Worn & Wound
Review: The Tudor Northflag Gets a Second Chance
When the Tudor North Flag came out in 2015, it was met with a collective “what?” Tudor had chosen it to debut its in-house movements, a genuinely big moment for the brand. But the watch itself was a totally unexpected throwback to the fairly obscure Ranger II, an integrated bracelet sports watch from the ’70s that I don’t think anyone expected to see revived. It was interesting, though. The North Flag had a design language entirely separate from the Black Bay and Pelagos lines, plus a hybrid steel-and-ceramic bezel, a display caseback, and a power reserve. That last feature is still the only time Tudor has used a power reserve on one of its modern movements. The reaction was mixed. Tudor was arguably too far ahead of the curve: integrated bracelet sports watches weren’t trending; vintage divers were. Six years later, the North Flag was discontinued. In the meantime, integrated bracelet sports watches didn’t just become popular; they became almost a requirement. It feels like every brand has released one in the last five years, at prices ranging from a couple hundred dollars to a couple hundred thousand. People now look back at the original North Flag and think, “Oh, wait a second. Maybe that was a pretty cool watch after all.” So while the first North Flag was ahead of the curve, the new Northflag is right on time, or maybe even a touch late. It’s also a GMT, though you won’t find “GMT” in the name. The question is whether Tudor has made a better wa...