Make it in Ti and give it 10x better lume and you’d have a heck of a field watch 👍.
IMHO This is a fashion statement for the Dubai folks and larger middle eastern market. You might drive a luxury car to work but your watch is sand color so you feel ‘of the desert’. Ok rant over.
Fascinating that early Rangers are actually a big variety of watches as it was a vibe not a model. Will look up your treatise on the subject - cheers Tony!
Great piece Tony. I saw the watches this past weekend and had expected to buy the black, but ultimately I was underwhelmed. I didn't quite know what to make of the Dune, but in the end decided that sticking with my Explorers felt like the sensible thing to do!
the new 36 dune is pitch perfect. i doubt polished surfaces are more expensive to execute than brushed. regardless, how nice that they make these super stealthy cases and bracelets! isn’t this what all the nerds want?
Interesting how the expedition-worn Oyster is much closer in appearance to the Nivada Grenchen Antarctic (which is also an expedition-worn watch), while the Ranger seems to resemble the Explorer more, which was never really expedition-worn but is based on a made-up story. A story that everyone who has an Explorer (which includes me) has just bought into over the years. Still think the Ranger is a decent watch though, and introducing a white dial makes perfect commercial sense.
Shame you did not make it to Dubai Watch Week. It would have been great to hear your perspective on it. Personally, and that is with my corporate/commercial hat on, I think this will beat out everything happening in Geneva and everywhere else in the world in the long term. The reason is simple: If you have the power to get the CEO of Rolex to speak for almost an hour (this basically never happens) and also have a high-level senior roundtable with CEO's from different brands that are not even in the same group, more or less openly discussing things, you really have something on your hands. I mean, the reality is, if the Middle East, particularly Dubai and KSA, put their minds to something, it is usually hard to compete anyway.
Nice background to the Ranger! Probably worth adding that the 36mm version comes also with 11mm thickness compared to 12mm of the 39mm version - edited to try & test the smaller Ranger given the initial release sat quite high on the wrist compared to other field watches
100% - i saw the Ranger today (after writing this obviously), and it's noticeably thinner. a friend of mine also sent photos next to his modern Explorer and it's noticeable. I do like how the Explorer bracelet tapers more though!
I find the Ranger is a watch that is a brilliant example of what Tudor (currently) is great at but its also a watch that deludes fans of the brand.
Its brilliant because its exactly what people that love Tudor want from 'their' brand. It excites them and gets them chanting "Tudor is killing it" across the interwebs.
It deludes those exact same people because they dont understand they are the only people that want these watches and that (outside of them) these watches are not popular.
Im really happy for the Tudor bros that love this watch but I guess I'll just keep waiting for a Tudor that excites me (fully recognising that they dont owe me anything and perhaps people like me arent destined to be tudor owners).
haha - kinda why i included that watchcharts table at the end...a broader reminder in general that, according to the most popular industry reports, tudor is much smaller than, say, TAG Heuer.
That's just fine with me, and commercial success is not the same as creative success, though of course sometimes the two are related.
i am curious: what kind of tudor would 'excite' you??
ahhh, thats a 60 million dollar question. Im not a rolex guy - so watches that veer away from the rolex history are a must. the pelagos fxd line is promising - the gmt or cycling flavored chrono comes close - thats the line most likely to give me a tudor I'd love.
of course theres always the chance of a reborn and revitalised northflag - in some ways I think the market is moving to it now as we embrace 70's post modernism. Take that platform and really lean into it, just embrace "more is more and less is a bore" mantra and Im in.
Make it in Ti and give it 10x better lume and you’d have a heck of a field watch 👍.
IMHO This is a fashion statement for the Dubai folks and larger middle eastern market. You might drive a luxury car to work but your watch is sand color so you feel ‘of the desert’. Ok rant over.
Fascinating that early Rangers are actually a big variety of watches as it was a vibe not a model. Will look up your treatise on the subject - cheers Tony!
Great piece Tony. I saw the watches this past weekend and had expected to buy the black, but ultimately I was underwhelmed. I didn't quite know what to make of the Dune, but in the end decided that sticking with my Explorers felt like the sensible thing to do!
If you’re an enlightened collector with a 1016 (and a 54 for that matter), the Ranger would be threading a tight needle to be sure
If by "threading a tight needle" you mean "entirely superfluous", I couldn't agree more 😂
the new 36 dune is pitch perfect. i doubt polished surfaces are more expensive to execute than brushed. regardless, how nice that they make these super stealthy cases and bracelets! isn’t this what all the nerds want?
when the broader trend has been towards more polished everything, totally agree
I’m not sure I get either the Ranger or Explorer. I own the latter and it bores me to death. Obviously, it’s me.
Thanks for sharing the context you acquired during your recent visit to the Tudor archives. Good stuff and definitely enjoying this latest Ranger.
Fits you!
Interesting how the expedition-worn Oyster is much closer in appearance to the Nivada Grenchen Antarctic (which is also an expedition-worn watch), while the Ranger seems to resemble the Explorer more, which was never really expedition-worn but is based on a made-up story. A story that everyone who has an Explorer (which includes me) has just bought into over the years. Still think the Ranger is a decent watch though, and introducing a white dial makes perfect commercial sense.
Shame you did not make it to Dubai Watch Week. It would have been great to hear your perspective on it. Personally, and that is with my corporate/commercial hat on, I think this will beat out everything happening in Geneva and everywhere else in the world in the long term. The reason is simple: If you have the power to get the CEO of Rolex to speak for almost an hour (this basically never happens) and also have a high-level senior roundtable with CEO's from different brands that are not even in the same group, more or less openly discussing things, you really have something on your hands. I mean, the reality is, if the Middle East, particularly Dubai and KSA, put their minds to something, it is usually hard to compete anyway.
Nice background to the Ranger! Probably worth adding that the 36mm version comes also with 11mm thickness compared to 12mm of the 39mm version - edited to try & test the smaller Ranger given the initial release sat quite high on the wrist compared to other field watches
100% - i saw the Ranger today (after writing this obviously), and it's noticeably thinner. a friend of mine also sent photos next to his modern Explorer and it's noticeable. I do like how the Explorer bracelet tapers more though!
Mighty morphing power
Walker, Texas
This is no mere...This is Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and you owe him your allegiance
I find the Ranger is a watch that is a brilliant example of what Tudor (currently) is great at but its also a watch that deludes fans of the brand.
Its brilliant because its exactly what people that love Tudor want from 'their' brand. It excites them and gets them chanting "Tudor is killing it" across the interwebs.
It deludes those exact same people because they dont understand they are the only people that want these watches and that (outside of them) these watches are not popular.
Im really happy for the Tudor bros that love this watch but I guess I'll just keep waiting for a Tudor that excites me (fully recognising that they dont owe me anything and perhaps people like me arent destined to be tudor owners).
haha - kinda why i included that watchcharts table at the end...a broader reminder in general that, according to the most popular industry reports, tudor is much smaller than, say, TAG Heuer.
That's just fine with me, and commercial success is not the same as creative success, though of course sometimes the two are related.
i am curious: what kind of tudor would 'excite' you??
ahhh, thats a 60 million dollar question. Im not a rolex guy - so watches that veer away from the rolex history are a must. the pelagos fxd line is promising - the gmt or cycling flavored chrono comes close - thats the line most likely to give me a tudor I'd love.
of course theres always the chance of a reborn and revitalised northflag - in some ways I think the market is moving to it now as we embrace 70's post modernism. Take that platform and really lean into it, just embrace "more is more and less is a bore" mantra and Im in.
The north flag is the most underrated Tudor of the last decade