A mechanical chronograph has long ceased to be a “tool of choice” for an astronaut: there are specialized electronic devices for that that are just better. The 2022 Fortis Official Cosmonauts Chrono AMADEE-20 Edition acknowledges the fact with a brief nod and instead delivers what a modern customer really wants: megatons of style and charisma at an *ahem* relatively affordable price of $3900 and some change.
Elegant And Affordable: Fortis Terrestis Hedonist
The 2015 Fortis Terrestis Hedonist delivers a winning combination of elegant styling, and robust movement offered at a fairly affordable price. This can be the watch of choice for a person who always thought about adding a Fortis to his collection but wasn’t ready to get himself an “aviator” because of their massive cases, cluttered dials, and, often, just way too many colors for them to look good with business attire. Now, you finally have no excuses to backpedal on this purchase, have you?
Fortis Blue Horizon Automatic Chronograph
The new Fortis Blue Horizon features an appealing color scheme with its bronze-toned dial (that the brand actually prefers to call “Metallic Brown”) nicely matched by a cognac-brown leather strap. Although the blue accents on the timekeeper’s face look a bit ahem controversial, I must admit that this is one of the dressiest “pilot’s chronographs” that the Swiss brand has ever produced. Just don’t forget to get yourself a complementary set of good brown shoes.
Fortis VP-40 “Laging Handa” Patrol Squadron Forty
While the new Fortis VP-40 “Laging Handa” Patrol Squadron Forty doesn’t even try to look different from dozens of other Fortis aviation-inspired chronographs, it still offers a nice combination of a solid-built body with pleasantly massive push-pieces and setting crown, and a dial that, although looking a bit cluttered, is nevertheless easy enough to read (only if you don’t try to use the standard tachymeter scale on the bezel flange).
Fortis B42 Marinemaster Yellow Day/Date 670.24.14
The Fortis B42 Marinemaster range of diving tools has recently been expanded with a Yellow Collection. Comprising an ETA Valjoux 7750-powered automatic chronograph and a more traditional-looking Fortis B-42 Marinemaster Yellow Day/Date (Ref. 670.24.14) three-hander, the collection differs from the rest of Marinemaster family only with its more jovial (and also more legible) color scheme that adds acid-bright lime accents to the bezels and dials.
Fortis B42 Phantoms Phorever Flieger Chronograph
The limited edition Fortis B42 Phantoms Phorever Flieger Chronograph (ref. 635.10.91 F-4F L01) pays homage to the legendary McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II: a twin-engine combat aircraft that not only ensured US air superiority in Vietnam, but also fought in many other conflicts throughout the world, including numerous Arab-Israeli wars, the Iran-Iraq War and, of course, the Falklands War.