I wanted to save this piece on the Tudor P01 for a time when the vitriol caused by its release had been directed toward other watches. This watch causes divisive feelings and emotional reactions in many enthusiasts when they see it, and I figured it was worth the wait if it meant a few more people could look at this watch with open eyes. When released, the P01 caused many to become enraged. Watch lovers believed, without any definitive evidence to support their assumptions, it must be said, that the P01 would be a re-release of the Tudor Submariner. But, as we now know, when it was finally unveiled, they did not get the Submariner they had been hoping for but got the Black Bay P01 instead.
The Black Bay P01 is based on an obscure prototype made in the 60s for the U.S. Navy and never adopted for issued use. Many could not understand why Tudor would re-create something like this. What purpose did it serve? Who would buy it? It was an ugly, big, useless, and tactless design.
I did not know or care what Tudor would release when the P01 was unveiled to the world. When I did see it, I thought it might be interesting to try, even if it was different. It wasn’t some re-hashed idea, given a new dial color and a different date window location; it was an entirely different watch when I compared it to anything I had seen.
I was intrigued by the vast lugs and the bezel locking mechanism; the strap looked like something I could wear in the woods, rivers, and deserts and survive; it had the same features and appearance as my Black Bay 58’s leather strap (which is falling apart), with the added benefit of being rubber. I liked the dial and the date and that I could use the bezel to track two time zones.
It took two years to get the funds together to order one, and I had to wait a few more months until my dealer got it in stock. When it finally arrived, I could not see it in person since I was out of town, so I had it shipped to my house. When I first tried it on, I wouldn’t say I liked it as much as I would have hoped. It was large, weighed a lot on the wrist, and was uncomfortable. I wore it for the evening and then put it away, disappointed in what I had done. I had that horrible sinking feeling in my stomach that always comes with buyer’s remorse. Over the next few months, I only wore the watch a handful of times. I wasn’t ready to admit defeat, but I wasn’t prepared to give it a chance until one day, when I decided to bring it along on a snowshoeing trip to scout out a new mining claim.
It was a cold but sunny day with a light breeze, and the sky was the perfect shade of blue, like the feathers of a mountain bluebird. The air was crisp and clean, and no one was out when I arrived at one of the canyons near my house. I planned to break a trail with my snowshoes into the mountains to look for some rock outcroppings I was interested in and see if they would warrant further exploration when spring came. I decided to take the P01 with me and see what it was like to wear it during a long and active day digging in the snow, hammering rocks, and climbing.
I didn’t notice the watch until I put on my oversized jacket to fight the cold breeze. Getting it under the elastic cuffs designed to seal out the wind was tricky, but I did manage to get it situated eventually, though it felt a little bulky under the jacket.
When I pulled my gloves on, I found I had another problem: my gloves pushed the watch into the sleeve of my coat, bunching up the elastic, which got caught on the lugs; at the same time, the coat tried to push the watch down into my gloves, creating an open space where my bare skin was exposed and bunched everything up around the watch. It was uncomfortable. It was too cold to have any exposed skin in the early morning, and I had to stop multiple times to maneuver the watch into a position that protected me from the wind.
Once I got this set, though, it was not entirely uncomfortable, but it was a heavy watch that was noticeable on the wrist during the entire excursion. It never disappears; it is never unnoticeable. I could feel it every time I moved my arm, used my sticks to push myself through the snow, and when I stopped to take breaks or eat. I felt it dig into my hand when I dug holes in the snow, and it flopped around when I used a rock hammer to take mineral samples. In titanium, this watch would probably be very wearable, but in steel, it is too heavy to wear and enjoy.
The second issue I had was with the strap. I like the idea very much, and the way the deployant buckle sits on my wrist and distributes the weight of the watch is practical. But like every other watch strap I have ever worn (except the rubber or fabric strap that came with my Pelagos FXD or any of Erika’s Originals straps), it is either too tight or too loose. I could not get it to fit right, and unlike my other watches, I decided not to punch a hole in the strap to compensate for this as I was not sure what this would do to the leather inlay. In the cold, it is too loose, and the weight causes it to flop around quite a lot but adjusting it to the next hole makes it too tight. When it is hot, it is too tight, and the only way to reduce this is to adjust it, but then it ends up being too loose and flops around.
It does stand up to sweat, dirt, and water very well. And even after getting it soaking wet many times, the leather is in excellent condition and has not frayed or peeled. I put a coat of leather preserver on it, which caused it to darken to a beautiful dark-brown color.
The watch’s timekeeping is exceptional. On an average week, wearing it to exercise, hike, and do work at the library or my desk, it loses anywhere between one and five seconds over the course of the week. All my Tudors keep time to roughly the same degree, with my Pelagos FXD being accurate to less than a second slow per week and my Black Bay 58 gaining about three to five seconds a week.
They keep better time than my Rolex watches do (although on a good week, the Daytona will be precisely on time, gaining or losing nothing, although it isn’t consistent in this performance and varies weekly). The only other watch I own that is roughly as accurate is my IWC Mark XVIII which gains about a second a day. Even after a year of ownership, it keeps time to the same degree. I have no complaints.
Some grill Tudor for using Kenissi movements, and I can’t understand why it matters. Perhaps the “in-house” or “manufacturer” caliber throws people off since they are not manufactured at Tudor’s HQ. I do not care if they are made at Todor HQ (Rolex) as long as they work. And all the Tudor movements I have had experience with seem to work very well; they are robust and can take a beating; they are accurate, easy to set and use, and maintain their performance after many years of wear. The movements work well; that is all that matters.
The fit and finish of the watch is very good. There are no quality control errors that I can see, even under a loupe. It is utilitarian in appearance, and the brushed surfaces are all uniform and beautiful. The dial has no imperfections; the case has no finishing imperfections, and the strap, deployant, and bezel are finished very well. I like the locking lug mechanism. It is reassuring when tracking hike times, and it has never been knocked out of place, even when I fell and rolled down a hill with the watch on. It hit a few rocks and some downfall, and the bezel mechanism stayed locked. It is useless for timing elapsed time down to the minute, but it is a great second-time zone tracker.
After a year of ownership, I have mixed feelings about this watch. I still wear it, primarily when I run or go to the gym, but I take it off and prefer to wear my other watches during my day. I have thought about whether buying it was a mistake, and I think it was a mistake from the standpoint of wearability and usefulness. It sits in my watch case, unused, which is too bad, as it performs well. I understand why people do not like it, and I do not think they are wrong for criticizing it. I still can’t see selling it, even with these complaints. It does look very good. Maybe the next experimental watch Tudor makes will be more wearable.
EscapementSV 