F-43 Flieger Chronograph Alarm
Fortis Watches, over hundred years innovating and pioneering
This pioneering brand, which has been linked to the history of mechanical and self-winding watches since the 20th Century, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2012. Space, aviation, clock watches or pieces of contemporary art, take your pick.
By Joel Grandjean
Editor-in-Chief
Fortis Watches is a pioneer and dynamic brand which has always claimed its independence. Proof of its dynamism is the number of contemporary artists who, when trying their hand at horology, have reinterpreted its logos or the amount of rock and roll stars who are fans of its creations. The brand has often been the first to explore certain territories in the field of mechanical watches. Today, other brand have joined in these very fields, which arouse a keen interest and which rich and influential brands used to entrust to contemporary artists. We’re talking about booming fields such as space, aviation, self-winding watches and even the avant-garde universe of plastic watches.
Fortis B-42 Chronograph
Fortis always looks forward and it has never bundled itself up in its rich and glorious history, thus managing to remain faithful to its identity and its values. It might have turned 100th in 2012, but its face is free from wrinkles.At the inception of self-winding watches.
At the inception of self-winding watches
In Grenchen, the Factory of the debuts is stuffed with historic vestiges been attested by rare images. Upstairs, there is a gallery – though not a museum – that tells the tale of the brand’s memorable moments through the exhibition of objects so iconic that they have been counterfeited countless times. Yes, copycats also delve into vintage, especially taking into account that the brand is at the pantheon of great classics with, for instance, the Harwood produced in the 1930s. The watch originated after an encounter between Walter Vogt, founder of Fortis, and John Harwood, British inventor of the self-winding wristwatch.
We owe it to Fortis Watches for making high investments in order to industrially produce self-winding watches. Furthermore, on the occasion of the brand’s 25th anniversary, it released its first self-winding chronographs, still today a reference for precision. An example would be the Wandfluh, named after a nearby mountain mass.
A visit to the highly revealing factory in Grenchen takes us right to the heart of Mars 500 of which Fortis is the official supplier. Mars 500 is a spatial experiment that explores the feasibility of a trip on the orange planet. Here, you find yourself in front of a state-of-the-art GTS (Global Transmission Services) where the reception of a signal from the ISS (International Space Station) tests the synchronization of wristwatches from space. Then, you suddenly spot the Fortis B-42 Official Cosmonauts drifting above the ISS and discover that Fortis is an official supplier of the Russian Federal Space Agency, also known as Roscosmos.
A brand full of history
Still in Grenchen, at this factory full of history, we can get very close accounts of incredible journeys. For example, the 12,954 meters world record altitude attained by a helicopter set by pilot Fred North and his B-42 Pilot Professional Chronograph by Fortis. Or the 4-year journey through the Arctic tundra by Gilles Elkaim. Or even the polar journey of military pilots and alpinists George Csak and Dominik Ring. Another astonishing discovery: the Portuguese Air Force Army chose the Flieger Chronographs to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their Bisontes fleet.
With its 100 year-history, rich in promises of a brilliant future, Fortis Watches is thus a component of this incredible mosaic which confers independent Swiss watchmaking its cultural dimension. A signboard steered since September, 2013 by Maximililan Spitzy whom every lover of watch-making owes follow in 2014.