FORTIS

FORTIS was founded in 1912 by Walter Vogt in the Swiss town of Grenchen, and it is still headquartered there.

Mr. Vogt was a true trailblazer, and his initial principles are still the foundation of the company's philosophy today."..the manufacture of high-quality Swiss watches in innovative designs at inexpensive prices."

In 1924, Walter Vogt met John Harwood, the British creator of the automated wristwatch, and this was the most pivotal year in FORTIS' existence. Harwood has been seeking for a manufacturing partner in Switzerland to mass produce his innovation for two years.

He identified an enlightened advocate of the "automatic wristwatch" notion in the creator of FORTIS. Walter Vogt funded the initiative and contributed a large sum of money to help him put the innovation into production.

The "Harwood Automatic," the world's first self-winding timepiece in genuine production, was unveiled in Basel, Switzerland.

FORTIS also created two additional classic automatic timepieces that were well-known: The first was the "Rolls," a timepiece with a winding device designed by Leon Hatot of Paris that would become famous. The name of the watch comes from the winding action of the mechanism inside the casing.

The Autorist was created by FORTIS and uses another automated mechanism patented by John Harwood. The watch was powered by the strap's motions due to its connection to the watch.

FORTIS produced its first chronographs to commemorate the company's 25th anniversary, and they are still appreciated for their precision today. "Wandfluh," the name of the Jura massif near Grenchen, became known over the world as the name of the FORTIS Chronograph.

FORTIS means "strong" in Latin, and with the introduction of the first waterproof watches from Switzerland, FORTIS has once again precisely met market expectations with their most popular model "Fortissimo."

The alarm wrist watch has regained popularity decades after its original introduction on the market, owing to FORTIS efforts.

FORTIS begins producing alarm watches, becoming intimately identified with the global distribution of the most serviceable timepiece ever produced.

FORTIS has won the Swiss Institute for Official Watch Timekeeping Tests' top chronometer awards for its waterproof alarm watches from the "Manager" series. Every single "FORTIS-Manager" alarm watch that was examined received the highest honor of "exceptionally good outcomes."

On the 26th of November, 600 watchmakers in Tokyo celebrated "FORTIS day" in Yamaha Hall. The firm encouraged Japanese watchmakers to promote FORTIS' new electrical regulating technology "BEP" and so maintain a positive connection with the Japanese watchmakers society's members.

The "Stratoliner" and the "Spacematic," a 25 atmospheres tested absolutely wateresistant anchor watch, high precision automatic, with date indication and chosen by members of the American astronauts team that year on the occasion of the company's 50th anniversary, continue the FORTIS name, which is synonymous worldwide for reliable automatic watches from Switzerland.

With the introduction of quartz watches from Japan, FORTIS, like all other Swiss companies, was forced to compete in a market that many of them couldn't stand.

The invention of the "Flipper" watch was FORTIS' response to this difficulty, based on the company's experience with water resistant diver watches. For the American market, there was the "FORTIS-Cobra," a stunning design that was a huge hit and huge success during those turbulent times.

With the "Flipper quartz leader" model, FORTIS set the pace in watch fashion, which went on to be a huge success in more than 40 countries over the next several years. The first FORTIS Container System was used in this watch line, allowing the movement and band to be swapped out in seconds.

The "Flipper quartz leader" offers a broad selection of multicolored straps in addition to steel and 18 ct. gold wristbands, making this FORTIS design a hit in the early 1980s, as seen on The Rolling Stones, Roman Polanski, Leonard Bernstein, and others. V. Philbert, Europa Star, calls himself the "...aristocrat of the plastic timepieces."

FORTIS establishes a trend by relaunching the automatic wristwatches that were identified with the brand in the past on the occasion of the company's 75th anniversary. Aside from the Original FORTIS Container System and the Harwood, the world's first automatic wristwatch in series production, FORTIS relaunched the legendary pilot's watches with their clear functions and easy-to-read dials in the typical FORTIS design that year, marking the renaissance of mechanical watches, a trend that many Swiss watch companies followed until today.

FORTIS is the first advertising and art painted spacecraft, a Russian proton rocket, to launch into space. The first "space museum" in orbit has one dial from a limited batch of the FORTIS Stratoliner automatic chronograph. Since then, FORTIS has worked closely with a number of Russian space agencies to develop the FORTIS OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH, which has been tested on the cutting edge of modern physics and in spaceflight simulations, proving its reliability on the wrists of Russian cosmonauts even in open space.

The Yuri Gagarin Russian State Scientific-Research Test Center of Cosmonauts Training in Star City picked the FORTIS OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH to be part of their cosmonauts official kit after two years of testing and preparation. The FORTIS automatic chronograph was designed in close collaboration with the center's seasoned professionals and has a one-of-a-kind design that meets the demands of cosmonauts in every detail of its functioning.

In October, the FORTIS Official Cosmonauts Chronograph Sets were handed to the crew of the space mission EUROMIR I. Since then, the FORTIS Sets have been given to all Russian cosmonauts at the Gagarin Center, and the FORTIS Chronographs have shown their dependability on the wrists of astronauts and cosmonauts in their professional tasks as well as during various extravehicular activities in space.

FORTIS Chronographs were the timekeeping equipment for the world height record on a MIG 25PU twin seater -non experimental- aircraft with a civil passenger, which was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records.

FORTIS began its market strategy with a stunning debut in Asia, after the successful introduction of the FORTIS Cosmonauts and Pilots line in Europe.

The official watch of the Russian-German space mission MIR 97 was the FORTIS OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH. The world's first automated chronograph with mechanical alarm was displayed at the Basel show to commemorate the company's 85th anniversary. FORTIS unveiled this mechanical speciality in a limited anniversary edition of 100 pieces in platinum, to be followed by a steel version later, in close collaboration and in response to the desires of the cosmonauts.

The FORTIS Pilot Professional Chronograph Automatic is used by the Hungarian Air Force and numerous other countries to outfit their pilots.

The floor is invaded by an icon. At the Basel watch exhibition, the renowned B-42 case is on display. This type of case is still in use today.

The Official Cosmonauts Chronograph makes its debut, not only on the watch market but also in space. This watch is still worn by Russian Cosmonauts as part of their official gear. More information may be found in the Space-Story.

FORTIS ran into some financial troubles in 2017. The firm applied for a permanent debt restructuring moratorium. Mr. Jupp Philipp, a private investor and FORTIS lover, purchased the firm brand and site shortly after. FORTIS Uhren AG was renamed FORTIS Watches AG as a result of this.