Fortis watches: built for use in Space - competition

Fortis are an independent watchmaker who have been producing innovative timepieces for over a hundred years, producing one of the first water resistant watches in the 1940s. They are based in the small town of Grenchen in the Swiss Jura, where today’s Fortis watches are still being made in the original factory founded in 1912.

Regular readers will know my love for watches, particularly those often called 'tool' watches by enthusiasts. These are timepieces which have a practical purpose and have been built accordingly. Whether for military use, flying, exploring, caving, swimming, diving, running, keeping time over different timezones or space travel, tool watches are quite different from their dressier cousins which have been designed for looks rather than function. 

The tool watch must be easily readable, usually water resistant, tough, well-built and reliable in extreme conditions. It's that functionality that gives it its simple, rugged beauty:

Official Fortis Cosmonaut

Watches built for use in Space have interested me for some time. You may not want to admit it, but wearing a watch worn on the Moon or the International Space Station gives you a small piece of the aura of the rugged, the brave and the pioneering.

Fortis Cosmonaut in use on a cosmonaut's wrist

Some watch enthusiasts collect examples of Space watches, including Fortis, Rolex, Omega, Bulova; all are high quality and robust. An important addition to any Space watch collection would have to be a Fortis Cosmonaut because, over twenty years ago, the brand was selected by the Russian Federal Space Agency to supply watches to its cosmonauts. The timepieces used undergo rigorous testing before use so are built to high specifications of accuracy and robustness.

Fortis carried out their own independent test under extreme G forces by launching selected Cosmonaut movements on Swedish Maxus rockets with an acceleration of 3,500 m/sec producing a force of 13G. The payload was catapulted vertically to 715km after which there was free fall of about 12 minutes, putting the movements under great loads. A recent international simulation of a flight to Mars also used Fortis watches.

Enter a competition to win a Fortis Cosmonaut (below)

Using mechanical movements for reliability, Fortis Cosmonaut watches have shown they they far exceed the demands of day to day use, while their legible, simple looks have, for me, all the design simplicity of the classic tool watch.

For more information or to buy a Fortis watch, see Page & Cooper.

You can enter a competition to win a Fortis Cosmonaut watch here.

There is also a giveaway of a Fortis Terrestis19 here, based on an original 1930s design, this watch has a simple, classic style that would make it the ideal business and dress watch.

This post was supported by Page & Cooper.