Rekindling the spirit of exploration with the Tudor Ranger

Between the watch microbrands, homage watches and the big names, there is no shortage of tool watches to be found in the market. As a consumer, you are spoilt for choice both in terms of pricing and design. However, Tudor’s latest revival of the Ranger highlights one very important element of watch collecting that many young watch brands will find hard to emulate – brand heritage.

The Tudor Ranger collection is a great example of what I mean. If you look at its history, the Ranger name was actually registered as a trademark way back in 1929 by the founder Hans Wilsdorf. And from that date until today, the Ranger collection has undergone numerous changes before evolving into the reference we now see. And throughout its nearly century-long history, the collection has garnered amazing stories to tell. The British North Greenland Expedition is one of them.

In 1952, a group of British scientists and sailors left the banks of the Thames in London for a two-year scientific mission to study ice sheets in Greenland. Sensing an opportunity, Tudor equipped the team with 30 brand-new Oyster Prince watches asking them to help gather performance data on the watches by wearing them in extreme conditions. And although the watches brought to Greenland were Oyster Prince watches, the Ranger collection continued as the spiritual successor to these expedition watches.

Therefore, this year, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the British North Greenland Expedition, Tudor offers a brand-new Ranger watch to rekindle the adventurous spirit of these early pioneers.

Since 1965, the arrow-shaped hands have been a signature of the Ranger collection and the latest iteration follows this aesthetic cue. To give it an even more tool-ish look, the famed 3-6-9 hour markers also appear on the dial. These indices are painted on in luminescent material resulting in a beige colour that contrasts perfectly with the matte black dial. Upgrading its movement from the model born in the 1960s, this new version comes with the manufacture calibre MT5402 movement. This movement was specifically designed for robustness, longevity, reliability and precision.

The new Tudor Ranger is also Chronometer certified by the COSC however instead of the –4 and +6 second deviation per day afforded by the COSC, Tudor insisted that their watch be tuned to a mere –2 and +4-seconds’ variation.

As with most Tudor offerings, the Ranger will also be available in either a fabric strap, hybrid leather and rubber strap or a steel bracelet. Prices start from CHF 2,600.