The most challenging expeditions take bravery and endurance, and, importantly, the right kit. Over the centuries, timepieces have played a central role in guiding adventurers through the most treacherous of conditions, their reliability paramount. Renowned for its tool watches, it’s no surprise that Tudor became the company to turn to when looking for such precise and robust equipment. 

The British North Greenland Expedition set off from Deptford on 8 July 1952 for a two-year scientific mission studying ice sheets in Greenland, equipped with 30 Tudor Oyster Prince watches. Not only did this aid the teams of scientists and researchers as they conducted their in-depth glaciological and seismic surveys, but it provided key feedback for Tudor on the performance of their watches. Anticipating the effect of the cold weather, the timepieces were specially lubricated with “arctic” oil and came with bracelet extensions that enabled them to be worn over the sleeves of parkas. Their timekeeping was analysed against the hourly signals emitted by the BBC, with a member of the expedition writing a letter to Tudor upon his return that his watch ‘maintained remarkable precision’.

Seventy years on, the watchmaker is marking this landmark mission with the release of the new Ranger, the culmination of decades of testing its watches to limits in real-life scenarios. The name of the watch itself dates back further still to 1929, when the company’s founder Hans Wilsdorf registered it just three years after registering the Tudor trademark. Not intended to denote a particular model, it instead spoke to the daring and adventurous nature of Tudor’s timepieces. 

In the decades since, it has undergone various evolutions, some echoes of which are seen in this latest model. The distinctive arrow-shaped hands recall those seen in Ranger models from the 1960s, with a subtle deviation introduced with the burgundy colour of the tip of the second hand. Meanwhile, the luminescent highlights are in a heritage-inspired beige shade, mirrored in the Tudor shield logo and inscriptions. 

Despite its classic exterior, it is powered by some of Tudor’s best in-house watchmaking in the form of the Calibre MT5402. Its precision and reliability is bolstered by its variable-inertia balance and non-magnetic silicon balance spring, backed up by its COSC certification that guarantees its accuracy and performance according to the institute’s high standards. It comes on a strap in natural rubber and fabric-like textured black leather, as well as a stainless-steel bracelet fitted with Tudor’s “T-fit” clasp featuring a system that allows easy fine adjustment of the length. Meanwhile, a final third option is made from a striped jacquard, woven using a traditional method on 19th-century looms by the Julien Faure company in the St-Étienne region of France, which Tudor has collaborated with for more than a decade. 

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