Comments
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would rather see the gold or silver version. red is way too obnoxious for anything other than a Ducati
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218235 is 41 mm. 116300 is 41mm. 216570 is 42mm. It's kind of silly to say Rolex doesn't keep up with modern design form.
http://www.watchuwant.com Auto racing and chronograph watches belong together - always have. But two-wheeled motorsport and luxury watches are an equally apropos combo, and the Tudor Fastrider Black Shield is the proof-in-ceramic. At 42mm and crafted entirely from monoblock black ceramic, the Tudor Fastrider Black Shield is the modern incarnation of the chronographs of the 1960s - with a distinction. While those watches were fixtures on tracks from Monaco to Laguna Seca, the Fastrider Black Shield pays tribute to Ducati motorcycles - especially the Diavel Carbon power cruiser concept bike. Tudor, the corporate cousin of Rolex since 1946, is given license to produce watches that are larger, more experimental, and more youthful in character than the establishment Oyster Perpetuals of the mothership. To that end, Tudor employs a striking combination of scratch-resistant black ceramic for the case and bezel, red lumina for the dial indexes, and black skeleton chrome hands to indicate the hours and minutes. Unique "piston-style" (Tudor's own description) chronograph pushers keep the motorcycle theme running with a subtle reference to the splayed V-twin layout of most Ducati engines. A tachymeter-calibrated bezel maintains the motorsports imagery and functionality while a calf leather strap with contrasting red stitching completes the sporting aesthetic. While both rubber and leather straps are available with the Tudor Fastrider Black Shield, this example available from watchuwant.com features the finer and more desirable Calf leather variant with full PVD black steel deployant clasp. Inside the milled ceramic case, Tudor extends its tradition of employing robust ETA movements to keep the beat. An ETA/Valjoux 7753 chronograph offers a 9-6-3 subdial arrangement that cuts a more classically sporting profile than the 12-9-6 sundial arrangement of the standard 7750. With automatic winding, a 46-hour power reserve, a date window, and stop-seconds for synchronization to a reference time, this is a power plant that delivers endurance worthy of a racing chronograph. This Tudor Fastrider Black Shield is available from watchuwant.com with full Tudor factory boxes, manuals, documents of provenance, and Tudor factory warranty valid through April of 2016. See it in high-resolution images on www.watchuwant.com Video and content by Tim Mosso.