Fortis

Fortis History

Fortis is the manufacturer of professional space watches. Walter Vogt founded Fortis in 1912. then 12 years later set up production with John Harwood, the inventor of the automatic wristwatch. Two years later in 1926, Fortis released the first self-winding wristwatch, the patented Harwood Automatic. In 1937, Fortis commemorated their 25th anniversary by manufacturing their first chronographs and in 1954 they took over the world-wide distribution of alarm watches. In 1992, they released the first watch with indication of the 52 calendar weeks. Their watches have joined space flights and air flights alike and the Fortis Official Cosmonauts Chronograph was chosen as the official watch of the Russian-German space mission MIR 97. All cosmonauts and astronauts leaving Russia receive a watch set as part of their official space equipment. In 2004, the Flieger Chronograph was awarded the European Aviation Watch of the Year.

1912

The watch factory is founded in Grenchen, Switzerland by Walter Vogt.

1937

On the occasion of the company's 25th anniversary, FORTIS manufactures their first chronographs.

1943

FORTIS was among the range of Swiss brands with high technical expertise. Alongside the production of most precise mechanical chronographs FORTIS shows its excellence in presenting the first water-resistant wristwatches.

1954

FORTIS begins the manufacturing and the world wide distribution of mechanical alarm watches.

1956

FORTIS wins the leading Chronometer award conferred by the Swiss institute for official time keeping tests, for the first water-resistant mechanical alarm chronometer.

1987

The company's 75th anniversary FORTIS set a trend with their new edition of the FLIEGER AUTOMATIC collection, known as the world's first factory of automatic wristwatches.

1992

Fortis steps into space with its first SPACE ART EDITION on board of the first art painted spacecraft, a Russian Proton rocket. Limited Andora Edition FORTIS STRATOLINER AUTOMATIC CHRONOGRAPH.

1997

The FORTIS OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH was chosen to be the official watch of the German-Russian space mission MIR 97.

1998

The world's first Automatic Chronograph with integrated mechanical Alarm. Patent EP 0806712.

2000

FORTIS SPACEMATIC - The Next Generation. With this collection, FORTIS takes a giant step into the new millennium.

2001

No. 1 International Watch Award in Japan. The FORTIS OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH won the watch magazine “BEGIN” grand prix in the category for space watches.

2003

Presentation of the new FORTIS OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH in the striking B-42 design.

2004

“Four years, more than 700 days walking through 11,000 km of Arctic Tundra, 10 million footsteps in the snow of four winters…” Gilles Elkaim approached his final 28 km stretch of this unique expedition with excitement. On this wild and unforgiving trek
from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, the Frenchman wore the FORTIS OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH.

2003

Launch of the PORTUGUESE PERPETUAL CALENDAR with the in-house 50611 caliber guaranteed accurate to within one day every 577 year for calculations of the moon’s position.

2006

The high altitude research rocket MAXUS 7 was launched in May for a 13-minutes flight in zero gravity. On board, the FORTIS B-42 OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH.