FORTIS F-43 BI-COMPAX CHRONOGRAPH

The Fortis F-43 Bi-Compax Chronograph looks like it is hewn from granite. Indeed, its overt robustness and peerless legibility make this pilots’ watch ideal for daily wear. Mark McArthur-Christie provides a fascinating insight into this extraordinary watch.

Fortis has never been scared of doing things its own way. When, in the early 1990s, most watch businesses were still pushing quartz for all they were worth, Fortis stuck to their love of milled-from-billet, read-at-half-a-mile, functional, mechanical flying watches. Sure, there have been some interesting excursions along the way – the gloriously 1970s chest-wig and flares Skylark, for example – but it’s always felt as though Fortis is happiest when form follows function.

With a background like this, it was worrying when the company hit financial problems back in 2017. There are too many watchmakers who’ve been taken over by organisations who simply hollow out the firm, leaving only a well-known name to stick on the dial of the next fashion watch. Instead, thanks to a series of fortunate accidents and careful planning, businessman (and Fortis aficionado) Jupp Philipp took over the firm in late 2018 and its future now looks secure.

With Jupp at the helm, it’s not surprising that the Fortis F-43 Bi-Compax Chronograph and its fellow models the Triple GMT, the F-39 and F-41 Automatics all do that thing that’s so, so hard; they’re clearly new and different but the Fortis DNA is clear to see.

Starting from the outside, the bi-compax (it tells you on the dial, just to make sure you don’t forget) F-43 has a 43mm stainless steel case, hence the name. In the finest Fortis tradition, it’s the sort of 43mm stainless steel case that hangs around on assault courses with its armour-piercing ammunition mates at weekends. If you happen to run a Panther II tank and need something to use as an engine mount, it’ll happily volunteer.

It’s 55mm lug-to-lug and 15mm thick, so the watch is no shrinking violet, but it’s still comfortable and the weight is reassuring. You’ll definitely know it’s there.

Fortis describes the inscription on the solid caseback (you weren’t expecting anything as soppy as a display back, were you?) as “Ultra-Engraving”. Although I’m not sure about the process involved, the lettering and design are certainly crisp and clean. It gives you the depth rating (20ATM – 200m or 660 ft), aided by the screw-down crown and the words “Without a flyer, the sky would only be air” in German. This isn’t a watch you’ll worry about getting wet. In fact, this isn’t a watch you’ll worry about at all.

The bezel, separated both physically and visually by a black case-ring, has a grippy coin-edge and turns with a thoroughly positive action, clicking 24 times every 12 hours. This means you can use it as a simple timer (I’m a big fan of watches that do this) or a basic, single timezone GMT. The inside edge of the bezel slopes down towards the dial, taking some of the visual weight away from what might otherwise be an overly chunky case.

The crown – as I’ve mentioned – screws down but the textured pump-pushers remain free.

With a case like a tank hatch, you’d expect the F-43’s bracelet to be equally no-nonsense. It won’t disappoint you. For a start, it’s held to the case with four single-slot screws, so no flimsy little spring bars to ping out. It’s a classical three-link, Oyster-style set-up – but these oysters were probably hanging around near Sizewell B. They’re properly solid links too, but you still get a micro-adjust clasp with 8mm of movement. If the bracelet doesn’t appeal, there’s a thick black leather strap with a Fortis pin buckle.

Inside the Fortis F-43 Bi-Compax Chronograph you’ll find the equally no-nonsense Fortis UW-51, 27 jewel, unidirectional automatic chronograph movement in the style of the Sellita 510 and ETA Valjoux 7753. Unlike your average naggy wrist computer, it’ll run for 48 hours without any fuss off your wrist and forever on it. No charging points or wireless synching needed here. It beats at a decent 4Hz (28,800vph). Clearly, you get hours and minutes as well as a running seconds at 9 and a 30 minute counter at 3. The chrono seconds runs from the centre of the dial and there’s a quickset date. The dial sits under a sapphire crystal coated on both sides with anti-reflective treatment.

The dial – as you’ll spot – is classic Fortis, but with a measure of evolution. There are still the large, lume-filled, black-edged spade hands, but there’s quite a bit more colour. That’s a tough balance to get right; it would have been easy to make the whole thing look like a Christmas tree. Fortis avoided colour-bling by keeping their focus, as ever, on function. Where there’s colour or texture, it has a use. So the 3D lumed dial batons on the five-minute markers (with the flieger triangle and dots at 12) make the time much easier to read. The second hand stands out by being Fluor Orange, developed by Swiss firm Berlac. The same colour edges the 30 minute subdial as well as bracketing that 12 o’clock triangle – Fortis call this the ‘Synchroline’. It’s intended to make it simpler for the pilots in a squadron to synchronise their watches in-flight. It’s probably debatable how often it would get used for that, but it certainly makes the dial easy to read, even without specs.

The orange also makes an entrance when the date snicks over to the 13th. The rest of the date numerals are plain old white. But the 13th is apparently when Herr Philipp signed the papers to buy Fortis, so it’s coloured orange.

OK, pilots don’t really need mechanical chronographs nowadays and haven’t done for years. But that really doesn’t matter. The things that made a watch useful in the air make it just as useful everywhere else. Having a chronograph is always handy; being able to see it and the time and understand it at a glance in light or dark is equally useful. And having a watch that can withstand a good amount of bashing about is ideal; who wants something they’ll have to baby constantly?

All-in-all, there’s a definiteness about the construction, pushers, crown and case finishing of the Fortis F-43 Bi-Compax Chronograph that makes you feel you could rely on it anywhere. It’s good to see Fortis back, making the sort of watches they’ve always made.