Fortis

 By Bruce Shawkey

 

Walter Vogt (left), then 25, founded the company in 1912 in Grenchen. Though the company is known for its Flieger pilots' watches and chronographs, it was first a pioneer in the marketing and distribution of automatic watches. In 1926, Vogt met John Harwood at the Basel Fair where Harwood exhibited his new invention of a full rotor automatic watch. Vogt was fascinated by Harwood's invention and believing that automatic watches were the future, he offered to partner with Harwood in bringing his watch to a larger market. Thus began Fortis' distribution rights for the Harwood automatic watch, pictured below, at right.

Harwood and Vogt's partnership flourished, with a portion of the Fortis factory devoted to making Harwood watches. The partnership continued with the "Autorist," (below, left) that reportedly stayed wound by the flexing of the wrist. Fortis claims they mass produced the Autorist, but I've never seen one in the flesh, only in advertisements. The design was ill-fated, owing to the fact that the small flexing motions of the wrist were not sufficient to keep the watch wound. But it was a very creative attempt, and surely a grail watch by collectors who specialize in early automatic watches. If anyone has an image of one, I would love to see it and share with my readers. Send the image to bruce.shawkey@gmail.com.

Harwood eventually separated from Fortis to become the Perpetual Self-Winding Watch Company. Falling victim to the Great Depression, Rolex reportedly scooped up many of Harwood's patents that went into Rolex's Perpetual movement. In the 1950s, some of Rolex's ads indicated they had invented the automatic wristwatch. John Harwood sued them and won. This ad pictured below at right is the formal (court-ordered) apology that Rolex printed in 1956 and to my knowledge the only time Rolex apologized for anything! 

  As an aside, in the late 1980s, Fortis created a limited edition tribute watch to the original Harwood (round) automatic.

Rolex's court-ordered apology to John Harwood

Fortis was also one of the first companies to bring a commercially successful wrist chronograph to market in the 1930s. It is chronographs that Fortis currently promotes the most at its website. 

In 1940, Fortis released its first water-resistant watches: the Fortissimo. An example is pictured below at right. Fortis eventually produced a number of watches in the Fortissimo line, ranging from simple three hand dress and field style watches with A. Schild movements, to chronographs with Landeron movements. What the actual water resistance rating of the Fortissimo models was is unclear. The '40s and '50s were still the "wild west years" of advertising, with little regulation requiring companies to back up stated claims with fact. Most water-resistant watches in this era were simply marketed as “waterproof.”

At this point, we’ll take a break and look at some Fortis advertising through the years.

Here's a Fortis watch from a 1949 issue of Europa Star magazine, published for jewelers:

In 1956, Fortis won the first chronometer award conferred by the Swiss institute for the world's first water-resistant mechanical alarm: the Manager, shown left.

In 1961, Rolf Vogt, son of the founder, traveled to America and presented to NASA a Fortis "Spacematic AR" (All Risks) designed in recognition of the efforts and daring of the first astronauts. Those first Spacematic watches (example shown at right) did not make it into space because of the challenge of a rotor oscillating in zero gravity.  But it is still a cult classic among watch collectors.

Fortis produced many conventional wristwatches -- both manual wind and automatic -- from the '30s well into the 1960s. A few of those are pictured below.

L to R: A 1957 model with date; 1957 Eden Roc; three models from 1965, including the Skylark at extreme left.

Tuxedo, Tuxedo II, and Skylark models from a 1969 catalog.

 

By the end of the 1950s, the Fortis logo underwent its first and quite radical redesign. The majestic crown and curved letters were replaced by a modern contemporary brand logo, reflective of the progress of the 1950s. Various combinations of the old and new logo can be found on the dials of such successful models as the Eden Roc, Streamline, Marine Master, or Performance, .

By the late '60s and early '70s, Fortis was feeling the pressure of the quartz invasion and was looking to reinvent itself. Various attempts such as "Hedonist" and "Flipper," with their colorful cases reminiscent of Swatch watches and utilizing quartz movements were only partially successful (see below at right).

Flipper and two Hedonist models, right 

Fortis needed something new, and they found it in something old: the Flieger and Pilot models introduced nearly a half century before. These “new” models, introduced in the late '80s and early '90s, were the complete repudiation of the quartz invasion, with their simple lines, cases up to 40mm in diameter, and mechanical movements, indicative of the no-frills designs of the aviation watches of World War II (see below, left).

