Tudor Pelagos 39 Review: The Ultimate Scaled-Down Diver

Back in 2012, Tudor unveiled its action-ready diver, capable of surviving depths up to a whopping 500 meters (that’s over 1,640 feet) with the Pelagos. To achieve that extensive depth rating, for many, the necessary tradeoff came with the 42mm sizing that the Pelagos debuted, which is the caveat made with the inclusion of a helium escape valve to make the case more secure in deeper diving excursions. In the years since its release, Tudor has riffed upon the Pelagos in various ways, even including teaming up with the French Marine Nationale to create the FXD extension on the line, and recently, throwing in a GMT complication into the mix. And let's not forget this year's Pelagos Ultra. But we are gathered here today to take a good, long look at the Pelagos many asked for, with the more versatile-sized Tudor Pelagos 39.

Despite listening to the audience and essentially delivering what they ordered on a silver platter, the Pelagos 39mm has largely remained in the shadow of the brand’s golden child, the Black Bay 58. When comparing the two, there’s a lot of common ground between the two watches on the surface: they’re of comparable size (the Pelagos 39mm is actually .1mm slimmer), identical levels of water resistance at 200m, and the price difference between the two is under $1,000, which doesn’t seem incredibly significant given the Pelagos 39mm is all in Titanium, which always more costly.

So, what is the secret sauce that the Black Bay 58 has that the Pelagos lacks? Likely, it’s probably the difference in legacy. The Black Bay 58 with its mid-1950s design inspiration does tick the box that a lot of us in the watch world are looking for, which is roots firmly planted in historical significance. But instead of leaving it there, I will make the argument that what at first glance appears to be a miss in the Pelagos’ favor could, if looked at in a different light, be transformed into its strength. 

Tudor Pelagos 39 Case and Bracelet 

As I’ve mentioned earlier, and as we already well know from the name of the watch itself, we’re working with a 39mm diameter here. This, as you already know as well, is largely considered within the “goldilocks” sweet spot of watch sizing, at least in terms of diameter. But getting more into the nitty gritty of it, the Pelagos 39 measures 46.8mm lug-to-lug, with a thickness of 11.8mm. Yes, the 39mm size is 3mm slimmer than the original Pelagos of 2012, but what’s more impressive to me is the consolidation of the profile from 14mm (which is, for lack of a better word, chunky) to the much more reasonable 11.8mm. But again, you can’t just trim the fat off a watch that dramatically without cutting out sacrificing something on the altar, and in the case of the Pelagos 39, that helium escape valve was left on the chopping block. 

For the material construction, the Tudor Pelagos 39 is very explicitly made of Grade 2 titanium. Why is this significant? Typically, we’re used to seeing Grade 5 titanium utilized in modern watchmaking, which is a composite alloy that uses not only titanium but also aluminum with a dash of vanadium in the mix. This ostensibly makes Grade 5 more resistant to dings and scratches, which is the accepted tradeoff for the lightness of titanium. Grade 2 titanium, on the other hand, is a more pure composition of titanium, which can’t claim the more robust scratch-resistance of Grade 5.

But the matte finish on the case and bracelet of the Pelagos 39 does help to mitigate this tradeoff, as subtle scratches are much, much less obvious on matte than they are on something with bright, shiny polishing. Again, the real draw of titanium here is its impressive lightness. We’re talking 40% lighter than steel. Though very transparently, I’m not a diver, I can imagine that wearing a lighter watch over a wetsuit might be ideal. As just a regular pedestrian, I also find titanium watches to be quite comfortable, but I also get a bit overstimulated with running around with heavier watches on my wrist. Ultimately, as with really everything in watches, it all comes down to a personal preference. 

Now, let’s move on to the bracelet of it all. The Tudor Pelagos 39 features short, angular lugs with a 21mm lug width, which is a bit surprising, but the overall effect of the updated bracelet design makes this large lug width somewhat negligible. Also made of Grade 2 titanium, the three-link bracelet is quite dramatically tapered, all the way down to 16mm, with a 46mm T-Fit clasp, which is a turn from the spring-operated system of the Pelagos 42mm. The previous spring-operated system was something of a favorite from the Pelagos 42mm, but, on the other hand, the micro-adjustment capabilities of the T-Fit clasp also offer a reasonable amount of personalization for sizing, with an additional meter of pull-to-slide adjustment, along with a folding extension. There’s also a lot of removable links in the mix. Another argument for the T-Fit system is its no-fuss ease of use, and, personally, I just think it looks a bit better. But, I will warn you that the clasp is quite long, so that’s important to keep in mind, so you might need to play around with the fit of the bracelet to optimize where the clasp hits on your wrist. 

In addition to the matching titanium bracelet, the Tudor Pelagos 39 also comes with a dive-ready rubber strap in tow. This is, quite obviously, the more dive-ready option of the two. It also might be a nice change during the heat in the summer. It’s a rubber strap, so I’m not going to pontificate it's something groundbreaking, but it does feature an extension piece in the case that in needs to be fitted over a wetsuit for real divers out there. Again, not a diver here in the slightest, so I personally like the look of the Tudor Pelagos 39 paired with a bracelet more, but it is nice to have another option for added versatility.  

