Fortis

Fortis - professional space watches

Brand name: Fortis

Owned by: Prince Ernst August of Hanover (Germany), Peter Peter and the Vogt Family.

Country: Switzerland, Grenchen

Founded: 1912

Founder: Walter Vogt

Website: www.fortis-watch.com

History

Difficulties are there to be overcome, was the optimistic motto that the watchmaker Walter Vogt subscribed to when he started commercial watch production in Grenchen in 1912. At that time competition was fierce, and Vogt had thought that he could survive by introducing innovative products into the wide competitive field. The watches would of course have to have a powerful name. In 1914 it was found, and Vogt & Git became Fortis Watch.

From 1924 Vogt demonstrated his innovative spirit and appetite for risk in the late twenties and early thirties when he took part in the technical realization and marketing of John Harwood's concept for automatic winding such as the Autorist and the Harwood Automatic.

After meeting little success in this venture, Walter Vogt and his sons returned to the tried and tested formula: rectangular and round water-resistant wristwatches and sporty chronographs. Watches such as the "Fortissimo" or the "Wandfluh" chronograph were built to the highest standards. In the fifties Fortis introduced a water-resistant chronograph-case with a one-piece movement-housing.

Since 1982 the brand has been in the possession of Prince Ernst August of Hanover (Germany), Peter Peter and the Vogt Family.

Fortis (watches) stepped into space in 1992 and the Fortis Official Cosmonauts Chronograph watch was chosen to be the official watch of the Russian-German space mission MIR 97 in 1997. Deeply involved in the world of aviation and space, Fortis launched the FORTIS 2000 collection called SPACEMATIC in the year 2000.

The company's most exclusive product is the automatic chronograph with mechanical alarm, designed by Zurich watchmaker Paul Geber on the basis of the popular Eta/Valjoux 7750.

The various models by Fortis

Model names: Autorist, B-42 Cosmonaut Chronograph, Brain-matic Cobra, Easy-math, Eden roc, Flipper, Fortissimo, Manager, Marine Master, Performance, Skylark, Space Station ISS, Spacematic, Stratoliner, Trueline, Wandfluh.

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