The Tudor Pelagos Ultra, The Brand’s Most Technical Diver To Date

Even though it has lived in the shadows of the Black Bay range, the Tudor Pelagos is an important one. First, it was one of the very first models launched for the brand’s rebirth in 2012, the same year as the BB was presented. Over the years, it has evolved but has kept its highly technical edge, either designed for saturation diving or the French Navy’s combat swimmers and aviators. This year marked the introduction of a new family member, the Tudor Pelagos Ultra, with a 1,000m depth rating. But as expected, this is just one of the multiple updates to the classic instrument divers of the brand. 

The Pelagos Family

While the Black Bay range can be seen as Tudor’s tribute to its vintage dive watches, the Pelagos is not here to give you the feeling of adventure. It is an instrument meant to go deep underwater, a no-nonsense watch without frills. It’s slightly cold, technical-looking and doesn’t come with fancy adornments. It’s a tool watch for action… Even though most will hardly see more than a splash of water. But that’s another debate.

The Tudor Pelagos was unveiled in 2012, alongside the Black Bay range, and was positioned as Tudor’s take on the deep saturation dive watch, just like the Sea-Dweller is the Submariner‘s bigger, more advanced brother. The first Pelagos was already a full titanium dive watch with HEV, an all-matte look and a 500m water-resistance. Back in 2012, it was still equipped with an ETA movement, before it moved to a manufacture (Kenissi-made) calibre in 2015, together with a new blue version. Soon after, Tudor brought another version, focused on left-handed owners and with a slight vintage edge, the Pelagos LHD. And in 2022, it was time for something smaller, slightly more usable and less hardcore, the Pelagos 39.

This is for the standard Pelagos range. But there’s also the FXD series (FXD stands for fixed, due to the fixed lugs). The first model, the Pelagos FXD Marine Nationale, was developed in conjunction with the French Navy’s combat swimmers (marking the return of the historic partnership and military-issued watches), which later came in a black version. Recently, Tudor developed another milspec watch, this time for the French Naval Aviation, the Pelagos FXD GMT. And let’s not forget special editions for Alinghi Red Bull Racing and the Tudor Pro Cycling Team – both available with a chronograph movement.

The Tudor Pelagos Ultra

Ultra… the name says it all. What we’re looking at could be, at least at first sight, a beefier edition of the classic Pelagos, to replace the standard 500m model. Well, yes and no. Yes, the new Pelagos Ultra is an even more capable take on the saturation dive watch. No, it’s not just an evolution of the depth rate, and this Ultra version should be considered a new generation of Pelagos, as it packs far more updates than just a more resistant case. No, it doesn’t replace the 500m model, which is still available in the collection (in black, blue and LHD versions). It comes in addition to all existing Pelagos watches as the range-topping version.

That being said, the Tudor Pelagos Ultra is still a familiar-looking watch that has all the traits you expect from a Pelagos. It’s technical, cold, matte and looks and feels more like a piece of gear than a luxury watch – this doesn’t mean that the fit and finish isn’t amazing, but don’t expect anything here to make you shine at the beach party. And this low-key, tool-like, no-nonsense style is exactly what makes the Pelagos Ultra (and other Pelagos watches) cool in their own way. No frills, just what’s needed to dive deep.

Besides the obvious water-resistance upgrade, now rated at 1,000m or 3,280ft, there are numerous evolutions to report. It’s all incremental and discreet but falls in the same strategy as what Tudor has made with the classic Black Bay 41 (burgundy or black), and recently with the Black Bay 58. Upgrades everywhere, to the point that almost no parts are shared anymore. So with the Pelagos Ultra, we have a classic fully-brushed, all-matte case, retaining the handsome bevels on the side of the lugs – possibly the only adornment to be found. The case is all titanium – grade 2 for the middle case, bezel and crown, and grade 5 for the caseback. This results in a watch with solid anti-reflective capacities and a slightly darker look than classic steel.

