Tried on my first Tudor watches this past weekend

[bplein]

I was visiting Germany, and didn't have time in Munich to shop at all. On Saturday I drove out to Ravensburg to visit family.

I told my brother-in-law that I wanted to see the town, and to stop by a jeweler that I have found online that is a Rolex and Tudor AD. He asked the name, and his wife blurted out "Is it Bartels?". Which it was! Turns out that he's bought Breitling there, as well as other jewelry for the wife, so they know the place and the owner.

When we arrived in the small but well appointed store, we were greeted by several employees, and they fetched the owner. The owner's English is excellent, so no translation (via my relatives) was necessary.

I asked to see the Tudor Pelagos as well as the Heritage Black Bay which he had in stock.

I wish I had taken pictures!

The Pelagos was as good as the pictures. It's not big on my wrist, I wear a GMT-IIC, and I've got big hands. The weight was surprising, as I expected the titanium content to reduce weight, but it was about as heavy as my GMT-II. Not bad at all, but just surprising. I guess the movements are pretty heavy!

But what really caught my eye was the Heritage Black Bay. The pink gold of the hands and markers doesn't have that pink-gold look, because it's offset by the red bezel... so it really does give it the appearance of an older, patina'd model (no, it doesn't look like patina... it gives the overal watch a "vintage" look while remaining obviously brand new). The distressed/aged leather strap looked perfect with it. It's quite a dressy watch, without being "bright" and attention seeking.

Seeing that I was a GMT owner, he also brought out a Rolex Sub 116619LB, white gold with blue dial/bezel. He was trying to see if I knew what it was. I told my brother-in-law and his wife to check out the pricing (almost 30,000 Euro). I wasn't surpised, but they were! I tried it on, but wasn't going to buy it!

I was very tempted to buy either the Pelagos or Black Bay. Given the exchange rate, and even taking into account declaring the watch (paying a tariff) as well as getting back VAT, it would be cheaper than buying one from one of the trusted vendors here. I don't begrudge them anything... they need to make a profit!

I will probably buy one on a future trip. Now that I know the owner and that there's a trust relationship proxied by my relatives, I can send him a deposit well in advance. He gets few of these, and there's no guarantee he'll have either (or both) the next time I visit.

Both of these Tudors I looked at were GREAT looking watches.

[SohAIS]

Thanks for sharing. Tudors are nice watches. Specially the Black bay.

[kilyung]

I love my Pelagos.

[snowpea]

I love the new tudor releases!!

[bplein]

I was very surprised how much of a difference a dark bracelet (leather strap) on the Black Bay vs. pictures I've seen of the one with the metal bracelet. It certainly makes it like a whole different model!

[RJC]

Originally Posted by kilyung

I love my Pelagos.

Pics????

I'm considering one at the moment.