FORTIS Swiss Watches: aviation and PILOT PROFESSIONAL, OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS TITANIUM
Fortis Uhren AG - Walter Vogt founded Fortis in 1912, and then 12 years later set up production with John Harwood, the inventor of the automatic wristwatch. 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.
Fortis Uhren AG - Walter Vogt founded Fortis in 1912, and then 12 years later set up production with John Harwood, the inventor of the automatic wristwatch. 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.
Time line
2007 Further construction of the ISS - International Space Station and preparations for the launch of the research modules Columbus and Kibo.
2007 Limited Edition FORTIS FLIEGER CHRONOGRAPH ALARM PLATINUM, 2nd place in “The Golden Balance Wheel” award category up to 25.000 Euro.
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.
2005 Exactly 10 years after the first official flight FORTIS remains as the exclusive supplier of manned space missions authorized by the Russian Federal Space Agency. The FORTIS B-42 OFFICIAL COSMONAUT CHRONOGRAPH floating in space on board the ISS, International Space Station.
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.
2004 Winner of the “1st European Aviation Watch Award”: FORTIS FLIEGER CHRONOGRAPH AUTOMATIC.
2003 Presentation of the new FORTIS OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH in the striking B-42 design.
2002 World height record for helicopters of 12,954 meters, set by French pilot Fred North with his AS 350B helicopter ”ECUREUIL”. Along for the ride: the FORTIS B-42 PILOT PROFESSIONAL CHRONOGRAPH.
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.
2001 “Star of the Blue Planet”
FORTIS was presented with this medal of honour from the Russian Space Agency Rosaviakosmos for commitment to the development of mechanical chronographs for space travel.
2001 ”GTS” Global Transmission Services.
The first experiment on board the International Space Station - ISS was to test the global synchronization of wristwatches from space. Deeply involved in the world of aviation and space, FORTIS takes part in the development of a new radiocontrolled signal in cooperation with the European Space Agency ESA, the German Aerospace Center DLR and DaimlerChrysler Research.
2000 FORTIS SPACEMATIC - The Next Generation. With this collection, FORTIS takes a giant step into the new millennium.
2000 Millennium Expedition to the South Pole.
New Year's Eve 1999-2000: Austrian Ernst Zinnhobler became the first European to make an extreme jump over the South Pole.
He jumped from the icy height of 5,000 m, his speed of fall reaching 250 km/h, accompanied by a FORTIS CHRONOGRAPH.
1998 The world's first Automatic Chronograph with integrated mechanical Alarm. Patent EP 0806712.
1997 The FORTIS OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH was chosen to be the official watch of the German-Russian space mission MIR 97.
1995 The world height record - 30,000 meter the FORTIS chronographs were on the pilot's wrist as they set the world height record flight on a non-experimental MiG-25 PU double seater aircraft, flown by Alexander Garnaev & Alexandre Paringaux.
1994 After endurance tests on the margins of physics, the Star City Training Center chose the FORTIS OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH as part of their official cosmonauts equipment.
The space mission ”EUROMIR 1” crew was the first to be presented with the FORTIS COSMONAUTS SET and became the world's first automatic chrongraph in open space outside the space station.
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.
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.
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.
1954 FORTIS begins the manufacturing and the world wide distribution of mechanical alarm watches.
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.
1937 On the occasion of the company's 25th anniversary, FORTIS manufactures their first chronographs.
1912 The watch factory is founded in Grenchen, Switzerland by Walter Vogt.
2007 Further construction of the ISS - International Space Station and preparations for the launch of the research modules Columbus and Kibo.2007 Limited Edition FORTIS FLIEGER CHRONOGRAPH ALARM PLATINUM, 2nd place in “The Golden Balance Wheel” award category up to 25.000 Euro.
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.
2005 Exactly 10 years after the first official flight FORTIS remains as the exclusive supplier of manned space missions authorized by the Russian Federal Space Agency. The FORTIS B-42 OFFICIAL COSMONAUT CHRONOGRAPH floating in space on board the ISS, International Space Station.
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.
2004 Winner of the “1st European Aviation Watch Award”: FORTIS FLIEGER CHRONOGRAPH AUTOMATIC.
2003 Presentation of the new FORTIS OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH in the striking B-42 design.
2002 World height record for helicopters of 12,954 meters, set by French pilot Fred North with his AS 350B helicopter ”ECUREUIL”. Along for the ride: the FORTIS B-42 PILOT PROFESSIONAL CHRONOGRAPH.
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.
2001 “Star of the Blue Planet”
FORTIS was presented with this medal of honour from the Russian Space Agency Rosaviakosmos for commitment to the development of mechanical chronographs for space travel.
2001 ”GTS” Global Transmission Services.
The first experiment on board the International Space Station - ISS was to test the global synchronization of wristwatches from space. Deeply involved in the world of aviation and space, FORTIS takes part in the development of a new radiocontrolled signal in cooperation with the European Space Agency ESA, the German Aerospace Center DLR and DaimlerChrysler Research.
2000 FORTIS SPACEMATIC - The Next Generation. With this collection, FORTIS takes a giant step into the new millennium.
2000 Millennium Expedition to the South Pole.
New Year's Eve 1999-2000: Austrian Ernst Zinnhobler became the first European to make an extreme jump over the South Pole.
He jumped from the icy height of 5,000 m, his speed of fall reaching 250 km/h, accompanied by a FORTIS CHRONOGRAPH.
1998 The world's first Automatic Chronograph with integrated mechanical Alarm. Patent EP 0806712.
1997 The FORTIS OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH was chosen to be the official watch of the German-Russian space mission MIR 97.
1995 The world height record - 30,000 meter the FORTIS chronographs were on the pilot's wrist as they set the world height record flight on a non-experimental MiG-25 PU double seater aircraft, flown by Alexander Garnaev & Alexandre Paringaux.
1994 After endurance tests on the margins of physics, the Star City Training Center chose the FORTIS OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH as part of their official cosmonauts equipment.
The space mission ”EUROMIR 1” crew was the first to be presented with the FORTIS COSMONAUTS SET and became the world's first automatic chrongraph in open space outside the space station.
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.
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.
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.
1954 FORTIS begins the manufacturing and the world wide distribution of mechanical alarm watches.
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.
1937 On the occasion of the company's 25th anniversary, FORTIS manufactures their first chronographs.
1912 The watch factory is founded in Grenchen, Switzerland by Walter Vogt.
