Tudor has always been treated as the smaller brother of Rolex. Under the same umbrella, Tudor had been setup to target the entry-level watch market and younger generation. No doubt many of their watches designed under the shadow of the big brother, such as Prince date is looking identical to Dayjust and they also offer their own submariner.
They had been trying to market some different population from Rolex.
For making watches with unique design, popular example like Tudor Heritage Advisor with alarm function, Fastrider with ceramic case, Heritage Chorno with special looking dial and Black bay are good examples.
With the pressure in the industry like the ceased supply of ETA movements and the emerge of new brands. Tudor did a smart move making their own movement, making the brand more competitive and believed can bring more values to buyers.
Tudor North Flag was introduced in 2015 with their MT56 series inhouse movement which was later used in their new Black Bay and Pelagos. This Tudor “Explorer” come with totally new and unique design with a C.O.S.C. grade in-house movement had made quite a noise at that time.
Story behind the purchase?
As a watch-aholic, it is not possible to miss this breaking news in 2015. But I didn’t make the purchase right after it is released but after several years. It is quite weird that model not selling that good as expected comparing to the Black Bay and Pelagos released afterward.
I had visited their boutique several times but still couldn’t pull the trigger lately. I was a bit disappointed but just couldn’t forgot about it. Finally, after some years a friend offering a swap of his North Flag with my Sinn 203.
There was no better chance to own this watch, but just as I expected, my love gone soon. I was expecting a daily watch which is comfortable to wear and come with some unique details in design. No doubt the watch kept good time and the power reserve indicator made it really standing out among the sea of Tudor watches. But coming back to reality, it was thick and many other points that I can make a list of to complain (Please read below).
Sad ending, but no regret I had ever owned the watch I dreamed for long. I am happy they finally solved the problem and producing Black Bay 58 that come with a thinner movement. Maybe I will purchase again one day.
What I love?
High value for watch with in-house movement with Si escapement
Design is unique
Power reserve indicator is not common in Tudor
Only model with sapphire caseback design
3-day power reserve
C.O.S.C grade movement
Dial Design is clean and easy to read
What I Complain?
The case is quite thick
The thick case is lacking some streamlined design, making it eventually look like a block of steel in some angle, and a little bit cheap
Limited choice of straps due to a special lug design
Bezel deigned with steel covering the ceramic, couldn’t understanding the reasons behind
The see-through caseback for a satin-finishing movement is not that convincing
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