Introducing The Tudor Pelagos Ultra, A 1,000 Meter Diver With A New Clasp

After years of focusing on the FXD platform, and a smaller form factor for the Pelagos collection, Tudor is returning to the collections roots today with the introduction of the Pelagos Ultra. The newest watch goes a bit old school, with a 43mm titanium case and a familiar looking design language, with a few notable exceptions, and a newly designed extension system in the clasp. The Ultra stands as a reaffirmation of the original ethos of the Pelagos collection, a modern, unrelenting diving instrument with little in the way of compromises. Oh, and it’s got multi-colored lume on the dial. 

The Pelagos has shown itself to be a surprisingly diverse collection for Tudor, with watches like the Pelagos 39, and FXD taking center stage going back to 2021. As popular as some of those watches have been, they have served to muddy the waters as it were when it comes to the Pelagos’ modus operandi as a no holds barred modern diver. This is a collection that began in 2012, not long after the release of the Black Bay, as the brand’s thoroughly modern vision of a dive watch acting as a natural counter to the heritage inspired Black Bay collection. 

The Pelagos Ultra feels like a return to that core idea, introducing a new generation of the original design language that doesn’t lose the plot. There is one detail that I suspect will raise eyebrows of the purists, and that is the removal of the angled rehaut with recesses for the block hour markers. Instead, we get a flattened experience to bring the dial closer to the underside of the crystal, and likely keep the total thickness somewhat in check. The dial does get a stepped chapter ring, with the hour markers segregated completely on the main dial section. 

On the subject of hour markers, it’s worth noting that the date aperture at three o’clock completely removes any semblance of an hour marker, potentially running afoul of ISO standards in the process. We saw Seiko deal with this by adding a small, half marker to the right of the aperture in their Prospex line before moving the date altogether to the 4:30 position. 

The 43mm case is constructed from both grade 2 and grade 5 titanium, and gets a helium escape valve at nine o’clock in the case, right where you’d expect. The case itself has received a slight redesign, according to Tudor, though the differences are tough to spot. The dial elements have been scaled up to benefit legibility, which wasn’t exactly a weak point before. But this watch doubles the standard depth rating of 500m, to 1,000m, so the changes will be welcome in that context. 

The dial also welcomes multiple lume colors, with the minute hand and the bezel pip each getting a green hue to contrast with the base blue of the rest of the lume. This will make spotting the most important components a bit easier in low light situations, and if I’m being honest, just looks pretty cool. The other deviation on the dial comes in the form of a light blue Pelagos label at the bottom of the dial, sitting atop the Master Chronometer label. 

Yes, this watch receives Tudor’s MT5612-U which has undergone master chronometer certification, which means it will keep time to +/- 2 seconds per day. The automatic movement enjoys 65 hours of reserve, and sits behind a closed caseback. Total thickness of the Ultra is 14.5mm, and if that’s a number that concerns you the Pelagos was likely never really on your radar to begin with. 

The bracelet clasp of the Pelagos Ultra receives a new version of the T-Fit clasp, which allows for easy adjustments on the fly including a visual guide to how much the bracelet has been extended. The builds on the spring loaded system introduced with the original Pelagos, that also had a visual cue of how far it was being stretched to fit over a dive suit. 

The Pelagos Ultra is a return to form for the Pelagos collection, and shows that Tudor is still focused on the core values of the idea. The use of the term Ultra denotes its first capable of reaching 1,000 meters (it’s worth mentioning that they also have the Pro moniker at use elsewhere that perhaps would have fit here as well). This hardcore Pelagos will come at a cost, however, priced at $5,950, making the priciest Pelagos to date. You can see more at tudor.com