FORTIS Watches AG, located in Grenchen is a luxury Swiss watches manufacturer that was founded by Walter Vogt in 1912. The brand is particularly known for its space watches which are worn by the Russian ROSCOSMOS. The owner and CEO of Fortis is Jupp Philipp.
History
Fortis was founded by Walter Vogt in 1912. Twelve years after its establishment, Vogt set up production with John Harwood, inventor of the automatic wristwatch. In 1926, Fortis released the patented Harwood Automatic, the first self-winding wristwatch, at Baselworld. In 1937, Fortis commemorated the company's 25th anniversary by manufacturing and marketing its first chronographs, including the Rolls and the Autorist. The Autorist was also designed by John Harwood and used the movement of the strap to power the watch. By 1943, Fortis introduced some of the world's first waterproof watches with the Fortissimo models. In 1962 the Spacematic automatic was constructed to hold up in extreme conditions and temperature changes. The watch was tested by the seven members of a US space mission. In 1994 Fortis introduced strict endurance tests. This same year the Star City Training Center chose the Fortis Official Cosmonauts Chronograph as part of its issued equipment. Fortis automatic wristwatches have proven their space capability inside and outside of the protection of the space station. Since 1994 Fortis has been the exclusive supplier of manned space missions authorized by the Russian Federal Space Agency. In 1997 the same watch, the Fortis Official Cosmonauts Chronograph, became the official watch of the German-Russian space mission MIR 97. During Fortis' 75th anniversary year, it introduced a new edition of the Flieger automatic collection. In 2004, the Flieger Chronograph was awarded the inaugural trophy of the European Aviation Watch of the Year. Fortis has supplied unique watches to many military squadrons worldwide, including:
In 1994, Fortis became the equipment supplier of the Juri-Gagarin-Kosmonautentrainingszentrums, which is a cosmonaut training centre in Russia. During a docking manoeuvre of the U.S. Space Shuttle Atlantisin September 1994, the model "Official Cosmonauts Chronograph" was worn on the space station Mir by the cosmonauts during the mission Sojus TM-19. In 1998, FORTIS launched the development of the world's automatic chronograph with mechanical alarm function, which was patented with the patent number EP 0806712. The construction of this watch was done by Zurich watch engineer Paul Gerber. In 2017, FORTIS experienced some financial difficulties. The company filed for definitive debt restructuring moratorium. Soon afterwards, the company brand and location was taken over by a private investor and FORTIS fan, Mr. Jupp Philipp. This led to the renaming of FORTIS Uhren AG into FORTIS Watches AG.
