Tudor Pelagos FXD GMT Review

Last week we took an in-depth look at the awesome Pelagos Ultra from Tudor. The Pelagos Ultra was one of four watches Tudor sent us to get some good hands on time with. As I mentioned in the review of that watch, Tudor has been a brand I'm very familiar with but never spent any real time with. After getting to really know the Pelagos Ultra, I'm becoming a fan of the brand.

Before we get more into the Tudor we'll be reviewing today, now would be good time to go over a brief history of the brand. In our review of the Pelagos Ultra we went into a very detailed look at the history of Tudor. If you'd like a complete history of the brand, please read our review of the Pelagos Ultra. If not here is a short history of the founding of Tudor up until modern times.



Tudor was trademarked by Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf in 1926. Wilsdorf's vision was to create a brand that produced watches that matched the quality and reliability Rolex was so well known for at a more obtainable price point. In 1946 TUDOR S.A. was established as an official company with early advertisements for the brand openly referencing the connection between Tudor and Rolex to help build trust in the new brand.

In 1952 Tudor released their Oyster Prince model which used the waterproof "Oyster" case from Rolex as well as their "Perpetual" winding rotor. These were two of the most important creations by Rolex at the time, showing how much effort was put in Tudor to succeed. A few years later in 1954, the Tudor Submariner was released which borrowed many features from the also recently released dive watch pioneer, the Rolex Submariner. The Tudor Submariner was a hit and the watch was even adopted by the US Navy as well as the French Navy (Marine Nationale) – which we will talk about later.



Towards the end of the 20th century Tudor's popularity and presence began to wane leading to the brand being pulled from the United States market. Tudor did not let the brand fall into obscurity and instead focused all of their efforts on a global re-launch in 2009. 2012 was a huge year for Tudor seeing the release of the now highly regarded Black Bay and Pelagos collections.

Following the release of those two excellent dive watches, Tudor once again re-entered the US market in 2013. In the years since Tudor has moved on to equip their watches with manufacture movements and has become one of the best selling Swiss watch brands worldwide. This marks a tremendous turn around for the brand that only twenty-five years ago was being re-launched.



Initial Thoughts

Now that we've gone over the history of Tudor, let's take a look at the Tudor Pelagos FXD GMT. The Pelagos FXD GMT was actually inspired by the French Navy and manufactured to be able to cope with any conditions the Aeronautique Navale (the aviation arm of the French Navy) could put the watch through. The standard Pelagos FXD was released in 2021 once again continuing the partnership Tudor had with the French Navy, the FXD GMT is an extension of this relationship that focuses on the needs of the aviation branch of the Navy.

When the watch arrived the first thing I noticed about it was its color scheme. Tudor uses a matte black dial and all dial markers and hands are treated with beige colored Super-Luminova. The matte black ceramic bezel has matching beige lumed markers as well. This gives the watch a vintage look while being an ultra modern timepiece. Past the vintage look, the beige and black hues really make the Pelagos FXD GMT look like a military timepiece which is fitting given its ties to the French navy.



The next thing that caught my attention about the Pelagos FXD GMT was how lightweight the watch was. On our scale the watch weighed in at a feather light 74 grams including the fabric strap and buckle. Tudor achieved this weight by crafting the case out of grade 2 titanium and using grade 5 titanium on the case back. Even at 42 mm the FXD GMT isn't a large watch, so using titanium on its smaller form factor really helped with the weight. Typically if a watch is under 100 grams I feel it meets my lightweight requirements, so it being twenty-five percent lighter than that is really impressive.

The final thing I noticed during my initial time with the Tudor Pelagos FXD GMT was the green one piece fabric strap. The single piece strap is made in a green that matches the flight suits of the aviation arm of the French Navy. The French Navy used to have Tudor ship them watches without bracelets and would then fit the watches with their own straps. Tudor continues this legacy by fitting the FXD GMT with polyester straps woven on 19th century Jacquard looms by the Julien Faure Company. The strap even features the anchor logo of the French Naval Aviation. Typically I'm not a huge fan of one piece straps, but here the strap really completes the watch.



