Fortis, a Swiss watch manufacturer in business since 1912, has been making watches for the Swiss Air Force’s PC-7 aerobatics team for 12 years. The team is a side project of full-time jet aircraft pilots in the Swiss military, and the timepieces made for them, unsurprisingly, are no-nonsense tool watches designed to withstand extreme environments. Now, in time for the team’s 30th anniversary, Fortis is releasing two new models, including a time-only variant and a chronograph.
The chronograph variant is powered by the venerable Valjoux 7750 automatic movement, which has in this case been chronometer-certified. The watch features a 42mm stainless steel case with special PC-7 case back engraving, a sapphire crystal with AR coating, and a crown with double gaskets, allowing for 20 ATM of water resistance. Functions include a chronograph with 12-hour and 30-minute counters, central chronograph seconds, running sub-seconds and a day-date indicator.
The chronograph’s dial is royal blue with applied metallic indices and SuperLumiNova-filled numerals and hands, and the watch ships with a matching bracelet with adjustable folding clasp as well as a blue Cordura performance strap with red stitching. The price in USD is approximately $4,369.
The time-only version of the watch features a chronometer-certified version of the ETA 2836-2 movement with day-date indicator, but most of the other appointments are the same as those of the chronograph (42mm case, matching bracelet and strap, 20 ATM of water resistance, etc.). The price for the time-only version is approximately $2,406.
Gear Patrol also recommends:
Archimede Pilot 39 Bronze (~$1,020)
Sinn 104 ST SA I A (~$1,300)
Junghans Meister Chronoscope ($2,495)
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