No two ways about it, that watch and the engine inside are a milepost for Tudor. No question that it looks pretty decent and it's every bit a modern and well designed and made watch. Even so, there are a few things that will keep me from making much of an effort to buy one:
- The power reserve indicator on the dial -- it's an automatic, uncomplicated watch. What logic is there to putting a réserve de marche on it? It's not hard to reset. There're no perpetual calendars or moonphases or other complications that constrain the window of time during which one can set the watch. It doesn't take forever and a day to wind it and even if it did, 30 seconds of winding will get the ball rolling enough so the rotor can do its job.
- The power reserve indicator on the dial -- even if one absolutely insists on having a power reserve indicator (PRI) on the dial, why does it need to stand out to the extent of being canary yellow rather than white like the other markings on the dial? After all, when are the primary times one would care what the PRI shows?
- When taking the watch off
- When one is going to sleep or is doing something else with the watch on and there'll be little motion to keep the rotor doing its thing
Otherwise when does the PRI matter? Rarely if ever.
- The power reserve indicator on the dial -- even if one must have a dial side PRI, why does it have to be implemented such that it ruins the visual symmetry and balance of the dial?
- The power reserve indicator on the dial -- it's an automatic, uncomplicated watch, and that alone reduces the need to have a PRI, much less one on the dial. The back of the watch is where it belongs if one must have it.
- The power reserve indicator on the dial -- Why does an uncomplicated, automatic watch need a PRI that pretends to make the watch seem complicated insofar as it puts something on the dial, cluttering it with a marker and hand that has nothing to do with telling time. It displays information about the watch itself and therefore isn't a complication, but rather just a watch feature or accessory. Moreover it isn't complicated at all.
As the mainspring is wound, either by hand or by the self-winding rotor, the winding ratchet on the barrel is geared to the needle on the dial that indicates the reserve. Wind the watch up and see the needle move to the “full” side of the gauge. As the mainspring unwinds, the gearing on the barrel drives the needle in the opposite direction until it reaches the "empty" position.
You don't think the fuel gauge on your dashboard is "all that" do you? Well the PRI on a watch is even less "all that" because unlike the fuel gauge, there is no need for one on an automatic, uncomplicated watch.
Please bear in mind that I like Tudor watches in general. I even like the one above in general. It's just that IMO, with that watch, Tudor joins the cavalcade of clowns who contrive to clutter and "complicate" a watch that would be quintessentially better without a dial-side
réserve de marche.
All the best.