Technical Specifications

Having gone over my initial impressions of the Pelagos FXD GMT, let's now look at the technical specifications of the watch. The FXD GMT has a case diameter of 42 mm and the bezel slightly overhangs the case with a diameter of 42.7 mm. The lug to lug length is right at 50 mm and at its thickest point is 14.1 mm tall. As I mentioned earlier the watch weighs in at only 74 grams when on the fabric strap. The dimensions really add up to a watch that has great proportions and sits well on the wrist.

The Pelagos FXD GMT is equipped with a flat sapphire crystal that sits slightly higher than the bezel. The crystal has an applied anti-reflective coating as well. Underneath the crystal is the matte black dial with beige colored Tudor branding at 12. At 6 o'clock is "Master Chronometer", "200m – 600ft" and "Swiss Made" also printed in beige. The Pelagos GMT branding is also found at 6 but is printed in bright orange.



Around the outside of the dial is a printed minute track also in beige. Tudor uses block hour markers with 6 and 9 being larger rectangles compared to the smaller squares used for the other hours. 12 o'clock gets a triangular hour marker and a beige backed date window is at 3 o'clock. In low light these hour makers glow a brilliant blue.

There are four centrally mounted hands on the FXD GMT. The traditional snowflake hour hand is used here along with a long sword style minute hand. The running seconds hand has a diamond marker about two thirds of the way down. Finally there is an orange GMT hand with an arrow tip. The hour, minute and seconds hands are all coated in Super-Luminova that matches the hour markers glowing blue in low light. The GMT hand glows a bright green on the other hand.



The Pelagos FXD GMT has a bi-direction rotating bezel that has a 24 hour scale on it and requires 48 clicks to make a full rotation. The bezel is rather silent when being turned but is very sure when clicking into each position. The bezel is nicely scalloped and provides ample grip, I do think it would be possible to operate the bezel with gloves on. Each even number from 2 to 24 is represented by an Arabic numeral on the bezel while each odd hour has a stick marker. These makers are all lumed and glow a matching green to the GMT hand.

The FXD GMT uses a case crafted out of grade 2 titanium that has a brushed finished. Being a true tool watch there are no polished details on the watch. Looking at the profile of the case you can see that the lugs gently slope down to follow the curve of your wrist. The right hand side of the case has a screw down crown protected by two large crown guards. The crown is nicely scalloped and features an engraving of the Tudor logo on top of it. Once unscrewed the crown allows you to wind the automatic movement in the resting position. Pulling the crown out to position one allows you to adjust the hour hand forward and backwards independently of the GMT hand. Pulling the crown all the way out to position two lets you set the time as well as move the GMT hand with the hour hand. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump in the minute hand and screwing the crown in takes no extra care to make sure it catches.



The Tudor Pelagos FXD GMT has a lug width of 22 mm and comes on a one piece green polyester strap. The strap is a matching green to the flight suits worn by members of the aviation branch of the French Navy. Like mentioned earlier, the strap is made by the Julien Faure Company in the St-Etienne region of France using 19th century Jacquard looms. The strap has both a titanium loop as well as a green loop with a colored stitched logo of the French Naval Aviation. There is no taper to the strap and Tudor uses a titanium pin buckle complete with a Tudor logo on it.

Flipping the watch over shows that the Pelagos FXD GMT does not use traditional lugs but instead has solid lugs. This means that the watch can only be used with one-piece straps. Being a one piece strap means that the strap covers up the solid grade 5 titanium case back. With the strap removed you can see the Marine National Aeronautique Navale anchor and wings logo engraved on the case back. The screw down case back along with the screw down crown aid in the 200 meter water resistance of the Pelagos FXD GMT.