Tudor Pelagos 39 Dial

As you have already guessed from the title of this section, we’re officially moving into dial territory. Currently, Tudor has not given us any more dial color variations other than the black that was debuted with this model in 2023 – I’m holding out hope that they might consider changing that sooner or later. The dial is, again, black, minimal, and to the point. Whereas the other larger Pelagos models have included a date window, the Pelagos 39 is strictly time-only. This can be a pro or con, depending on where you stand on the question of date windows.

In this case, the no-nonsense time-only utility of it all really works for this model, and I prefer the symmetry of this dial layout, and think putting a date window at three would have thrown off the balance. I’m not staunchly in the anti-date-window camp, but more often than not, I think many watches out there would look better without it. Sometimes a funky date window can throw off the whole vibe – I’ve seen it many times before, and there’s no doubt I will encounter it again. 

Circling back to the BB 58 vs. Pelagos 39 debate, I think what might be the deal breaker between the two watches might come down to the indices, even if it's a subconscious preference. The Black Bay 58 has the mixing of the triangular marker at twelve with the circular pips and rectangular bars at three, six, and nine o’clock, which immediately calls to mind all the iconic mid-century divers out there.

In contrast, the Tudor Pelagos 39 is more obviously contemporary, instead opting for stout monobloc ceramic composite squares to mark the majority of the hours. This is undoubtedly subtle, yes, but again, there’s just something about a circular hour pip that gets the people going – myself included. It might be strange to personalize a shape with human attributes, but circles just always feel playful and sort of friendly to me. The squares instead feel like they’re ready to get down to business. 

Another change to note is the finishing of that black dial. Since its release, the Pelagos has largely stuck to a matte finish on its dials, but here with the Pelagos 39, we have something a little more dimensional with the satin finish. It’s a subtle drama, but it does add a bit of flair to this watch’s ruggedly tool-oriented ethos. If I were to try and adopt the mindset of the product design team at Tudor, my guess is that, given its more versatile sizing and reduced depth rating, this detail was an attempt to make this watch rise from the shackles of being strictly dive-oriented to transcend into the coveted realms of a daily driver.

It’s easy to come to this realization given the brand's own photography treatment of the Tudor Pelagos 39, which not only features the watch splashing around poolside, and on the wrists of men and women, but also sneaks in some hints to a more urban style of living with images of city skylines, a clear aim at the city slickers (myself included) out there who likely don’t face extreme depths on a regular basis. The ceramic insert on the unidirectional dive bezel has undergone a satin sunray finish, so even with the austere black color palette, you’ll get that pop of light and shadow as the light hits the sunray surfaces. Again, we’re really down to the nitty gritty of personal preference here, so this detail could very well be either a pro or con for you. 

In the case of the hands, we unsurprisingly have the familiar snowflake-tipped hours hand, accompanied by a sword-shaped minutes hand and a diamond-tipped seconds hand. Given its dive-oriented roots, these details, along with the hour and bezel markers, have all received a healthy dose of Super-LumiNova in case you intend to encounter murky waters or just simply want to be able to tell the time at night easily. The other details on the dial include the expected Tudor logo at twelve, along with the novelty of “Pelagos” being printed in bright red above the depth rating and movement certification above twelve o’clock. It’s the good kind of simple.

The Movement

Now we’re onto the subject, the real mechanical-movement-heads out there have been patiently waiting for: the caliber that the Pelagos 39 uses. And since I keep leaning on the comparison between the Black Bay 58 and the Pelagos 39, I will state for the record we’re in eerily similar waters here. The Pelagos 39 is powered by the MT5400 caliber, which is based on the MT5402 movement that was made to fit comfortably within the Black Bay 58 back in 2018. The MT5400 made its debut a few years later in 2021 within the 925 along with the 18k gold BB58 models. Unlike those two, the Pelagos 39 does not feature an exhibition caseback, going for a more simplistic and rugged look with a closed caseback. 

I’m happy to announce that even though the MT5400 caliber within the Tudor Pelagos 39 isn’t visible to the naked eye, given the closed caseback of it all, it's still got the COSC-Certified stamp of approval. Even more, this caliber goes above and beyond, and is regulated to -2 to +4 Seconds/Day, a whopping 2 seconds more accurate than COSC’s own standards. Additionally, this movement features bidirectional winding capabilities, is equipped with a silicon hairspring, free-sprung balance, and has a 4 Hz frequency and 70 hours of power reserve. 

Final Thoughts 

Though I’ve recognized a few caveats to look out for with the Tudor Pelagos 39 (which largely boil down to, say it with me, personal preference), it’s about time I return to my initial remark that what initially might appear to be shortcomings of the Pelagos 39 might just be what makes it most endearing. That is, that the Tudor Pelagos 39 might be an underdog worth rooting for. 

While the Black Bay 58 continues to bask in the limelight, the Pelagos 39 remains steadfast, delivering versatile utility, an impressive movement, and a killer bracelet all without demanding the spotlight. Maybe I’ve drunk the watch world Kool-Aid, or my constant need to resist what’s popular is my Achilles heel, but when it comes to watches, I personally find that being in resistance to what’s hyped at the moment is a subtle act of rebellion I admire. Though it is more contemporary by design, there’s nothing that glaringly places it in time that will make it feel like a testament to the current trends of the moment. It’s a black diver at the end of the day. But that simplicity is what I think will also be the very thing that helps the Pelagos 39 stand the test of time. Priced at $5,000 you can learn more about this and the Pelagos collection at tudorwatches.com