Tudor: Pelagos FXD “Alinghi Red Bull Racing Edition”

To celebrate its partnership with Alinghi Red Bull Racing, TUDOR is unveiling two brand new Pelagos FXD models: a chronograph and a time-only watch inspired by yacht racing. 

The Pelagos FXD “Alinghi Red Bull Racing Edition” models come with several firsts for TUDOR, that go beyond just the watches. A long-term partnership between TUDOR and Alinghi Red Bull Racing was launched in 2022, the first time TUDOR ventured into the world of competitive yacht racing. In this centuries-old sport, victory comes by fusing a resolutely daring human spirit with the most cutting-edge technology. The watches were born out of this philosophy, by combining a high-tech carbon composite, a first for TUDOR, with titanium and stainless steel, just like on an AC75 (America’s Cup 75) hydrofoil racing yacht. It’s also the first time TUDOR has integrated a chronograph Calibre into a fixed strap-bars case. 

The Alinghi Red Bull Racing AC75 represents the very best in cutting-edge maritime engineering, utilizing a proprietary blend of carbon, titanium and stainless steel to give shape to a hull that leaps out of the water at speed. The same pursuit of technical mastery is applied to the Pelagos FXD models, which similarly combine a high-tech carbon composite for the case and bezel insert, an extremely light and robust material, with titanium for the bezel, crown and direct-action pushers and 316L stainless steel for the case back and movement container. Using the 200-meter water-resistant FXD case design, characterized by its fixed strap bars and initially developed with French navy combat divers, these models both come with a bidirectional 120-notch rotatable bezel that utilizes Swiss Super-LumiNova Grade X1, a luminous material showing a performance increase of up to 60% after two hours compared to standard grades. 

These bezels are graduated from 60 to 0, so as to allow for easy tracking of countdowns, a key moment before the start of a regatta. The above package results in distinctive, high-tech mechanical sports watches with the Alinghi Red Bull Racing logo engraved on the case back to further enhance the collaboration.

HULL INSPIRED DIALS

Wearing the same hue of the hull of the AC75, the matte dials put legibility first and foremost. While both dials are finished in Alinghi Red Bull Racing Team Blue with a red-tipped second hand, the Chronograph model features red accents around the counters to further hint at the aesthetics of the AC75, namely the red stripes on the hull. On the 45° angled rehaut, between 10 and 2, a subtle “Alinghi Red Bull Racing” mention overarches the dial’s layout. 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.

TECHNICAL JACQUARD STRAP

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 22 mm “Team Blue” jacquard-woven ribbon with red accents and a titanium “D” buckle with a self-gripping fastening system, it adapts to different wrist sizes and is very comfortable to wear.

THE CALIBRE MT5602

The Manufacture Calibre MT5602, which powers the Pelagos FXD, displays hour, minute and seconds functions. It offers the signature look and feel of TUDOR Manufacture Calibres. Its rotor in tungsten monobloc is openwork and its bridges and mainplate have alternate sand-blasted and polished surfaces topped with laser decorations. 

Its build is designed to ensure robustness and precision. To do this, the variable inertia balance wheel is maintained by a sturdy traversing bridge with two-point anchoring. This system, together with its non-magnetic silicon hairspring, means the Manufacture Calibre MT5602 is both certified by the COSC and able to function beyond the specification of that standard, that is within a tolerance range of 6 seconds (-2/+4) per day, always tested on every single fully assembled watch. 

Another notable feature is that the power reserve of the Manufacture Calibre MT5602 is “weekend-proof”; it enables the wearer to take the watch off on a Friday evening and put it back on again on Monday morning without having to wind it. Even if you need a weekend away, your watch does not.

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 matte finish typical of TUDOR Manufacture Calibres and comes complete with a signature tungsten openwork monobloc rotor.

Boasting a 70-hour power reserve and a silicon balance spring, the Manufacture Chronograph Calibre MT5813 with a column wheel mechanism and vertical clutch 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.

As with all of the brand’s watches, TUDOR offers a five-year guarantee and recommends that its watches should be serviced approximately every ten years. Finally the price, the new Pelagos FXD “Alinghi Red Bull Racing Edition” are available from €. 3.690 for the time-only version and 5.130 for the chrono model.