Tudor North Flag Review - an inspired, different, and under appreciated tool watch

Released in 2015, it was Tudor's first watch to feature an exhibition case back to show off the first ever in-house movement, the COSC certified MT5621, and was fitted with a power reserve indicator to highlight the 70 hour power reserve. Tudor discontinued production of the North flag in 2021 after poor sales (reportedly).

It has a 100m water resistant 40mm brushed stainless steel case with a screw down crown and 50mm lug to lug length, although the sharply downturning lugs help it wear nicely on smaller wrists (mine is 6.5" and relatively flat). At 13.3mm thick, it's neither super thick nor thin.

Applied indices feature generous blue lume and the dial is framed by a black ceramic ring underneath brushed stainless steel bezel (photo credit: the watchcollector.co.uk)

The North Flag was sold with either an H-link bracelet or black leather strap with yellow stitching and a deployant clasp. I went for the bracelet, both by preference as well as because that's what was available.

The bracelet is predominantly brushed stainless steel, like the rest of the watch, but does have polished ends which reflect light nicely. A single half-link and 3 old-fashioned clasp adjustment options allow for sizing. The clasp does feature the now-common Tudor ceramic ball bearings.

Stylistically, it draws heavily from the 1970s Tudor Ranger II (photo credit: goldammer.me), with an integrated bracelet, similarly styled hour, minute, and second hands, matte black dial, white date window, and square sans serif font.

It is of course missing the 9 in lieu of the power reserve indicator and has a splash of yellow on this and the seconds hand to bring a bit of playfulness to otherwise austere styling.

This was my first "real" watch purchase, having been given a Nomos Ahoi as a graduation gift 9 years ago and gone on a 6 month quest to find something to rotate with it after losing it to servicing for the past 6 months.

After months and probably hundreds of hours of reading, watching watch reviews, trying on watches at local jewellers, and learning about the heritage and design choices of hundreds of watches, I headed to Japan in October on vacation where I planned for a full day of watch browsing/shopping in Tokyo's famously vast second hand market.

I was looking for something to contrast my Nomos with a darker dial, but still have legibility, wearability, simplicity, Arabic numerals, and a date. In short, a tool watch. The short list (not all of which hit my criteria) included the Sinn 856/556, the IWC Mark XX, the Nomos Club Date, the Farer Lander, the Oris Propilot, the Tudor Black Bay Pro, and the Laco Flieger pro. I was lucky enough to have tried many of these on either before getting to Tokyo or on my shopping day in Japan, and while I enjoyed aspects of most of these watches, none made me feel inspired.

Toward the end of a long day of shopping, I found a pristine North Flag at Kamekichi, a grey market store at Nakano Broadway.

It was love at first sight. Seeing the sharp angles of the case and bracelet, the aggressive and bold yet austere applied numbers and indices, the splash of fun with the yellow seconds and power reserve, and the quirky ceramic insert in person inspired me in the same way the Nomos Ahoi did when I first held one almost a decade ago.

I didn't know it at the time, but although by Japan's standards it was technically "used", I found out after deciding to buy it that it had never been sized, and by the looks of it (when I bought it), never been worn.

By now,I had been shopping for watches, along with my extremely supportive wife (who was helping me occasionally to translate Japanese), for nearly 6 hours. We asked for the store to put the watch on hold and left the mall for a break and a snack. At roughly $3400 USD, buying this watch would be one of the biggest purchases I had made outside of my wife's engagement ring and my home.

Refreshed with some food, and away from the pressures and distractions of hundreds of other watches and the very respectful Japanese salespeople, I could reflect clearly on how I felt about the watch. I knew it had to be the one. We went back up and I walked out of the mall with the North Flag on my wrist.

I've had the North Flag for a month and a half now, and finally got my beloved Nomos back from the shop about two weeks ago, which has helped give me some perspective on my ownership experience with the North Flag.

While it is not a perfect watch by any means, I do still think it is one of the most interesting and unique tool watches in modern history.

Most striking to me is how three dimensional the dial is in person. This is very difficult to capture in photos, but from an angle, you can really see how finely tooled and precise the applied indices are on the completely matte dial.

I love the playfulness the splashes of yellow add, and the power reserve is a handy indicator as to whether the Tudor is ready to go or if I need to reset the time and date (something I haven't actually had to do since purchasing it, because of the 70h power reserve).

Legibility is even better than my Nomos. When wearing the Tudor, I can often unconsciously tell the time even while just doing everyday tasks as my wrist passes into my peripheral vision. The lume is effective at night, if not quite as impressive as some dive watches.

As with all things, the North Flag does have some shortcomings.

While I do appreciate the effort made to show off the first ever Tudor in-house movement, I must say the movement is a bit dull to look at. Some of this is just due to the design of the movement - you can only really see a bit of the balance spring while the rest of the movement is covered by bridges. Would it have been too much to ask for a bit of polish somewhere?

Although I do love the black ceramic insert, it is a bit of a magnet for dust. Hard to see unless you're really looking, but quite obvious when you pay attention. The crystal is also a fingerprint magnet, although it wipes clean easily with the swipe of a cotton T-shirt.

Additionally, although the bracelet is sturdy enough and nothing like the jangly old jubilee on my dad's Datejust, I do wish it had the modern adjustability features like the microadjust on the current Tudor Pelagos.

Comfort-wise, the watch is OK. Perhaps I've been spoiled by the incredibly light and thin Nomos with its fabric strap that I've become accustomed to over the past decade. Due to the lack of adjustability, the bracelet always feels a bit large or tight. I've found a happy medium where the North Flag generally sits comfortably on my wrist, but have found that I will get an occasional pinch on the palmar side of the wrist from space between the clasp and bracelet.

Most of all, in comparison to my Nomos which I often forget I'm wearing, only to be surprised by the beautiful dial on my wrist, I will occasionally notice the North Flag. It tells me it's there, either because of its weight, or because of its significant visual presence.

And despite these drawbacks, I still love my North Flag. It is exactly what I wanted - a foil for my light and dressier Nomos with unique styling, extreme legibility, and landmark features within Tudor's history while still respecting the brand's heritage.

Like many other North Flag owners, I do feel this watch may become collectible down the road, perhaps similar to the Ranger II that inspired it. But whether or not it does isn't a concern to me, because this watch won't be leaving my collection.