The new Tudor Pelagos FXD GMT Zulu Time x Marine Nationale

Tudor‘s connection with military forces is no secret anymore. The most famous of these partnerships is, without a doubt, the co-creation of specific dive watches for the French Marine Nationale, which resulted in some of the most appealing mil-spec models ever made by Tudor. Revived in 2021 with the launch of the Pelagos FXD platform, initially developed with a French Navy specialist unit, the collection has since expanded with a black Pelagos FXD model, the Alinghi Red Bull Racing watches and the FXD Chrono Cycling Edition. Today, Tudor goes back to the roots of the collection with yet another collaboration with the Marine Nationale. But this time, it’s not a dive watch anymore, but a model dedicated to the French Naval Aviation, a pilot’s GMT watch that is known as the Pelagos FXD GMT Zulu Time.

Just like mother brand Rolex, Tudor has long been involved with military forces. Following the creation of the Submariner in 1953, Rolex started to develop more accessible models under Tudor branding (in 1954, to be precise), which quickly caught the attention of the Marine Nationale. The French Navy started to collaborate with the brand early on and used multiple versions of the Oyster Prince Submariner – first with ref. 7922 and 7924, then for the second batch, ref. 7928. And from 1974, Tudor started to deliver Submariner ref. 7016 to the Marine Nationale – the first watches to receive the emblematic signature on the back, the iconic ‘MN 74’ engraving and snowflake hands and square markers. 

Then the even more iconic 94010 models followed, with blue dials and bezel inserts. One of the specificities of these MN watches was to feature soldered lugs, and thus they were worn on all kinds of straps… the most iconic one being the green elastic strap that was actually made from parachute belts. For a more detailed overview of this history, check the first part of this article.

In 2021, after many years of absence, the Tudor x Marine Nationale connection was revived with the launch of the blue Tudor Pelagos FXD (an acronym for FIXED, as a reference to its fixed lugs). The Pelagos FXD Marine Nationale was a watch developed specifically according to the requirements of actual combat divers – making it a legitimate mil-spec watch. This watch follows a tradition that lasted from the 1950s to the 1980s, and it was developed in conjunction with the French Navy’s combat swimmers, to be precise, the Commando Hubert – special forces specialised in counterterrorism and underwater tactical assault missions.

Interestingly, the Tudor Pelagos FXD Marine Nationale is not a proper dive watch according to the ISO 6425:2018 standard. Instead, it responds to a set of specifications defined by the French Navy according to the real needs of these combat divers. As such, it uses fixed lug modules, a water-resistance of only 200m (combat divers only dive in shallow waters) and a bidirectional bezel with a countdown 60-minute scale. Again, everything is explained in this article.

The new Pelagos FXD GMT

Today, Tudor releases its second official Marine Nationale watch, the new Pelagos FXD GMT Zulu Time. And while the blue FXD model was dedicated to the French Navy’s combat swimmers, this time, Tudor presents a watch to answer the needs of pilots of the Aéronautique Navale, also known as the French Naval Aviation. And that means a military pilot’s watch with a GMT function – a first for the FXD collection and the Pelagos range in general.

While introducing a long-expected traveller’s complication to the Pelagos collection, the new Pelagos FXD GMT doesn’t hide its military roots and its connection with the rest of the FXD collection, starting with its titanium case. Measuring 42mm in diameter, with a thickness of 12.7mm (in fact, it is 0.1mm thinner than a Black Bay 58 GMT), the case is made of grade 2 titanium (central case) and grade 5 titanium (caseback), with entirely brushed surfaces, giving it the necessary tool-watch look you’d expect. The main design element of the FXD collection, which gave it its name, is retained, meaning that you’ll find fixed lug bars machined into the case for maximum rigidity. Shaped as an extension of the lugs, they are key to the model’s characteristic silhouette.

What most changes from the classic FXD Marine Nationale is the bezel, which now has the all-important 24-hour scale you’ll need to track multiple time zones, with, of course, a bi-directional system. The black insert is made of ceramic and features a lightly engraved and luminescent scale. The name of the watch, Zulu Time (also used by Longines), goes back to the military roots of this watch. Zulu time is the military name for Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) and the standard reference time for all aviators. Zulu time corresponds to zero-meridian time or the time at zero degrees of longitude, commonly known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Zulu time is tracked by the highly legible bright orange hand that completes a full lap around the dial every 24 hours. Once set, this hand typically is not reset, allowing sailors of the French Naval Aviation to check the global aviation reference time at a glance.

The rest of the case is standard Tudor FXD, with 200m water-resistance, a flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, a screw-down crown and a screwed caseback. The back is engraved with the logo of the Marine Nationale and “M.N.24” for “Marine Nationale 2024”, indicating the year of production of each batch of the watch.

Moving to the dial, familiar Pelagos and FXD traits are present, such as the blocky applied markers and the snowflake handset. All are generously coated with beige Super-LumiNova (the date disc is colour-coordinated) and have a blue luminescence, contrasting with the green luminous emission of the 24-hour hand and graduation on the 24-hour bezel. The main novelty is, of course, the bright orange lacquered, arrow-shaped GMT hand. And rest assured that, as all previous GMT watches by Tudor, this Pelagos FXD GMT Zulu Time is a true GMT with the crown adjusting the one-hour increment local hour hand (linked to the date) and the rest of the functions. No office-like GMT are allowed at Tudor.

Inside the case is the manufacture calibre MT5652-U, produced together with Kenissi. It is the same base movement as you’d find in a 41mm Black Bay GMT, yet with notable upgrades this year, specifically the Master Chronometer certification by METAS. As such, it can resist magnetic fields up to 15,000 gauss, and its precision is certified by METAS and the COSC, with the watch running within a tolerance range of 5 seconds (0/+5) per day. The movement runs at a 4Hz frequency with a silicon hairspring and stores up to 65 hours of power reserve.

Historically, the French Navy had Tudor watches delivered without bracelets and then fitted them with their own straps (often green parachute belts); the new Pelagos FXD GMT pays tribute to this past with a green strap. This time, however, the colour matches the specific colour of the flight suit worn by aviators of the French Naval Aviation. We’re talking about a single-piece textile strap – 22mm, made from green polyester woven ribbon, closed by a grade 2 titanium pin buckle, with a green removable keeper embroidered with the French Naval Aviation’s roundel.

Available immediately and part of the permanent collection, the new Tudor Pelagos FXD GMT Zulu Time x Marine Nationale (reference 2542G247NU) is priced at EUR 4,690, USD 4,625 or CHF 4,350. For more details, please visit tudorwatch.com. In a few days, we’ll have the opportunity to get our hands on a sample.