Tudor had a surprisingly busy weekend with a presence at two global sporting events, each boasting new watches from the brands. Only one of them will be publicly available, however, and that is a new Cycling Edition FXD Chronograph released in honor of the Giro d’Italia in support of their professional cycling team. The other would be a ‘Chameleon’ Black Bay for VCARB F1 team drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Riccardo (and only for those two drivers). The watches follow a trend of special editions made for their sporting partners, with the FXD using the same carbon composite we saw used for the Red Bull Alinghi racing team, and this time they’ve nixed the team tie in on the dial.
The latest FXD marks the second chronograph within the family, both having come in the form of a team creation for one of Tudor’s partners. We have yet to see a regular edition of the FXD Chronograph join the family, and that may be by design. Tudor is using the complication only where it makes sense to for a specific purpose that aligns with each sport for which it was designed. That is manifested in this watch with a special tachymeter placed inside the dial that’s been recalibrated to track speeds more relevant to a cyclist. This is also the first Pelagos to get a fixed bezel.
This watch represents the most unique FXD to date, repurposed for a highly specific use case. Then again, that the MO of the FXD altogether in many ways, with the very first Marine Nationale getting unique features to support a specific maneuver of the divers that it was designed for. Seen through that lens, this FXD Chronograph makes plenty of sense. By the same measure it also places the watch in a niche within a niche as a specialized tool, but that’s the kind of thing that generally makes watches interesting in the long haul.
This isn’t the first we’ve seen Tudor honor their relationship with the professional cycling world, with other special and/or limited Black Bay Chronograph watches (most recently with this pink dial). This example takes a function forward approach, arranging a specialized tachymeter on a 45 degree rehaut within the dial, moving the seconds and minute index to the fixed bezel (this watch has the FXD first truly fully indexed bezel). That tachymeter has been recalibrated to track speeds at which cyclists would be traveling (or thereabouts). Luminous ceramic blocks remain in place marking each hour, and this remains the focal point of the dial, but the red tachymeter scale is placed prominently for ease of use when relevant.
Just how practical that would be for actual riders in a competitive environment isn’t for me to say, but it’s an interesting and quite specific use case that makes for a rather unique FXD. The fixed bezel also makes this an outlier in the collection, and has me even more curious as to what a standard production FXD Chronogh could be like.
This FXD Chronograph uses Tudor’s manufacturer-built MT5813, which has been COSC certified for use here. This is placed within a 43mm carbon composite case that measures 13.2mm in thickness. The price is set at $5,275 and I suspect that few of these watches will be produced given their unique nature. This watch also uses a black fabric strap which passes through the fixed lug, but uses a tang buckle for securing. A strap that would likely be welcome by other FXD owners out there, but it doesn’t look as though the straps are available as stand alone items just yet. Here’s hoping that happens soon. Tudor
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