By John Galt
For most people when you mention Fortis you will immediately envisage large cased pilot watches, bright colours and normally very busy dials with many sub-dials. But Fortis have now surprised everyone, myself included, by releasing a dress watch.
The stainless steel case measures 40mm in diameter, so more or less the standard size nowadays for a dress watch case. The upside for this Fortis is the fact that the lugs are not big and cumbersome like their pilot’s watches but much more dressy and elegant. The Lugs are crisp and short which curve elegantly making it sit perfectly on the wrist. Another advantage for the case is the depth, even though it is powered by an automatic movement the case is only 7.4mm thick which again adds to the dressy character. The short crown sits at the usual 3 O’clock position and is very easy to use even with large hands.
The new Fortis Terrestis Hedonist is available in two versions, a silvery opaline which comes with gold plated hands and looks pretty swish. The version we show you here and I think works the best for its dressy appeal is the combination of Anthracite grey with rhodium plated hands. The minute track that hugs the outer edge shows only even numbered hours in a bold typeface which keeps the dial crisp and clean but also gives it a nice modern appeal. The dial is slightly stepped from outer edge to the centre giving a good sense of depth and draws your eyes to the sub-seconds dial just above the 6 O’clock position which has the central mounted hands cutting into the top of the dial and a small date aperture positioned at the lower of the dial. The main centrally mounted hands are an elegant leaf shape perfectly extenuating the dressy elegant modern look. One slight niggle I have with the dial would be that I would prefer the sub-seconds dial slightly lower cutting into the 6 numeral but that is just me.
Turning the piece over you have an exhibition case back showing a large oscillating rotor featuring the brand’s logo that partially hides the movement. Powering the Terrestis is an ETA 2895-2 self-winding calibre with a power reserve of 40 hours. Finishing off the piece is a chose of either brown or black leather strap with steel buckle. Prices range from $2,000 to $2,200 depending on the dial.
Conclusion
This for Fortis is like going back to your past to dictate your future as in days gone by Fortis were renowned for their dressy timepiece and I’m glad to see them back, only time will tell if they gain as much success with these dress pieces as their pilots watches.
For more info, please visit fortis-swiss.com
JOHN GALT – CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
John Galt caught the horology bug back in 2010 on his first visit to a London watch show and has snowballed since; John has become an avid writer and blogger of timepieces of all kinds, from everyday timepieces to modern Luxury HauteHorology, his favorite brands being HYT and GreubelForsey that push the boundaries of modern watch-making. John keeps a keen interest in the UK watch scene with their many emerging brands and timepieces. John Galt currently contributes watch related articles for online publications in the UK and USA. You can follow him on Twitter Read his articles here