Compared to a standard 500m Pelagos, the new Ultra 1,000m is slightly larger. The diameter has moved from 42mm to now 43mm, the thickness is 14.5mm versus 14.3mm (basically imperceptible) and the lug-to-lug is approximately 52mm, or 1.5mm more than before. Does it feel on the wrist? Not particularly. The Pelagos wasn’t the smallest of dive watches, but the increase feels reasonable considering the doubled water-resistance. And as you can see from the photos taken on my small 16.5cm wrist, the Ultra doesn’t feel overly large. It is decently sized considering what we’re talking about – for instance, I find it much more comfortable than a Rolex Sea-Dweller, which is also 43mm but made in steel and thus much heavier.

Looking at the details of the case, you’ll see that there’s more than just an additional millimetre and more water-resistance. The entire case has been slightly redesigned and comes with upgrades. For instance, the crown guards are curved to follow the shape of the bezel, but also a bit longer. The crown has changed and gained a better grip with deeper notches – it still retains the modern Tudor shield logo – and the same has been applied to bezel’s frame, again with deeper, more pronounced notches. The helium escape valve is still positioned in the caseband at 9 o’clock.

Around the anti-reflective domed sapphire crystal is a unidirectional (unlike an FXD Marine Nationale) with a matte black ceramic insert and seamlessly integrated white 60-minute scale that’s entirely luminous. All markers are glowing with a blue emission, except the dot inside the zero-marking triangle, which glows in green, in relation to the minute hand, the only element of the dial with a green emission, the rest being blue – again, showing the attention to detail and to divers’ needs.

Moving to the dial, one of the key design elements of the classic Pelagos has disappeared. Indeed, the notched inner flange that framed the applied markers has been replaced with a more classic angled réhaut, in line with the design used on the Pelagos 39. The resemblance with this smaller edition doesn’t end there, as the Pelagos Ultra also integrates now the same luminescent ceramic composite monobloc 3D applied hour markers, on a matte black base, however. All the elements of the dial have been scaled up to maximise legibility, as the hands are thicker and the markers are bigger. That said, the classic Swonflake handset is still present, including the square-shaped luminous element of the seconds hand – the latter is slowly disappearing from most of the Black Bay models.

Inside the case is the Calibre MT5612-U – the classic Pelagos 500m has the same movement, but without the U at the end… And that changes everything. While the architecture is the same, meaning a calibre made by Kenissi (which is the movement maker of Tudor, sitting in a building in front of Tudor’s manufacture… so not in-house but next-house), the big deal concerns the certification. Indeed, this Tudor Pelagos Ultra is now Master Chronometer certified by METAS and Chronometer certified by COSC. As such, it is not only highly precise (Tudor claims -2/+4 seconds per day) but also resistant to strong magnetic fields – up to 15,000 gauss. The movement beats at 4Hz, is equipped with a silicon hairspring and stores a certified power reserve of a minimum of 65 hours.

The final touch is the bracelet and its clasp, which is alone a demonstration of over-engineering. The bracelet is a classic 3-link construction with a 22mm lug width, and is fully satin-brushed. But what matters is the clasp, which is probably one of the most advanced we’ve seen recently. First, it comes with a safety catch to avoid accidental openings. Second, it comes with an advanced T-Fit system, for rapid and tool-free length adjustments. The latter, with 4 positions, also features a luminous visual indicator on the exterior of the clasp to easily discern what setting the bracelet is at. Look inside the clasp, and there is a pair of springs that will allow the bracelet to expand or retract as you descend or ascend, adjusting perfectly to the size of your wetsuit. Finally, there’s a long, flipping element acting as a diver’s extension. As I said in this article about bracelets, someone might have hurt Tudor’s feelings recently…

And there’s more, as the Tudor Pelagos Ultra is delivered as standard with an additional black rubber strap, with a titanium pin buckle, that attaches to the case with titanium end links. Also included is a rubber extension piece that makes it possible to lengthen the strap even further, by up to 110 millimetres. And while I can only applaud the idea to include an additional strap, it doesn’t come with a quick-change system and will require steady hands and tools to swap between the titanium bracelet and the rubber strap.

Availability & Price

The Tudor Pelagos Ultra is released as a new member of the Pelagos family, and is the range-topping version, not a replacement for existing references. As such, it is priced accordingly, at EUR 5,960 (versus EUR 5,230 for a Pelagos 500m). Far from me the idea to call the Ultra an accessible watch, but considering the competition and everything Tudor has packed in this watch, it feels justified. It is now available as part of the permanent collection.

For more details, please visit tudorwatch.com.