First Flieger models, circa late '80s, early '90s

The Flieger, introduced for the brand’s 75th anniversary, began with a simple dial but grew to include chronographs as well. This watch exploded in popularity with armed forces across the world; Germany, Hungary, Greece, Taiwan, Portugal, Switzerland, and multiple NATO units all had special runs made for them. It grew to be known as the real deal pilot watch, on the wrists of many combat flyers and support staff. The Flieger cemented Fortis’ burgeoning relationship with the aerospace industry, one that has come to define the brand.

Stratoliner, left, and Cosmonauts Chronograph

A Stratoliner chronograph (previously a time-only sport watch) model of 1992  with Lemania automatic 5100 movement with center-stop-minute hand (right) attracted the attention of the Russian space program and allowed Fortis an open access to space.

In 1994, Fortis released a chronograph (extreme right) that became the Official Cosmonauts Chronograph. It was perhaps Fortis’ most iconic, well known watch. Fortis themselves weren’t aware of this when they released it. It was a variation on their popular Flieger chronograph with a steel tachymeter bezel. ROSCOSMOS, the Russian space agency, invited Fortis to send several of the chronographs to them for testing and subjected them to six months of rigorous trials. The watches passed with flying colors and received a certification from the agency. The Official Cosmonauts Chronograph would go on to fly dozens of missions and thousands of hours throughout the 1990s and early 2000s on MIR and later the International Space Station. It’s widely accepted that the Cosmonauts Chronograph has most likely spent the most actual hours in spaceflight of any watch.

The company in 2012 produced a marvelous 88-page full-color 100th anniversary book which, as of September 2022, is still available at https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/81980a_5836c93dcbfb4d628141469f81e77ad3.pdf.

In 2017, the company filed for a debt restructuring moratorium, and shortly afterward, the company was taken over by Jupp Philipp, a Fortis enthusiast, who has an unlikely background in the fruit business.

The current model lineup, in my opinion, is rather like a fruit salad and reflective of Philipp’s background and includes:

* The Stratoliner, a salute to the 1992 model, now developed in cooperation with the Swedish Space Corporation to explore the stratosphere, the layer of the earth's atmosphere extending to about 32 miles (50 km) above the earth's surface and containing the all-important ozone layer, without which life on earth as we know it wouldn't be possible;

* Marinemaster, a rugged timekeeper made of recycled steel and black resin for the outdoor adventurer in 40 and 44mm case sizes;

* Flieger, in time-only and chronograph models, remaining true to the designs of the first Flieger models introduced in 1987;

* Official Cosmonauts, a salute to the company's ties to the Russian space program, but now with two models affiliated with the Austrian Space Forum; and

* Aeromaster, for more than 20 years the collection has been aimed as pilots' watches. It's a rather hodgepodge collection of alarm chronographs, chronograph, and day-date models.

I'm not sure where the company is headed. Surely, it is a far cry from the days of the Harwood automatic. Now, solely owned, with a CEO whose roots are in the fruit business, I suppose anything is possible.

L to R: Current (2022) models: Stratoliner; Marinemaster; Flieger chronograph.

L to R: Current (2022) models: Official Cosmonauts;  Aeromaster.

 

Here are some more Fortis images from the mid-1960s:

 

Angelus

 By Bruce Shawkey

For better or worse, many watch companies are known for a single watch, even though they produced many other models. For Breitling, it's the Navitimer. For Vulcain, the Cricket. For Doxa, the Sub 300T. And for Angelus, it's the Chronodato, the world's first serially produced chronograph with calendar function.

But collectors forget there is much more to the brand's history and products. Certainly, chronographs dominated their production and reputation, but they produced other kinds of watches as well, including complicated watches. In fact, some say Angelus was one of the most influential horological manufactures of the last century. Collectors also forget about Angelus because the brand lay dormant for 30 years when the quartz crisis put them out of business in the mid-1980s. It's only been since 2015 that the brand has been resurrected and introduced to a new generation of watch enthusiasts who may not be aware of the brand's rich heritage.

So let's take a closer look at this most interesting company.

