'm not even sure why I got rid to be honest :(
Pete
Do you have a link to Eddie's new nato?
You got rid of a Pelagos? You crazy!
Its the one in your photo I believe, a lovely bluey grey colour - currently have it on a PRS-82 and an Everest :)
It suits the Pelagos perfectly with that lume too, enjoy!
Ohhh the TF new Nato, I thought there was a New "new" one out or something :p
Love the photos and review and have tried this on numerous times over the last two months and what a watch for the money.
My daily wearer is a 42mm polar explorer and this is going to be my next purchase and i can understand how this is the only watch you would ever need.(Better IMHO than the too small Sub)
I have noticed the Titanium bracelet marked already on a few shop examples and that would be my only concern.
Enjoy a classic.
what a bloody great review
Cheers!
Yeah the Ti does mark easily, one of the drawbacks of the material sadly but on the upshot it's very easy to unmark too unlike stainless steel which requires a bit more effort!
What a beauty...enjoy it and thank you for sharring your impressions.
Thanks for your review,
Really like these, Going to Vagas in the new year, hoping to find an outlet with
good prices.
I am just back from Vegas where I tried a few on. The exchange rate isn't too favorable at present. Price was coming in at roughly £2500 if I remember correctly. So still a saving over UK RRP prices but perhaps not the saving you'd expect.
Thanks all! I knew there were a few fans of the Pelagos about but it seems everywhere I go now people do seem to appreciate it both online and offline! A girl at work noticed I had a change of strap too today
A great review the pelagos is currently my favourite watch had mine for about 3 months now and it gets lots of wrist time, thanks for pointing out a few details that I had missed.
The Pelagos is growing on me. Such a crisp design.
It is indeed a sweet watch, fit for all purposes no doubt and looks great from all angles!
Great review and pix Robbie!
I have always found the Pelagos a little sterile irl but I do find myself warming to its cool look.
I love my SubC, but the Pelagos really does do the same thing for so much less coin!
They're different beasts yeah! Next to a friend's Sub (same colour combination) they both look great but naturally I prefer the Pelagos :D
Nice review and lovely pics, the Pelagos is the one I'm (eventually) aiming for...may be some time yet though!
Re: the pads for scratches, what ones have you got? The potential for scratches on Titanium are the one concern for me.
Fantastic pictures for one of the few current real toolwatches
Thanks!
The pads I use are the black Tesco ones, works a treat.
Nice review and pics.
I'm certainly very fond of mine.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
Extremely happy with mine - has become my daily wearer. Very accurate too. Only dislike is that the bracelet is a scratch magnet, but hey it's supposed to be a tool watch so that's OK :) Can always put on a NATO like my other watches.
Steve
I can only see these watches becoming more and more popular over time. They look fantastic!
Great review, enjoyed reading that one.
Great post Robbie; we need more like it!
I love the watch, particularly in pics, but having tried one on recently I was really surprised at how light it was due to the titanium (don't know why though as I have a Breitling M1 that, relatively speaking, needs anchoring down) so don't think I'd add one to the collection.
Having read through the thread I tried the Scotchbrite pad (well, the local supermarket equivalent) method suggested to remove swirls & light scratches on the bracelet of my Pelagos and am pleased to say that it looks as good as new - simple solution and it works. Thanks!
Great to hear! I've been using scouring pads since day 1 to remove light and mild scratches and it always works nicely :)
I even completely brushed the polished parts of my HydroConquest and it looked like a factory finish. Made the original 39mm unique as there are no other all brushed Hydros out there in the original design.
The Pelagos on a Nato is even lighter still, not that the bracelet weighs much but every gram helps :p
Thanks all!
Try using a fibreglass pen, really good control to smooth over small areas of damage.
Get them from eBay, buy the cheapest, no difference in quality that I have found.
Best,
Jg
Some like their tool watches to look like they've seen a bit of life, and worn and weathered Ti looks better than scratched-up steel. But if you're the sort of person for whom every scratch is the death of a thousand cuts, Ti might not be the material for you. Unless you enjoy polishing it out of course.
You mean brushing, not polishing ;)
I like how Ti naturally weathers and looks aged with time as it gets exposed to the elements. My scratch repair technique is for those scratches that are far too out there and stand out as obvious damage rather than the "worn look" which I'm ok with.
Don't you find it a bit boring sometimes ?
That's my fear with this full brushed SD :)
When you look at it in the flesh you will realise why it would be very hard to get bored with!
I mean brushing the brushed parts, and polishing the polished parts (unless you want to change the polished parts to brushed, or vice versa). But really, it's the same process, just a different size of abrasive. Either way, you'll be doing a lot of it, unless you can relax and enjoy the honest patina of titanium that's been well-loved!
Ah yeah I get that but the Pelagos has no polished parts (all satin Titanium, matte Ceramic and some Steelinox in the clasp) hence my reply :p
That's a rather excellent write up and accompanied by some great pictures. I've liked the Pelagos since I first saw it, there's just something very complete about the design, like every component is just right.
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
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