Underneath the solid case back beats the manufacture caliber MT5652-U Swiss Made automatic movement. The movement has 65 hours of power reserve and beats away at 28,800 (4Hz). The caliber is both COSC and METAS certified and on our timegrapher ran at +1 second per day when averaged out over several positions, which is well within its certifications. The functions of the watch are hours, minutes, seconds, date and flying GMT.

On The Wrist

As weird as it sounds I've never worn a watch on a one-piece or NATO-style strap for any extended period of time. So going into the review of the Tudor Pelagos FXD GMT I wasn't sure what to expect. Since I typically prefer larger watches, the thought of having the strap go under the case back scared me with the thought of added height. With the FXD GMT being rather slim and the strap not being bulky, this concern was a non-issue on the watch. I found the strap to be extremely comfortable each time I strapped the watch onto my wrist.



The 50 mm lug to lug length of the Pelagos FXD GMT is right in the sweet spot of case size for my 7.25 inch wrist with a 55 mm flat area. The watch covered my wrist nicely and never favored one side over the other. Weighing in at only 74 grams meant that the FXD GMT pretty much completely disappeared on my wrist while wearing it. The main reason I favor materials like carbon, ceramic and titanium is their lightweight properties making them a joy to wear. A lot of collectors equate weight with quality, I do not. Nothing bothers me more than lugging around a heavy watch, even more so when it's top heavy. This is not the case at all with the Pelagos FXD GMT.

During my time with the FXD GMT I wore it to run boring errands as well as taking it out to dinner and drinks. The watch functioned as a perfect everyday companion once again because of its size and weight. My wife, with a less than six inch wrist, also wore the watch out and said it fit her just fine as well. The black, beige and green colors of the FXD GMT went well with my typical dress of a black t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. The vintage diver look along with the green fabric strap gives the watch a casual look which is great for my style, or lack thereof. If you're looking at the Pelagos FXD GMT to function as a one watch collection and need to dress up from time to time, the watch might be a bit too casual to pull off that role.



Being based off of a dive watch in the Pelagos it's no surprise that the FXD GMT should be a very legible watch. To test legibility I try to tell the time while driving at just a glance. Unsurprisingly the watch easily passed this test. The matte black background and beige hour markers and hands contrast with each other nicely allowing me to decipher the time quickly. The only things that would have made the watch more legible would have been swapping the beige lume out for white and using large Arabic numerals instead of block hour markers.

For the most part I've never had a need for a GMT function on a watch, I know people love them, but the complication doesn't appeal to me. For that reason I never used the GMT hand on the Pelagos FXD GMT except to see what type of GMT function the watch had. That also means I never really used the 24 hour bezel either. I see the need and use cases for each, especially for aeronautical situations, but I didn't really test them.



I was actually surprised that while wearing the Tudor Pelagos FXD GMT out that the watch got as much attention as it did. I had a few people compliment the watch and ask questions about it, most even had heard of Tudor. The FXD GMT definitely received more attention than the Pelagos Ultra did, I'd guess that mostly had to do with the green fabric strap and vintage looking lume. I also showed the watch to some friends when out and they loved the FXD GMT as well. The strap and dial colors once again were the most popular things about the watch. Most people were also surprised by how relatively affordable the watch was.

Value and Position in the Market

Speaking of price, the Pelagos FXD GMT retails for $4,850. For that price you are getting a grade 2 titanium case, extremely accurate manufacture movement, military provenance and a great looking watch. As with all of our reviews, now is the time to look at other watches that offer similar specifications to the Tudor Pelagos FXD and see how it holds up value wise.



Up first is the GMT-Master II from sister brand Rolex. The GMT-Master II has a 40 mm stainless steel case and features a two color ceramic bezel. The GMT-Master II only has 100 meters of water resistance and runs an in-house caliber with 70 hours of power reserve. The GMT-Master II while a sports watch does fall more into the luxury segment of the market. It has some areas finished in a high polish and its ceramic bezel is glossy compared to the matte ceramic bezel found on the FXD GMT. The Rolex GMT-Master II is also much more expensive than the Tudor at $11,100.