Angelus was founded in Le Locle in 1891 by the Stolz brothers Gustav and Albert in Le Locle. They had studied under the well celebrated Henri Sandoz. who was director of the Tavannes Watch Company. After qualifying as a watchmaker, the third brother, Charles, joined Angelus in 1898 (left).

The brand name Angelus was reportedfy named for the Angelus ring of Catholic church bells, and can be seen in early Angelus adverts, in which church bells and towers are depicted.

By 1904, the brothers employed 15 skilled artisans, with more and more work being carried out in cottages and homes by freelancers. The brothers started building their own movements, including repeaters and chronographs. Their superb craftsmanship was recognized by prestigious awards at international fairs and expositions.

In 1914, Gustave Stolz in addition to his function in the Angelus firm, became director of the Le Phare watch company, which would supply many movements to early Angelus wrist and pocket watches.

World War I saw difficult times for Angelus. though they did come out with a pocket watch for blind and visually impaired people (many of whom lost their sight in the war). It featured a hinged lid which when opened revealed a dial with no crystal so that the hands could be felt, thereby revealing the time to the user.

An early Angelus wrist watch (1920s) featured an alarm function (right), beating Vulcain's claim to the first alarm watch, the Cricket, by several decades. Although to be fair, it was a large watch (at 46mm diameter) and used the same movement found in Angelus’ table and travel clocks of the same period.

In 1930, Angelus, in cooperation with Zodiac, came out with the world's smallest 8-day movement (above). The caliber SF-N 9, with reported accuracy of +/- 1 minute per week, found its way into several prestigious watch brands, including Tiffany.

But Angelus soon returned focus to chronographs, as evidenced by this early ad (right) showing a design with hinged case and single button. Other designs soon followed, with single and dual buttons with 30- and 45-minute timing capability.

To keep its business going during the Great Depression, Angelus produced several models of alarm and travel clocks including a model (below left) with time, barometer, and thermometer that resembled a ship’s wheel.

The 1940s and '50s were golden times for Angelus. In 1940, the Hungarian Air Force chose Angelus as its supplier of chronographs. As mentioned earlier, Angelus came out with its famous Chronodate in 1942 (Chronodato from 1943 onwards). This remarkable chronograph is equipped with the 14 ligne caliber SF217, and features 17 or 19 jewels and a 45-minute counter. The Chronodato rapidly becomes Angelus’ top selling watch. Angelus

movements also found their way into military watches by the prestigious brand Panerai. An example is shown below right with the tell-tale crown guard.

We'll take a break now and look at some Angelus watch from catalogs and adverts of the 1940s and '50s. The text continues after the illustrations.

The 1950s continued to see innovation from Angelus, including the Datalarm (1956), the first wristwatch featuring both alarm and date function. Also, the Tinkler intoduced in 1958,  (left) which was both the first automatic repeater wristwatch (quarter hour) and also the first repeater wristwatch which claimed to be waterproof. A cult classic (only 100 pieces were reportedly produced), one sold on eBay in 2013 for $10,355!

                 In 1960, Angelus made its final chronograph of the 20th century – a monopusher for doctors featuring scales around the periphery of the dial between 12 o’clock and 3 o’clock for measuring breathing and pulse rate, with the displays magnified by special optics integrated into the glass.

The ‘60s and ‘70s were not kind to Angelus, what with the advent of cheap American (Timex) and imported brands. But they did have one more trick up their sleeve with the introduction in 1978 of a 5-minute repeater (right). The movement was built in cooperation with Dubois Dépraz, the same company that helped Heuer and Buren/Hamilton develop the automatic chronograph. I’ve seen a couple for sale in the $11K area.

But the company lay dormant for the next 33 years until it was bought in 2011 by Manufacture La Joux-Perret. La Joux-Perret (formerly Jaquet SA or Jaquet-Baume) is a Swiss movement manufacturer, now owned by Citizen of Japan. They spent the next four years developing the next generation of Angelus watches, starting with the U10 Tourbillon Lumière (below, left), introduced  at

Baselworld in 2015. At around $110,000, it’s the most expensive watch Angelus ever built. But if you ask me, it looks like a cheap fashion watch of the ‘70s. Different strokes for different folks.

