The original Northflag was released by Tudor in 2015, just as the Black Bay was really hitting its stride. With an integrated bracelet and forward looking dial design, the Northflag was ahead of its time, and wouldn’t be fully appreciated for what it was until its quiet discontinuation in 2021, at the onset of the integrated bracelet craze. The Northflag was significant for more than its design, however. It was the first watch from Tudor to carry an in-house movement in the MT5621, and the design served as a modern interpretation of the Ranger, rather than a pure heritage variation as was released a year prior. With the introduction of a new Northflag, Tudor takes another pass at the idea, and it comes in a climate far more receptive to such a concept.
2015 was a strange year at Baselworld, especially in hindsight. The industry was struggling with the electronic wearables boom thanks to the arrival of the Apple Watch, and while some good watches were released, there was no flagship watch to emerge from the crowd. The Northflag was an immediate oddity thanks to the modern dial with yellow accents, including a power reserve indication (very uncharacteristic for Tudor), and the integrated nature of the design, which used a round case and bezel. On the ground in Basel that year, none of us could really make heads or tails of the watch, but the introduction of an in-house movement (which also appeared in a Pelagos that year) was the real story.
With a new Northflag, Tudor finds a more palatable middle ground with the concept, though it still has a rather unique character and, like the original, I suspect will be polarizing in nature. The yellow is toned down, and some of the rough edges have been smoothed over, but the overall architecture of the design remains familiar. That means an integrated H-link bracelet connects with a round case and bezel with a slightly awkward transition, but it’s a shape the brand has used (sparingly) for multiple generations now (see the reference 9121).
Right off the bat, the large dial jumps out with this new Northflag thanks to the narrow bezel. This is a 40mm watch, so that dial represents quite a bit of real estate, the size of which you might find on far larger frames. This sets the tone for the Northflag, and it won’t be an impression that works for everyone. As a guy who likes a solid bezel and the dial proportions that come with it, the Northflag looks immediately off to my eye. Some of this comes from the feeling that a conventional round case and bezel is being made to work with an integrated bracelet, and neither feels completely comfortable with the other.
That expansive dial hosts a familiar set of hands that once again recall the history of the Ranger, with a large arrow at the tip of the hour hand. Yellow makes a return in a more subtle manner in the dividing lines of the 24 hour scale in the rehaut, and the 24 hour hand tracking against it. It also shows up in the business end of the seconds hand for some reason (the counter weight is white). A date appears at three o’clock, and it’s not color matched to the dial, so it blends in with what an hour marker might look like at the same position.
Notably, the oversized hour markers at the top and bottom of the dial are done in a similar manner to the original Northflag, with squared off edges and a wide stance. All of this is set into a black dial that has, inexplicably, been given a subtle sunburst texture. Given the fully brushed nature of the case, and just overall nature of the watch itself, a matte black dial feels the only appropriate choice here, but that wasn’t in the cards.
Moving to the inside, things get a bit more impressive. Tudor is using their caliber MT5652-U, which is METAS certified, meaning it will be highly accurate throughout its 65 hour reserve. It is a ‘true’ GMT meaning the hour hand is independently adjustable. This is the same movement pulling duty in the FXD GMT, and like that watch, measures 12.7mm in thickness. The movement is visible through an exhibition caseback and offers a view at a new radial stripe finish atop the plates.
In short, the Northflag is a design that won’t click with everyone, though it boasts an impressive mechanical feature set. It’s weird, and the character is there, but somehow all the pieces don’t quite land for me. Others will surely find a lot to love here, and I’m happy that Tudor has returned to this formula, and hope that they continue to explore it in earnest. The price for the new Northflag is set at $5,525, and it is being offered only on a steel bracelet. Tudor