1950s Fortis Over-Sized 37.5mm Gold-Plated Manually Wound
Ref: 4244A
Specification
Lugs : 20mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box & Papers : None
Case Material : Gold-Plated
Warranty : 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty
Points of Mention
This watch is sold as "Watch Only" and, therefore, comes with no original Fortis box or paperwork. It is paired with a well-suited 20mm aftermarket leather strap and gold-plated buckle. The watch is from the Circa 1950s and is sold in worn vintage condition, as you can see from the photos, there are signs of wear and patina across the watch. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.
For more photos see here - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ku66JAnKt3URBbCyLzTHwRV3a40xikDz?usp=drive_link
4K YouTube video, skip to 30:33 - https://youtu.be/mfYrWD4tS2M
The Watch
Here we have a classic 1950s Fortis Manually Wound with a curvaceous Oversized 37.5mm Gold-Plated case that curves over your wrist with tapered lugs, and a lug-to-lug length of 46mm and a case thickness of 9mm ensures a comfortable fit. On the right side is a coin-edged push/pull crown. A thin, smooth bezel holds a domed crystal above a cream cross-line dial. An outer minute track surrounds applied gold-plated 12, 3, 6 and 9 numerals and diamond indexes in between to mark the hours. Elegant gold-plated Dauphine hands sit above a sub-seconds; at 12 o’clock, we have the gold painted Fortis motif “17 Jewels”, and at 6 o’clock, “Antimagnetic” completes this vintage dress watch. On the reverse, a stainless steel case back with the watch details engraved inside a manually wound ETA Cal. 1120, 17 jewels movement. The watch comes paired with a well-suited 20mm aftermarket leather strap and gold-plated pin buckle.
Personal Note
This over-sized Fortis from the 1950s comes in at a whopping (for the time) 37.5mm, with the design being all dial this really does fill the wrist and look incredible, I can only imagine how much of a stock this would have been on the wrist to most people in the 1950s and how much of a statement this likely made. Featuring the old 50s Fortis logo, this is a real charmer on the wrist and punches well above its price tag. Do not hesitate to add this beautiful watch to your collection today!
The Brand
FORTIS was founded in 1912 by Walter Vogt; its headquarters and factory is based in Grenchen, Switzerland. In 1926, Walter joined forces with the inventor of the automatic movement, John Harwood, to mass-produce the world's first automatic watch. In 1962, Rolf Vogt, son of the founder, handed over to NASA the Spacematic AR (All Risks) designed by FORTIS. 2003 saw the introduction of the official Cosmonaut Chronograph, which is still worn today as official equipment by Russian Cosmonauts, very much like the Omega Speedmaster Professional, which is still the official NASA watch.