Current model offerings include three versions of a revamped Chronodate (Gold, below, left), Blue Titanium, and White Titanium. Gone are the day and month windows of the old Chronodate. All that remains is the pointer date. There is a gold and carbon flying tourbillon, limited to 18 pieces, and reported to cost CHF 68,950, or about $71,600. An

“Urban Collection” consists of 14 variations on a theme. Basic models feature a flying tourbillon movement with hours and minutes. Deluxe models feature a flying tourbillon movement with 30-minute chronograph. Prices start at about $34,000 for a basic time-only model, and go up to $72,000 for a chronograph model. There are no Internet sales (except grey market), only sales through authorized dealers. All of which makes vintage Chronodatos going for around $2K on the secondary market seem like a pretty good bargain!

 

Here is another article I wrote on Angelus:

The brand was founded in 1891 by brothers Albert and Gustav Stolz in LeLocle Switzerland. From 1912, the company specialized more on complex watch movements with repetition and on chronographs, which were exported to Germany, Italy and Russia.

There is very little information or visual documentation concerning the first Angelus chronographs. We know that they emerged in the decade between 1925 and 1935. They were single-push-button chronographs with 30- and 45-minute counters. The calibres used in the 30-minute counter watches were Valjoux ébauches and those of the 45-minute counter watches were manufactured in-house. In the image below (perhaps the only known advertisement), we can see one of the first examples from the late 1920s.

In 1933, Breitling brought out its first dual-push-button chronograph. Not to be left behind, in 1935, Angelus completed the development of the SF 210 caliber, used in both single- and dual-push-button versions, and brought out its first chronograph with dual push buttons. In the right-hand-side image (or below if viewed on a mobile), we show the version of the watch issued to Hungarian Air Force pilots.

The success and reliability of its watches resulted in another golden era of economic expansion for Anfelus. In 1940, the well-known SF 215 caliber came out, adual-push-button chronographs, and was at the forefront of Angelus’s development in the 1940s. It was also the base for the SF 217 caliber used in the Chronodato. This 14-line, manual winding, 40-hour power reserve caliber, was used in a wide range of watches with various faces and case types. 

In the 30s and 40s of the 20th century, Angelus earned a reputation mainly because of its chronographs. These were equipped with self-produced manufacture movements. Well known became, among others, the 1942 presented model “Chronodate” (since 1943 “Chronodato”), the world's first serially produced chronograph with calendar function.

However, it was not until 1942 that the Chronodato, possibly the most famous Angelus chronograph, emerged. The image below is perhaps the first known advertisement for the Chronodato:

In 1948 the “Chrono Dato Luxe” was launched, available in two frame sizes - the first chronograph with calendar, day display and moon phase. Approximately 1960 as last chronograph the the “Medical," a model for physicians, was brought on the market.

In 1967, Europa Star ran this article on the 36th anniversary of Angelus' eight day wristwatch:

The quartz crisis then meant the end for the brand. Its models are still desired among collectors and connoisseurs.

After lying dormant for more than 30 years, Angelus in 2015 is revived by Manufacture La Joux-Perret (Citizen Holdings), which has spent four years developing the next generation of visionary timepieces. The Angelus' manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds is just a stone's throw from where the Stolz brothers established their original manufacture.They registered in brand name "Angelus" in 1913. They remain of of the few watch companies to be independently owned and operated.

Every brand has a signature watch For Angelus, that watch is the two-register chronograph with triple date and moonphase, called the "Chronodato. that was introduced in 1948.

But they made many fine time-only watches as well.

Here is picture of a two-register chronograph, no date features:

Here are some pictures of Chronodatos showing the variety of case metals, including base, gold filled, and karat gold.

Here are some images of other Angelus watches through the decades:

Here are some Angelus ads and catalog pages through the decades:

Here are additional articles I've written on Angelus

Found this ad in the March/April 1958 issue of Swiss Horological Journal announcing an alarm watch, also featuring a date, called the "Datalarm," Angelus is probably best known for its multi-date chronograph model (the Chronodato), but they made time-only models as well.

Angelus was founded in 1891 by brothers brothers Gustav and Albert Stolz in Le Locle, Switzerland.  After lying dormant for more than 30 years, Angelus was revived in 2015 by Manufacture La Joux-Perret, and they manufacture only chronographs.