Category: Tudor Replica

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Tudor Replica

Replica Tudor’s NorthFlag With Calibre MT5621 Movement

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Perhaps in some ways a follow-up to the Ranger of 2014, the North Flag, Tudor’s Baselworld 2015 release which I had the chance to see during a promotional Tudor ‘tour’ at The Hour Glass Sydney, has been perhaps their most talked-about replica watch this year.

Why? Well because of what is inside. It uses the new Calibre MT5621 movement which has been referred to both as in-house and on Twitter by a well-known journalist and Rolex historian as follows “The movement is NOT made at the Rolex Bienne factory, rather parts are made by several subcontractors throughout Switzerland when released. Including Tudor themselves and it is assembled by Tudor in Geneva. It will, soon, fund its way into other Tudor models”. It all adds to the whole ‘in-house’ definitional debate that continues to periodically surface.

In any event this is a pure and unadulterated tool replica watch, and in this sense also similar to the Ranger of last year (and in fact is inspired by their 1970s Ranger II), and targeted by Tudor at who they are calling “the modern adventurer”. Its lines are clean and the dial, with its lumed markers and hands, pretty much as legible you can get.

The new COSC-certified automatic Calibre MT5621, the first Tudor movement to be thus, has a hefty power reserve of seventy hours, a silicon balance spring (a first for Tudor), tungsten rotor, and is ‘optically finished’.

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In terms of the exterior – it is in a 40mm stainless steel case (monobloc middle) with a steel and matte black ceramic bezel (see above), the latter a nice extra touch giving it an interesting (and low key, given its realisation) detail (or flourish, if you will) to what is otherwise a very traditional-looking utilitarian replica watch. To my mind it makes it a more aesthetically attractive propositon than its Ranger predecessor. In terms of general build, it also feels a bit more solid than the Ranger, and if I was to choose between the two, I would pick this one without hesitation.

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Water resistant to 100m, the new Tudor North Flag is available in two versions, bracelet or a black leather strap with contrasting stitching and yellow lining. Whilst there are many fans of bracelets the strap, with its textured almost carbon-fibre like look, gets my vote both because of how attractive it is, and because of the sporty ‘lift’ it gives to the replica watch.

Australian RRP is $4,350.

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Tudor Replica

HANDS-ON : the new replica Tudor Ranger watch

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Another year has meant another vintage-inspired talking point from Tudor, whose last few years, especially with its reintroduction in certain worldwide markets, has lead to an unexpected renaissance. This year at Baselword 2014 it was the turn of the Tudor Ranger to be reinvigorated for the modern market and added to the successful ‘Heritage’line.

The new Ranger reflects much of the originals, its matte black dial with the SuperLuminovad 3-6-9-12 painted and not printed, and with the same hands. As is par for the course, the case is a very contemporary 41mm with satin-brushed finishing.

Inside is the Calibre 2824; solid, nothing special, but making sense in this context, as the originals were also not exactly movement-focused, and to put something special movement-wise inside the new version would change the Ranger into something that it was never intended to be. The first Ranger was released in 1967, a mere 34mm in size and self-winding, with no date. Subsequent Rangers had a date and were also hand-wound.

Interestingly, the vintage Rangers didn’t have their own allocated reference number, sharing cases, crowns, movements and crystals of standard Tudor dress replica watches. The original models were available in both date and non-date models, and it is the no-date model that is reflected in this new model. Unlike the older models, this one has “Rotor” and “self-winding” on the dial; perhaps having ‘RANGER’ there instead, more in line with the vintage, could have been considered.

To hold and wear it isn’t a very substantial piece, but in all likelihood, its appeal is to those for whom its lightness is a plus. It comes on four strap/ bracelet options : steel bracelet, Bund leather strap in light brown, camo fabric strap (that comes as an addition to all the others), and a brown leather strap. The Bund is arguably the best looking option, it gives the replica watch a bit of heft and ‘lift’ to its look. It’s a nicely rendered version of a classic Tudor replica watch and its market is in all likelihod, the ‘vintage Tudor’ collectors but to my mind, its stablemate, the Black Bay Blue, is the ‘it’ piece from Tudor this year.

My thanks to The Hour Glass (Sydney) for giving me some time with the new Rangers.

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Tudor Replica

Replica Tudor’s Black Bay vs.Pelagos

Photoshopping and its related manipulative ilk. We talk about such electronic chicanery a lot for human models, but not so much for replica watch models. Why? We can be similarly seduced, mislead, astonished, disappointed, persuaded into reckless expenditure, after all.

No I am not here today to tell a sorry tale of how a photoshopped replica watch bewitched me out of my last cents, but to share how different my impressions of Tudor’s Heritage Black Bay and Pelagos models turned out to be when I managed to see them together for the first time ‘in the metal’ at The Hour Glass here in Sydney.

I blogged about the Black Bay (on the ST blog) when it came out. Inspired by the brand’s vintage divers from the 1950s but modernised, the ‘snowflake’ references for the replica watch relate to the distinctive shape of the hands, a feature of some 1970s models (e.g. ‘Snowflake Submariner’) – it’s basically a 1950s Tudor with 1970s influences sized for 2012 preferences, and with added colour.

I admit that I fell a little bit in love with the photos of the replica watch, the vintage-inspired domed crystal and the matte burgundy bezel in particular. The vintage-styled leather strap version was my preference.

The second Tudor dive replica watch that was launched at the same time was the Pelagos. At 42 mm, it has a satin-finished titanium case with a black ceramic bezel, is rated to 500 m (1640 ft) with a helium escape valve, and contains the same ETA 2824 as the Black Bay. Again there are vintage nods in this replica watch, with design cues also coming from the Snowflake Submariner, and pointy crown guards which reference early Tudor Subs.  In seeing the photos of the Pelagos, it didn’t do all that much for me, perhaps because I struggle to personally get overly excited by Submariner type replica watches, however much I may be able to appreciate their function and design.

It was only when I had the opportunity to see the both of them together that I realised that yet again, image manipulation had messed with my mind; the Pelagos changed places with the Black Bay.

Why? Well firstly, the Black Bay, although an attractive replica watch, just didn’t turn out to be as I’d expected based on the official photos I’d seen. The tone of the burgundy, which had been a major drawcard for me, just didn’t seem quite the same. I discovered that the colour I saw ‘in the metal’ was even slightly different to how it appeared in my own photos.

The second unexpected thing that arose was that the dial was more brown than I had thought it would be. I gather that it’s technically black, but there is definitely a brownish aspect to it. It’s not a bad looking replica watch (and unlike most people, I like the burgundy accent on the crown), but when a replica watch’s appeal has been largely due to aesthetic reasons related to colour, and when those colours appear different in real life, as was the case in this instance … unfortunately it just didn’t grab me anymore.

On the other hand, the utterly function-focused Pelagos to which I’d not paid much attention, now had me. The brushed titanium and ceramic bezel are matte, very modern, and surprisingly elegant. I love the use of titanium in particular, both in terms of looks, and weight. It’s very much a streamlined functional tool replica watch, complete with a spring-loaded clasp that allows for fine adjustments and an active setting that will tighten the clasp automatically during diving. It’s a sleek and discreet, and looks particularly good on a rubber strap.

Black Bay vs. Pelagos : which is your pick?

ADDENDUM (DECEMBER 2015) : Subsequent to these two models there have been a number of new colours released of both models. For my thoughts on some of these, go to this link for the Pelagos Blue and this link for the Black Bay ‘Black’ in particular. I own the Black Bay Blue and it is still my preferred colour for the Black Bay. For the Pelagos, I still think the black version is king.