Hands On: Tudor Pelagos Ultra

Bulked up for 1,000 meters.

Tudor has been busy expanding the Pelagos collection in recent years, focusing primarily on military and racing associations. But until now, none exceeded the 500 m depth rating of the debut model from 2012. Just launched at Watches & Wonders 2025, the Pelagos Ultra (ref. 2543C1A7NU) can dive to double that depth, making it the deepest diving watch in Tudor’s current collection.

The Ultra is differentiated primarily by its headline 1,000 m depth rating and teal accents, and is otherwise a familiar mix of elements from the Pelagos range including the lumed ceramic bezel, a fully brushed grade 2 titanium case and bracelet, and legible snowflake hands.

Initial thoughts

I personally enjoy overbuilt dive watches, despite the fact that I don’t dive. Practicality aside, there’s just something fun and reassuring about wearing what feels like a vault on the wrist. And that’s what the Ultra feels like – it’s tangibly overbuilt but still wearable thanks to its titanium construction.

The biggest, baddest Pelagos yet, the Ultra measures 43 mm and 14.5 mm thick. But it doesn’t look overly large thanks to its 22 mm lug width, which gives it the visual proportions of something a little smaller. That said, the sizing may be too much for some, who would likely find a better fit with the standard Pelagos or Pelagos 39.

The dial design is similar to that of the Pelagos 39, with applied polymer-ceramic lume plots. But the Ultra is a little more extreme, with beefier hands and markers. The indexes and bezel graduations are lumed in a cool blue colour, while the minute hand is painted with a contrasting shade of green.

Speaking of lume, the Ultra features a luminous pip on the T-fit clasp to indicate which extension setting is in use, whether it’s one of the micro-adjustment steps or the full dive extension. The pip is colour-matched to the shade of teal used for the Pelagos dial text, which gives the monochromatic clasp an unexpected splash of colour.

The Tudor T-fit clasp, upgraded with a luminous pip. Image – Tudor

The Ultra is a Master Chronometer, which means the MT5612-U movement is COSC-certified and the fully cased watch is later subjected to a full battery of tests to verify its water resistance and chronometric performance when exposed to magnetic fields up to 15,000 Gauss. The Master Chronometer standard, originally developed by Omega, is among the most stringent testing regimes in the industry and guarantees the Ultra’s rate to run within a tight range of 0 and +5 seconds per day.

At US$6,100, the Ultra is pricey for a Tudor but still manages to undercut rival Omega’s Seamaster Planet Ocean 600 m by a third, while offering even more water resistance. Tudor is known for offering good value-for-money, and that’s still true even as prices have ticked up in recent years.

As expected, the build quality is excellent, with an easy-to-operate screw-down crown and buttery smooth bezel detents. The only tell-tale sign of the affordable pricing is the uneven paint job at the base of the hands (visible below).

Reaching new depths

Rated to 1,000 m, the Ultra is one of the deepest-diving Tudor watches ever, second only to the Hydronaut 1200 produced between 2009 and 2012 (and never missed). Tudor would probably rather you forget they made the Hydronaut, seemingly born from a designer’s fever dream.

Of course, being a true diving watch the Ultra is tested to even greater depths than what is stated on the dial. The international standard for dive watches, ISO 6425, stipulates testing to at least 125% of the stated depth, meaning the Ultra should be able to hold its own down to at least 1,250 m.

Built to tolerate the rigors of saturation diving, the Ultra features a flush-fit automatic helium escape valve (HEV) at nine o’clock.

HEVs are somewhat controversial considering there are apparently just a few hundred saturation divers in the world. Critics are quick to point out the HEV is an unnecessary gimmick that just creates another hole in the case that could potentially leak. But in my view this misses the forest for the trees; mechanical dive watches are themselves unnecessary, but they are cool and fun and the HEV is an interesting technical detail that makes sense on the Ultra.

One minor quibble is the crystal, which distorts the dial when viewed from an angle. This is due to the extreme thickness of the crystal, which is necessary to tolerate the intense pressure experienced at 1,000 m. All the same, it’s more distortion than I’m used to seeing, even within the genre of overbuilt dive watches like the Ultra.

Another Master Chronometer

The Ultra is powered by the automatic MT5612-U movement, hidden behind a solid titanium case back. The MT5612 designation is familiar, having been in service for a decade. It’s a COSC-certified chronometer that features a silicon hairspring and a free-sprung balance, and runs for up to 65 hours once fully wound.

The MT5612 movement. Image – Tudor

But the “U” designation is comparatively new and means that the movement is now a METAS-certified Master Chronometer, which conforms to even more stringent criteria. The Master Chronometer designation was developed by Omega in partnership with METAS, Switzerland’s national bureau for standards and measurements.

Magnetic testing apparatus at the Tudor manufacture. Image – Tudor

Originally developed to differentiate Omega’s magnetism-resistant watches, the Master Chronometer standard requires watches to resist up to 15,000 Gauss. Omega opened up this testing regime to other brands, assuming few would dare. Tudor called Omega’s bluff in 2021, and since then has been slowing rolling out the Master Chronometer certification across its collections.

Immersion testing in water, a requirement of the METAS certification. Image – Tudor

Closing thoughts

While most buyers will probably be happier with the more wearable Pelagos 42 or the compact Pelagos 39, the Ultra is arguably the best value-for-money among ‘extreme’ divers that can withstand depths in excess of a kilometer. It’s attractive and comfortable despite its robust dimensions, and is a worthy capstone to the Pelagos collection.