Dispatch Diving With The New Tudor Pelagos FXD

Slowly dropping on the line, I see my buddy – some fella named Jason Heaton – turn on the wildly bright light for his camera. I'm pleased to notice that visibility is improving as the edge of the wreck slowly materializes out of the hazy waters.

Slightly astonished by the undulating population of fish surrounding the wreck, I glance at my computer to confirm the depth and then to my other wrist, where the fully graduated bezel of the new black-dialed Tudor Pelagos FXD is indicating some three minutes have passed since I stepped off the back of the dive boat and left the world above.

We are diving the Jeff-A, a hovercraft in the warm and almost oppressively green waters of the Gulf Coast off Panama City Beach, Florida. It's an area rife with long-standing ties to the history of diving in the US Navy, functioning as the home of Naval Support Activity Panama City (NSA PC), including the Navy Experimental Diving Unit, US Naval Diving & Salvage Training Center, and the Panama City Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center.

Tudor, too, plays a part in that legacy with the brand's considerable history with various elements of America's military. Think of some of the past stories that I've been fortunate enough to be a part of, from The Long Return (and part 2) to our episode of Talking Watches with the inspiration that is Philip "Moki" Martin, who was a member of SEAL Team 1 and shared with us his remarkable story, and its connection to his 7928 Tudor Sub. If you haven't seen these videos, now is a great time as such stories will both warm your heart and help to establish the "why" of modern Tudor dive watches like the FXD.

Interestingly, Tudor picked the Man In The Sea Museum for the launch of the new FXD, and the event was hosted by one Lieutenant (Ret.) William Jebb, who was not only a Navy Seal for five years in the late sixties and the officer in charge of the NASA Apollo recovery teams – but he was also Moki Martin's swim buddy on SEAL Team 1! For those curious, the Man In The Sea Museum is excellent and worth even a considerable detour if you're nearby.

Hovering over the starboard deck of the hovercraft, the mass of fish swirling between Jason is almost dizzying. One moment, I can see maybe twenty feet, aided by Jason's torch, while the next moment, I can see only a wall of silver sardines and scad blasting by in response to the ever-present threat of looming Spanish mackerel.

The wreck is mostly aluminum and remains intact and largely in good shape, with ample space for divers and wildlife alike. Giving Jason some space to photograph the other divers that were on the trip, I settled into the current and started to play with the camera housing for my iPhone, intent to snap a few pics of my own, especially wrist shots.

On my left wrist, I am wearing Tudor's latest military-derived extension of the Pelagos, the new FXD 25717N. Largely similar to the original FXD that was launched in November of 2021, this new model swaps the blue for black, and, having shed its connection to the Marine Nationale and the specifics of the Commando Hubert, this new version has a traditional elapsed-time dive bezel with unidirectional action.

Otherwise, the watch is mechanically very similar to the M.N. FXD, with a titanium case that measures 42mm wide, 12.75mm thick, and 52mm lug to lug with the original FXD's fixed lug bars. In this spec, the black FXD will ship with a fabric hook-and-loop strap as well as a single-piece rubber strap. There is no date display, no HeV, the case back is closed and without any prominent engraving, and water resistance is 200m (or 660ft, since I've already been translating my dive profile from metric to imperial). Regardless, it's far more than I needed to kick around this accessible wreck.

With a black dial with the "Pelagos" nameplate in red, this new FXD feels as much an extension of the Pelagos 39 as it does the original blue FXD. As such, I think it suits the Tudor lineup nicely, and despite being a complete nerd for my P39, I do love that fully graduated bezel. Inside, we find Tudor's Manufacture Caliber MT5602, a COSC-certified automatic movement that ticks at 4 Hz and offers a power reserve of 70 hours.

Strapped to my wrist, the watch was simply in its element when underwater. Like the blue model, it's not a small watch by any means, but the titanium construction and relatively thin profile make it easy to wear and very comfortable.

The bezel and dial markings are fully lumed, and though this model lacks the specific and public input of a given military outfit, it is very much Tudor's modern expression of the MilSub ideal, feeling even more purposeful than the P39 – which I have previously qualified as a modern take on the gorgeous 9401 Snowflake. This is that and more.

As a token to Tudor's past in supplying hardwearing dive watches to various elements of the U.S. Navy, while the new FXD isn't directly issued, it does possess the connective tissue in a manner that feels aligned with the brand's history while ensuring that the FXD is a modern tool watch for diving.

I have dived with the original Pelagos, with my more recent Pelagos 39, and now with this latest FXD evolution, and all three do the tool watch thing without an ounce of vintage-related fat. Sure, the back story is there – as it is for Rolex, Blancpain, Omega, Doxa, Eterna, and many others – but the Tudor presentation is so sharply distilled that you could almost be convinced that the brand is unaware of the modern dive computer (or is simply content to make watches for those that may dive under less recreational settings, knowing how that appeals to the folks that would read this story). 

Exactly the same as the blue FXD, this new black version is available at Tudor boutiques today with a list price of $4,150. While there are plenty of great dive watches available in a similar price range (including many from Tudor), the fixed lugs of the FXD make it a rather specific offering, and now you can have it in black, too.

Finning around the wreck, I kept an eye on my diminishing no-deco time while I searched in the crevasses of the structure for smaller and slower subjects for my camera's autofocus. This included my own wrist (duh), Jason's collection of wristwear, and a very cool arrow crab that I captured with minimal disturbance.

Noting my air supply as it dropped below 1000 psi, I checked the bezel on the FXD to confirm that I was pushing nearly 40 minutes on the bottom. As I turned back towards the anchor line, I snapped a final frame of Jason and his left wrist, on which he was sporting a vintage black dial Tudor 9401. Refurbished, pressure-tested, and mounted to a custom Olongapo bracelet, it's a thing to behold, especially in 2023 and on a wreck some 80 feet underwater. 

Sure, they don't make them like they used to. But with the FXD, that's okay by me.

For more information about the new Tudor FXD, visit Tudor online.