“For those who like it right” – this is what the first teaser on Tudor‘s official Instagram account said about this new piece and, when you’re a real watch nerd, you just know that whatever is coming up, it’ll have to do with the placement of the crown. Left-handed people tend to prefer to wear a watch on their right wrist for self-explanatory reasons, and with the new Tudor Pelagos LHD “Left Hand Drive” Numbered Edition reference 25610TNL, Tudor has just launched a new piece designed just for them – and, well, everyone else who likes a bit more unusual of a layout.
We have written so much about the Tudor Pelagos and its titanium-clad body that there really is no point to us go into great detail here once again – for a full-review, check out our James’ amazing, in-depth look at the Pelagos with the blue dial. To give you a quick rundown on the new Tudor Pelagos LHD, we’ll say that it comes in a 42mm-wide titanium case matched to a titanium bracelet and micro-adjust buckle, with a black rubber strap also being added to the package – there are no other strap options or dial color combinations available at this time.
The crown on the Tudor Pelagos LHD “Left Hand Drive” Numbered Edition is on the left, yes, and Tudor mentions their Reference 9401, a left-handed dive watch made for the French Navy in 1981 as a vintage predecessor of this new piece. While the Pelagos is an appreciably more modern take on that model from some 35 years ago, the resemblance and “core DNA” is of course still there.
The case is water resistant to 500 meters and is in fact tested by Tudor to 125% of that, to 625 meters – just in case you took a really deep breath and wanted to go really, really deep. There is a helium escape valve on what is now the right hand side of the case too for saturation diving.
Tudor says that the introduction of this new model into the Pelagos line means that Tudor is able to offer a complete range of technical divers’ watches at the same time as bringing a little-known part of its product development history to light. “A complete range of technical divers’ watches” sounds a lot like these were intended for highly professional use – a challenge that the Pelagos is of course more than capable to handle – but another important reason is, of course, that there is a strong market of faithful Tudor collectors and enthusiasts who are constantly craving for something new, and such a noticeably different new piece will likely end up high on their “must-have” list.
The dial and the titanium bezel’s ceramic insert are both very black indeed, while trademark Pelagos block indices and hands feature some vintage-vibe-emitting off-white luminescent paint. Just like on previous Pelagos models, the bezel’s numerals and indices are luminescent as well. The Pelagos remains heavy on texts on the dial, with a total of seven lines of text (and a logo) remaining – for vintage Rolex and Tudor fans the red (or should I say: “single red?”) Pelagos designation will be an appreciated detail; for mere mortals, it will just be a nice splash of color that spices things up a bit. Add to this the beige colored date disc that has its numbers displayed in red and black alternating for even and odd numbers respectively – nicknamed the “roulette” date by collectors.
The movement inside the Tudor Pelagos LHD remains Tudor’s MT5612, though in this version it is the MT5612-LHD variant with the roulette date and the crown at the 9 o’clock position. It still runs at 4Hz with its silicon balance spring, has a healthy power reserve of 70 hours and, as noted on the dial, is COSC chronometer certified. The matte, sand-blasted, and machine-tooled finishings of the movement match nicely the high-tech look of the all-satin finished, warm silvery color of the titanium case… but movement finishing you won’t be able to appreciate due to the solid case-back that, to make up for blocking the view, features a unique production number bang in the middle.
That is not to imply that the new Tudor Pelagos LHD will be limited in production, which we believe it will not be – it is a numbered, but non-limited edition. Price for the new Tudor Pelagos LHD “Left Hand Drive” reference 25610TNL will be CHF4,200, the same as it is for other Pelagos models. tudorwatch.com
