Tudor Ranger automatic black dial steel bracelet 36 mm

The Ranger Spirit & the New 36mm Format

The history of the TUDOR Ranger is rooted in some of the greatest exploration feats of the 20th century. In 1952, during the British North Greenland Expedition, TUDOR equipped thirty members of this demanding scientific mission with its brand-new Oyster Prince model. On the Greenland ice, the explorers recorded the daily accuracy of their watches according to a strict methodology — a real-world endurance test, harsh and uncompromising, which would become the foundation of the brand’s tool-watch DNA.

But the origins of the name “Ranger” go back even further. In 1929, Hans Wilsdorf registered the name to designate TUDOR watches with an adventurous vocation, long before it referred to a dedicated model. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the aesthetic codes that would define the line for decades emerged: large Arabic numerals at 3, 6, 9 and 12, distinctive hands, immediate legibility, and functional sobriety. Over time, the Ranger would take many forms — manual or automatic, with or without a date, bearing either the TUDOR rose or the shield — culminating in the 1973 Ranger II with its integrated bracelet, emblematic of its era.

The 2025 version carries on this heritage while opening a new chapter:
the introduction of a 36mm diameter, more compact and universal, perfectly suited to modern everyday wear. Without sacrificing an ounce of its utilitarian spirit, this new Ranger condenses the essence of the model into a particularly well-balanced format. Fully satin-brushed for a matte finish in line with expedition watches, it retains its robust character while gaining in versatility. Easy to wear, discreet yet assertive, the 36mm Ranger stands as the purest expression of TUDOR’s historical DNA: a simple, reliable watch built for adventure.

The Black Dial & Legibility

The Ranger 36mm retains the functional aesthetic that has defined the line since the 1960s: a matte black grained dial, free from unnecessary ornamentation and designed above all for legibility. The large Arabic numerals at 3, 6, 9 and 12 — the model’s signature — are painted directly onto the dial with Swiss Super-LumiNova grade A, offering optimal contrast and instant readability.

The so-called “Ranger” hands reinforce this visual identity:

• a shovel-shaped hour hand,
• a more angular minute hand,
• and a central seconds hand tipped with a bordeaux-red accent, a detail now iconic on recent generations.

The result is a clean, highly legible dial, day or night, perfectly balanced by the absence of a date display, preserving the purity of the design.
In this 36mm version, the more compact proportions enhance the charm of the dial: more concentrated, more cohesive, and faithful to the original tool-watch spirit.

The Manufacture MT5400 Movement

At the heart of this 36mm Ranger beats the Manufacture Calibre MT5400, engineered to deliver exemplary robustness and long-term precision, true to the spirit of TUDOR’s expedition watches. Developed at the brand’s state-of-the-art Manufacture in Le Locle and certified as a chronometer by COSC, it even surpasses the standards of the independent institution thanks to TUDOR’s stricter internal tolerances: –2 to +4 seconds per day on the fully assembled watch.

Its construction relies on a variable-inertia balance held in place by a solid traversing bridge with dual anchor points, ensuring superior stability against shocks and temperature variations. Paired with an anti-magnetic silicon balance spring, it provides excellent resistance to everyday disturbances as well as harsher environments.

With a power reserve of approximately 70 hours — the so-called “weekend-proof” autonomy — the MT5400 allows the wearer to leave the watch off on Friday evening and pick it up again on Monday morning without winding.
A modern, high-performance movement designed for long-lasting reliability — perfectly aligned with the Ranger’s identity.

The Steel Bracelet & T-fit

To complement its resolutely functional aesthetic, the Ranger 36mm is equipped with a fully satin-brushed steel bracelet featuring three links, perfectly aligned with the collection’s tool-watch philosophy. Its matte finish, seamlessly matching the case, reinforces the model’s utilitarian character while offering excellent comfort on the wrist.

TUDOR includes its ingenious T-fit rapid-adjustment system, previously reserved for some of the brand’s most recent models. This mechanism enables instant extension or reduction of the bracelet by up to 8mm, in five incremental positions, without any tools. An ideal feature for adapting the watch to temperature changes, activity levels, or personal comfort preferences throughout the day.

The combination of this robust bracelet and the T-fit clasp makes the 36mm Ranger ready for every pace of life: hiking, urban use, travel, sport… A perfect balance of reliability, practicality, and everyday comfort.

The Everyday Tool-Watch

With its new 36mm format, satin-brushed steel construction and reliable Manufacture movement, the Ranger asserts itself as a true modern tool-watch, built to follow the wearer without compromise in any situation. Water-resistant to 100 metres, protected by a domed sapphire crystal and fitted with a screw-down crown adorned with the TUDOR rose, it combines durability and discreet elegance in equal measure.

Compact, comfortable and legible in all conditions, it carries forward the essence of TUDOR’s earliest expedition watches while adapting seamlessly to contemporary use: a simple, precise and durable timepiece, capable of moving effortlessly from adventure to everyday life without losing its identity.
The 36mm Ranger remains faithful to the philosophy inherited from the Greenland explorers: a reliable, practical and accessible instrument, designed to endure and accompany every moment.