Is the Tudor Pelagos the best value on the market right now?

With all the talk around the Black Bay 58 and FXD, the Tudor Pelagos may be the best value in watches right now when it comes to models you can march into a store and buy. Features-wise, the Pelagos has 500 meters of water resistance, a 70-hour power reserve in-house movement and a titanium case and bracelet. And best of all the rectangular hour markers show that it’s 100 percent Tudor combined with the snowflake hour hand.

Detractors bemoan the case thickness and the five lines of text on the dial. I’ll tell you, both don’t matter that much in daily ownership in my ownership experience. The only reason I sold my Pelagos was because it was a casualty on the way to Submariner ownership, a move that I don't regret at all. That said, I do miss my Pelagos. And in today’s absurd market, this one still stands out as a baller watch for what I think is a very fair price. 

Photo by The Watch Company

We are admittedly Rolex fanboys here at Everest, so I will say that part of the value of Tudor is buying into the Rolex brand family. You can get your Tudor serviced at a Rolex Service Center so if you value lifetime ownership, you have a dependable arm for your entire ownership experience. And there is a certain level of quality that Rolex and Tudor watches are known for.

Photo by Petite Geneve

But with it nearly impossible to purchase a Rolex sports watch at retail price, Tudor options are looking impressive at the moment. You may not get the brand recognition of Rolex, but in my real-world experience even iconic Rolex models don’t get much attention beyond the small fraction of people who are into watches.

Photo of the Pelagos LHD by Millenary Watches

The Pelagos has a matte finish and utilitarian look that is divisive. For me the ultra-functional look with an obvious attention to detail is exactly my favorite type of watch. That’s why the Speedmaster Professional has become one of my favorites in the collection. It does not have the flash of the ceramic Daytona, but it stands out on the wrist in its own understated way.

Photo by GQ

My only other hesitation on the Pelagos is that it has a date complication, and it’s pretty small in the tradition of the Sea-Dweller. I prefer time-only watches and these days if I am going to buy a watch with a date complication, I want it to be magnified so my old eyes can easily read the date.

Photo by Bark and Jack

We’ve written about the value of the five-digit Datejust in the secondhand market, but if you want to be the first owner of a watch and write your own history, the Tudor Pelagos is a solid choice as it’s one the models that came out during Tudor’s reentry into the North American market.