Diving In The Details: The Tudor Pelagos 39

Even as a fairly veteran reporter in the watch industry, I continue to be fascinated by new product announcements that seem, at face value, to be pretty minor innovations, but end up taking on an unexpected level of buzz and discussion. Last week’s drop of the 39mm execution of the Tudor Pelagos titanium dive watch is a case in point.
 

Coming off a particularly impressive set of new product releases at Watches & Wonders this year, Tudor is simply firing on all cylinders more than ever.

While a slightly smaller Pelagos timepiece is a natural progression for the brand, the attention this timepiece has been getting feels, well, unnatural. But, on closer inspection and with a little time to roll it around visually, Tudor’s press release tagline that the Pelagos 39 lives at the “crossroads between the world of technical diving and urban sophistication” turns out to be right on the money. But there’s even more to the story than that stated duality.

I’ll just say it: Overall, the pure, technically-based dial approach of the Tudor Pelagos just plain works well at the 39mm size. The satin-y sunray finish on the black dial and unidirectional bezel’s black ceramic insert delivers more oomph; the brushed-titanium case has better, tighter impact; the applied monobloc lumed ceramic composite hour markers pop even more. One could say that Tudor has addressed the “urban sophistication” and style-appeal part of the equation simply by keeping this dive watch completely legit, just at a smaller size.
 

The tendency in dive watches can certainly run to the macho (big and heavy). But, to my knowledge, there is no rule that says a legitimate dive watch has to leave a big, big mark on the other guy after a bar-fight. At the end of the day, a 39mm case is a perfectly reasonable size for most wrists, even for a tool watch. Remember, there is nothing more stylish than just being real.