The Giro d’Italia is one of the most prestigious Grand Tours in the professional circuit, and TUDOR is the Official Timekeeper of the race. The coveted Maglia Rosa, or “pink jersey”, that represents victory at the Giro has over a century of storied history behind it.
To get an idea of just how challenging the race is, consider this: The riders will experience the elevation gain of going up Mt. Everest six times over the course of the race. If that isn’t worthy of making a race-specific watch for, then we don’t know what is. Enter the Pelagos FXD Chrono “Pink,” of which only 300 units will be produced.
Professional cycling isn’t for the faint of heart. Riders’ bodies and minds are pushed to the absolute limit with every pedal stroke, not to mention the incredible danger of the sport. A watch engineered with professional cycling in mind needs to stand up to the extreme demands of the sport, while being easy for the rider to operate.
It’s no secret that the fastest bikes are made of carbon fibre, and that’s why TUDOR opted for carbon composite for the case of the new chronograph designed with daring riders in mind. The implementation of titanium elements help make the watch necessarily robust, as it will certainly face the unpredictable conditions presented by cycling.
It’s not only the durability of the watch that was considered during its design phase. It’s also meant to be useful to riders while they’re putting in time on the bike. It’s typical for the tachymetric scale of a chronograph to be calibrated to the speeds an automobile is capable of; indeed, many TUDOR chronographs feature a scale typically associated with motorsport.
What makes the Pelagos FXD Chrono “Pink” special is that the scale is presented in a way that’s suited for the speeds that cyclists can sustain. The chronograph scale is “wrapped” around the dial in a spiral, allowing the average speeds that cyclists routinely operate at to be read at a glance. The tachymeter function on the Pelagos FXD Chrono “Pink” has been specifically designed for cycling.
Race Ready Dials
The matt black dial with pink accents puts legibility first and foremost and is reminiscent of the colours associated with the Giro d’Italia.
The signature square hour-markers and “Snowflake” hands, designed back in the sixties by TUDOR to offer larger luminous surfaces and thus improve legibility, are fashioned from luminescent ceramic composite for optimal legibility in challenging conditions. Around the circumference of the dial, printed on a 45°-angled rehaut, is a re-calibrated tachymeter scale whose inner ring focuses on the speeds that cyclists ride at.
A Fabric Strap For Riding
The single-piece fabric strap is one of the hallmarks of TUDOR, which in 2010, became one of the first watchmaking brands to offer it with its watches. Woven in France on 19th century Jacquard looms by the Julien Faure company in the St-Etienne region, its manufacturing quality, robustness and comfort on the wrist are unique.
For the Pelagos FXD models, a highly technical strap construction was developed by TUDOR and Julien Faure. Made up of a 22mm black jacquard-woven technical fabric with a pink stripe and a traditional buckle, it’s perfect for putting in time on the bike.
Manufacture Chronograph Calibre MT5813
The Manufacture Calibre MT5813, powering the Pelagos FXD Chrono, displays hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph and date functions. It also bears the matt finish typical of TUDOR Manufacture Calibres and comes complete with a signature tungsten openwork monobloc rotor.
Boasting a “weekend-proof” 70-hour power reserve and a silicon balance spring, the Manufacture Chronograph Calibre MT5813 is certified by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC), with its performance exceeding the standards set by this independent institute at -2 and +4 seconds’ variation per day, tested on every fully assembled chronograph. A high-performance movement, it was crafted in the purest watchmaking tradition, with a column wheel mechanism and vertical clutch. Derived from the Manufacture Calibre Breitling 01 chronograph, with a high-precision regulating organ developed by TUDOR and exclusive finishes, this movement is the result of a lasting collaboration between the two brands.
For more details, visit TUDOR’s official website.
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