Tudor revives the North Flag as the Northflag GMT
On 1 September 2026, Tudor announced the return of the North Flag — the watch that gave the modern brand its first in-house movement — reworked as a GMT and renamed the Northflag.
A comeback five years in the making
The North Flag joined the collection in 2015 and was the first Tudor to be powered by an in-house movement, calibre MT5621. That mattered: it marked the brand's move away from bought-in movements, and it arrived in a watch built to a very specific brief — an exploration tool with a brushed steel case, an integrated bracelet, a power reserve indicator and a black ceramic bezel ring. It never caught on the way its siblings did. The Black Bay and the Pelagos took the attention, the North Flag was quietly discontinued after six years without updates, and it left behind a small but genuine fan base. Now, five years on, it is back — as the Northflag, all one word, and with a second time zone.
The new Northflag, in detail
The new watch keeps the general lines of the original, and of the 1973 Ranger II that inspired it, but the case has been refined. It measures 40 mm across, 12.7 mm thick and 48.8 mm from lug to lug — noticeably trimmer than the 2015 model — and it is finished in satin-brushed steel with polished accents. The bezel is now a fixed steel piece, and a box-shaped sapphire crystal, a screwed case back with its own sapphire window and water resistance to 100 metres complete the case.
The dial is sunray-brushed black. The large Arabic numerals are made from monobloc luminous ceramic, a technique Tudor has used before on the Black Bay Pro, and a fixed 24-hour scale sits on a rehaut angled at 45 degrees. A yellow arrow-tipped hand reads the second time zone against that scale, and the seconds hand is yellow too — a nod to the yellow accents of the original. The date sits at three o'clock. The watch is worn on a dedicated two-link integrated steel bracelet with satin-brushed links, polished chamfers and Tudor's T-fit clasp: five positions, an adjustment window of 8 mm and ceramic ball bearings in the closure.
Inside is calibre MT5652-U, a manufacture GMT movement with a true, or 'flyer', GMT function — the local hour hand can be jumped forward or back without stopping the watch or disturbing the minutes. It runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour and offers a power reserve of about 65 hours, with a variable-inertia balance and a silicon balance spring. The movement is certified twice over: by COSC, and by METAS as a Master Chronometer, which requires an accuracy of 0/+5 seconds per day on the finished watch and resistance to magnetic fields of up to 15,000 gauss.
The Northflag joins the permanent collection rather than arriving as a limited edition, and distribution is deliberately narrow: Tudor sells the watch exclusively through its own boutiques.
- Price: £4,310 in the UK; CHF 4,500 and US$5,525 reported internationally (Monochrome Watches).
- Reference M9140G1A0U-0001 — 40 mm stainless steel, black dial, integrated steel bracelet.
- Part of the permanent collection; sold exclusively through Tudor boutiques.
What it means if you are buying or selling
For buyers, the Northflag offers a combination that is hard to find at this price: a Tudor with an in-house movement, a true GMT and an integrated bracelet, in a case built for everyday wear. The practical consideration is availability — with the watch sold only through boutiques, many buyers will meet it on the pre-owned market instead, where the usual rules apply. What matters is the specific watch: its reference, condition, completeness and history.
For sellers, the revival is worth noting. The original North Flag never traded at Black Bay levels and its following is narrower than the mainstream Tudor models, but a new watch carrying the name — and a genuinely well-received one — sends attention back to the reference that started it. If you own an original North Flag, or any steel sports Tudor whose value you have not checked recently, this is a sensible moment to do so. A valuation against current market conditions takes minutes and costs nothing.
Sources
- TUDOR — Northflag (official watch family page) — www.tudorwatch.com/en/watch-family/tudor-northflag
- Monochrome Watches — Hands-On: The Tudor Northflag, an Improved Successor to the North Flag, now with GMT Function (18 September 2026) — monochrome-watches.com/tudor-northflag-gmt-2026-return-review-price/
- Teddy Baldassarre — Tudor Launches New Northflag With GMT Function (1 September 2026) — teddybaldassarre.com/blogs/watches/tudor-northflag-2026
- Hodinkee — Hands-On: The Tudor Northflag (11 September 2026) — www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-tudor-northflag
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