On the wrist it’s reassuringly weighty, helped in good part by the extremely comfortable bracelet, which sits absolutely perfectly on the wrist and comes with a flawlessly machined clasp. Thankfully there’s no date display in sight. They’re all lumed up – as is the handset which surprisingly doesn’t include Tudor’s signature Snowflake hour hand, opting for a more vintage-focused arrow instead. The dial is streamlined and legible, with oversized 12, 3, 6 and 9 and the other hour markers using batons. Not being a diving watch there’s no rotating bezel, but it still gets to a respectable 100m water resistance, perfect for, let’s say, trudging through snow. The whole thing is satin finished, hammering home that utilitarian instrument look – other than a polished accent around the edge. It’s also a bit chunkier, modelled as it is on the incredibly popular Black Bay 58. Anything smaller feels far too delicate (even if I do love a bit of bi-colour). For one, it measures in at 39mm for those that miss the larger Explorers which, in my mind, is far more in keeping with the rugged nature of exploration. 79950 is a solid alternative to the Rolex Explorer, but with more going for it than accessibility now. Just like before, the new Tudor Ranger Ref. It was a short-run hiatus however as now, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the original 1952 expedition we have the latest edition of the Tudor Ranger, and it was worth a little bit of a wait. The Ranger surfaced again in modern Tudor in the mid-2010s, before being mothballed once again in 2020.

That said, it took until the 1980s to become a reference in its own right – before being decommissioned in 1988. Post-expedition, Tudor brought the watch and its feedback improvements into the spotlight as the newly-dubbed Ranger, pretty much as an accessible alternative to the Rolex Explorer.

Calibre watch review