Tudor has long been one of my favourite brands. I own four – two Black Bays (Blue and Black), a gorgeous 1950s Oyster Prince and a NOS 79160 Big Block – and, now, this figure may well rise to five.
Because, after last year’s Black Bay Black launch – hot on the heels of the gorgeous Only Watch unique piece of the same name – Tudor has decided to make November introductions something of a tradition. Today at 11.45am GMT a co-ordinated global event saw the unveiling of the all-new Pelagos LHD. The initial letters – standing for Left Hand Drive – give the game away as this is indeed a watch for the left-handed, therefore, bearing its winding crown on the left side of the case at the 9 o’clock position.
While almost identical to its older brother, the 2015 Pelagos, which won the GPHG’s Sports Watch award that year, there are small touches that distinguish it. The closed casebacks will all carry an engraved number denoting when the watches came off the production line. Starting at 001, the numbers will continue to rise the longer the model is in production. Obviously less will be produced than the standard right-hand version, so numbers are bound to stay comparatively low.
Other nice touches include the word “Pelagos” on the dial in red script as opposed to white on the right-hander and a roulette date wheel that shows even numbers in red and odd in black. The reworked dial also features luminescent markings in beige matching those on the ceramic bezel (the previous lume was a sea green).
There’s no technical wrist discrimination from Tudor here – the left-hander is powered by the same in-house COSC movement (the MT5612) as the right-hander, and is the same price, too: £3,020. And, although I’m not usually a fan of titanium watches, on the Pelagos it is perfect – the hefty movement giving just the right weight to the watch for my taste.
While all of the above makes me kind of want this watch. What seals its appeal are the historical influences. For the past few months, my friend and Revolution contributor Ross “Mr Tudor” Povey has been educating me on Tudor MilSubs, the Marine Nationale’s role in their development and the subsequent navies and defence forces that were supplied by the brand. In addition, the aforementioned caseback numbers are reminiscent of the numbers engraved on the models supplied to the French Navy – in that instance the markings referenced the year the watches were supplied.
So there we have it. It’s a big, noticeable and highly attractive tool watch. And, knowing that left-handers were originally borne out of the demands of the military to allow left-handed divers the same underwater timing advantages as their right-handed colleagues, makes the new Pelagos LHD an irresistible talking point as well as a super-handsome wristwatch.
