A Look Back On A Strong 2020 From The Fortis Flieger Family

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BY ROB NUDDS
NOVEMBER 09, 2020
7 MIN READ

WATCH OF THE WEEK
A Look Back On A Strong 2020 From The Fortis Flieger Family
The Grenchen-based brand has been flying high this year...

The 13th of every month is now known as “Fortis Day”. 2020 has seen new watches debut in the Flieger family on the 13th of August, September, and October. Now, as we approach the curtain call of perhaps the maddest year on record, we take a look back on a triumphant trio of release dates that brought us the F-43 Bicompax Chronograph, the F-41 and F-39 Automatics, and the most recently released F-43 Triple GMT, outlined the future aesthetic of this part of the brand’s line-up.

Fortis CEO Jupp Philipp must be feeling himself right not. He and his team have had a barnstorming year when it comes to reinvigorating a brand that was in dire need of a modern identity. What’s impressed me most about the overhaul en masse, is the way it all feels entirely natural and yet entirely new. That’s the kind of symbiosis it’s hard to predict. It is really only possible to look back on the inspired efforts of others in admiration.

A few months ago, I wrote that Philipp was hoping to “better communicate the aesthetic DNA of the brand’s future while honoring the brand’s past. A striking aesthetic and high functionality are the ingredients for success here.” That goal has been met with aplomb. With each subsequent release, Fortis impressed me further. I am now all-in on last month’s GMT and cannot wait to see what’s coming next from the brand in early 2021. For now, though, let’s take a look back on the four watches to titillate 2020. Please vote for your favorite at the end of the article, and let us know what you want to see from Fortis next year and beyond.

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Overdue respect​

The Fortis brand rarely gets the respect it deserves. With such a long and important history behind it, that is a shame. Prior to the current owner Jupp Philipp’s acquisition of the company, Fortis had experienced some rocky times. Philipp’s attitude has always been to keep things simple and to keep the core identity of the brand front and center in everything it does.

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The new Flieger F-43 Bicompax is, fundamentally, a very straightforward watch. It is made much more interesting by its decoration and, most importantly, its execution. Having big ideas is one thing; realizing them to this level of quality is quite another. Read the full review here…
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Time And Date Fortis Flieger Watch Comes In Both 39mm And 41mm​

The F-43 has returned to base. Why? Because it’s come home to welcome the brand’s newest recruit to an evergrowing aerial squadron. The Fortis Flieger F-43 Bicompax was well-received, lining the nest for its smaller, but no less impressive brother. For quite some time, Fortis fans have been calling for something a little smaller, a little lighter on the wrist, and a little bit special. With the launch of the time and date Fortis Flieger F-series in 41 and (a satisfying) 39mm, all three prayers have been answered.

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An important note on size​

I was a big fan of last month’s drop. I really enjoyed the smaller option (the 39mm Flieger) as I felt it opened up a whole new customer base for the brand. While the best-balanced design thus far probably fell to the slightly larger 41mm variant, the new Triple-GMT has a lot to offer in that regard.

43mm is the first step into large, or even oversized territory, but is by no means unwearable as a diameter alone. The key, once this kind of diameter is reached, is how the watch head sits on the wrist when thickness and lug length are taken into account. The first 43mm model to debut this year — the F-43 Bicompax Chronograph we covered here — was a hulking timepiece, with a high-sided case (courtesy of that cool-but-controversial concave bezel). It was, in many ways, the perfect watch to launch this new era of Fortis timepieces because it was so striking in colors and proportions.

Although the new F-43 Triple-GMT is not small, it sits lower on the wrist thanks to its very slightly slimmer case construction (it measures 15.5mm tall as opposed to 15.73mm). This has the dual benefit of added comfort and (due to the diameter/width ratio) perhaps even greater wrist presence. For me, therefore, this one would rank higher in the desirability stakes than the Chronograph variant.

Both watches share the same lug-to-lug measurement (54.4mm), but, additionally, the Triple-GMT is noticeably lighter. On a leather strap, the watch head alone is over 30g lighter (106.03g vs. 136.95g). The difference becomes even more noticeable when fitted to their metal bracelets. The Fortis F-43 Bicompax weighs 245.76g on its bracelet, while the Triple-GMT comes in at just 162.95g in total when worn on a bracelet. Why? Simply because the Bicompax was made from steel; the Triple GMT, however, is fashioned from titanium…

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Better still, the Werk 13 Manufacture Calibre is a COSC-certified chronometer

Link to full article
 
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