Moving on is the Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M GMT by Omega which has a 45.5 mm case crafted out of ceramic. The Planet Ocean has much more water resistance than the FXD GMT at 600 meters and comes with an in-house movement with 60 hours of power reserve. The ceramic does add a bit to the price over titanium, but honestly I like the materials equally. The Planet Ocean is also much more expensive than the FXD GMT at $13,000.



Next up is the Submersible GMT Luna Rossa Titanio PAM01507 from Panerai which has a 42 mm case crafted out of titanium. Like the FXD GMT the Luna Rossa also has a matte ceramic bezel. The Luna Rossa has much more water resistance at 500 meters. Powering the Panerai is an in-house P.900/GMT24H caliber with 72 hours of power reserve. Like the Rolex and Omega, the Panerai is much more expensive than the Tudor at $12,900.

Finally we have the Sinn U2 EZM 5 which has a 44 mm case and is crafted out of tegimented (hardened) submarine steel. The U2 has a staggering water resistance of 2,000 meters but is powered by an off the shelf Sellita SW330-1 automatic movement. The U2 does feature a GMT function like all the other watches mentioned as well. The Sinn is slightly less expensive than the Tudor at $3,960 but does not have a manufacture or in-house movement or COSC / METAS certification.



By looking at these four watches you can tell how great of a value the Tudor Pelagos FXD GMT is. Only the Sinn is less expensive, but it does cut back a bit on not having its own movement. The Rolex, Omega and Panerai are much more expensive and in terms of the Panerai and Omega only really offer more water resistance. 200 meters is by far more than any non-professional deep water diver will use and given its role as being intended more for use in the air instead of water, makes perfect sense.

Closing Thoughts

So in the end, is the Tudor Pelagos FXD GMT for me? Given the lug to lug length of right at 50 mm and having a titanium case with a weight well under 100 grams, the FXD GMT really is a watch I could see in my collection. The extremely accurate COSC/METAS certified movement is just the cherry on top. I'm also a fan of watches that look different from the norm and the vintage looking beige lume and green fabric strap really give the watch its own identity. With the price of the FXD GMT being under $5,000 the watch is also a great value proposition.



So then would I recommend the watch to somebody looking for a versatile sports watch? I would one hundred percent if that person was just adding the watch to their collection or was ok with a casual watch being their primary daily wearer. The solid lugs mean that the watch is also only limited to one piece straps, so you really couldn't dress the watch up with a leather strap or bracelet. There are endless one piece and NATO-style strap options that would work on the FXD GMT though, which could drastically change the look of the watch.

Once again, color me thoroughly impressed with Tudor. The Pelagos Ultra and Pelagos FXD GMT are both members of the same collection inside of Tudor but are dramatically different from each other. Both watches were a joy to review and spend time with on the wrist. I still have two more watches from Tudor to look at from the group they sent me. I'm guessing that I will be impressed with those two as well. One of the two isn't quite in my wheelhouse as much as the Ultra and FXD GMT were, but that's the fun of trying out watches you wouldn't typically purchase for yourself. Stay tuned for our next Tudor review which should be early next week.



For more information about the Pelagos FXD GMT please visit : Tudor

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: M2542G257NU-0002

Retail Price: $4,850

Case Size: 42 mm (42.7 mm with bezel overhang)

Lug to Lug: 50 mm

Thickness: 14.1 mm

Weight: 74 grams

Case Material: Grade 2 Titanium

Bezel: Bi-Directional Matte Ceramic with 24 Hour Scale

Strap: One Piece Green Polyester Strap with Titanium Pin Buckle

Movement: Swiss Made MT5652-U Automatic Manufacture Movement

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Date, Flyer GMT

Power Reserve: 65 Hours

Water Resistance: 200 Meters