Tudor has revealed the highly anticipated fruit of their recently announced partnership with the French Navy, the Marine nationale, and the resulting Pelagos will come as little surprise. This isn?t the first time these two entities have joined forces to create purpose built tools for the service men and women of the M.N. but it is the first new entry since the ?80s, and it?s got some pretty big shoes to fill. While earlier M.N. issued Tudor watches were built within the brand?s now extinct Submariner line, the latest utilizing the Pelagos range in what they are calling the FXD.

The Pelagos FXD is a diver built to rather exacting standards, and as a result, may feel a bit compromised for practical everyday use if we?re going by the numbers. The titanium case measures 42mm in diameter and 12.75mm in thickness, while the lug to lug distance is stated to be 52mm. Now, numbers don?t always tell the whole story with a watch like this, but if you were hoping for a Black Bay 58-esque Pelagos, well, this ain’t it. The titanium case will surely wear light on the wrist, but the fixed (FXD) strap bar situation is the real unknown here. The entire lug design has been altered to create the 22mm width strap opening, with a squared off mid section unlike anything we?ve seen on a Pelagos before. 
The functionality of a fixed spring bar means one less potential break point, and is something we saw with the welded bars in Rolex Mil-Sub references, from the A/6538 to the 551...