Tudor launches new Pelagos FXD and FXD Chrono Alinghi Red Bull Racing Edition
Yacht racing and high-end sport watches easily go hand in hand, as much as fast cars and watches do. In 2022, the Swiss yacht racing team Alinghi Red Bull Racing announced a long-term partnership with Tudor watches. The first two special models borne of the partnership have now been revealed: the Pelagos FXD and Pelagos FXD Chrono “Alinghi Red Bull Racing Edition” models.
The two new watches contain a number of firsts for Tudor. These are the first Tudors to use high-tech carbon composite as a case material. Combined with titanium and stainless steel, they allow extremely lightweight combined with toughness. The same materials are used on an America’s Cup 75 hydrofoil racing yacht. The Pelagos FXD Chrono is also the first time Tudor has installed a chronograph calibre into a fixed strap-bars case.
Indeed, the “FXD” in the watches’ name denotes the fixed strap bars of the case—these are actually slots incorporated into the case. This feature allows for a more secure connection between the watch and the strap, and it was a requested feature by the Marine nationale’s (French Navy) combat swimmers, the Commando Hubert. The Pelagos FXD was developed with the Marine nationale in 2021, reviving a relationship with Tudor that started in 1956. Another feature specified was the retrograde (countdown) markers on the rotatable bezel.
The Pelagos FXD Alinghi Red Bull Racing Edition (Reference 25707KN) is a time-only watch with a 42-mm carbon composite case with fixed strap bars. The Alinghi Red Bull Racing logo is engraved on the stainless-stell case back. The bi-directional rotatable bezel is titanium with black matte-finished carbon composite insert. Grade X1 SuperLuminova, one of the newest formulations of the luminous compound with a longer-lasting glow, is used for the retrograde 60-minute bezel graduations. Grade X1 is also on the watch’s trademark “Snowflake” hands. The matte blue dial is a ceramic composite monobloc with applied hour markers.
Beating inside is Tudor’s Manufacture Calibres MT5602, certified by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing (COSC) institute. The caliber uses a silicon hairspring and features a “weekend-proof” (remove on a Friday evening and wear again on a Monday morning) 70-hour power reserve. The movement features an openwork tungsten monobloc rotor. Its bridges and mainplate feature alternate sand-blasted and polished surfaces with laser decorations. The variable inertia balance wheel is secured by a sturdy traversing bridge with two-point anchoring for added robustness. The movement is not only COSC certified, but also conforms to Tudor’s own tolerance range of six seconds (-2/+4) per day, always tested on every single fully-assembled watch.
Meanwhile, the Pelagos FXD Chrono Alinghi Red Bull Racing edition has additionally displays: chronograph seconds at the center, chronograph 45-minute counter at 3 o’clock, with the small seconds hand at 9 o’clock. There’s also a date window at 6 o’clock, featuring rapid adjustment without non-correction range. The Pelagos FXD Chrono has titanium direct-action pushers to activate the chronograph with a column-wheel, vertical-clutch mechanism. The Calibre MT5813 with bidirectional rotor system was co-developed with Breitling. The Pelagos FXD Chrono is indeed one of the best-value timepieces that carry a Breitling 01 chronograph movement.
The 60 to 0 bezel allows for easy tracking of countdowns, a handy feature if you’re participating in a regatta. Or if you’re timing how many minutes till your pizza is done, or how much longer your Zoom call will last—you get the idea. The FXD Alinghi Red Bull watches feature dials in the team’s signature Red Bull matte blue shade. The red second hand and chrono hand are another visual tie-in to the Alinghi Red Bull racing craft’s red stripes on the hull. There’s subtle “Alinghi Red Bull” branding on the 45-degree angled rehaut, between the 10 and 2 positions. Both watches are water resistant to 200 meters.
Making sure that the Pelagos stays in place, even during a frantic yacht race, is a single-piece fabric strap. Tudor became one of the first brands to offer a single-piece fabric strap in 2010. These are woven by the Julien Faure company in the St-Etienne region on 19th century Jacquard looms. This time, Julie Faure supplies a more technical strap construction: a 2mm “Team Blue” jacquard-woven ribben with red accents. A titanium “D” buckle with self-gripping fastening system makes it a comfortable option for a wide range of wrist sizes.
The Alinghi competitive sailing team competes for the America’s Cup. It has won the America’s Cup twice in 2003 and 2007, making it the first European team to win the historic prize. Previous watch collaborations with the team have yielded very interesting and creatively-rendered timepieces from such companies as Audemars Piguet and Omega. The Tudor FXD watches are a worthy and exciting addition to the range.
