Fortis

Walter Vogt founded Fortis in 1912 in Grenchen, Switzerland, with a vision to make precision timekeeping accessible. In 1926, Fortis made watchmaking history by collaborating with British inventor John Harwood to produce the world's first serially manufactured automatic wristwatch, unveiled at Baselworld. The company introduced its first chronographs in 1937 and pioneered water-resistant watches with the Fortissimo line in 1943. The 1962 Spacematic was tested by US space mission crew members. In 1994, Fortis achieved a defining milestone when its Official Cosmonauts Chronograph was selected as standard equipment by the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center and Roscosmos. The watch has since accompanied every Russian space mission. In 1998, Fortis developed the world's first automatic chronograph with a mechanical alarm function. After experiencing financial difficulties in 2017, the brand was acquired by German businessman Jupp Philipp, who revitalized the company with new collections including the Flieger, Stratoliner, and Novonaut lines.