-:link: to pics below, will post pics when I figure out how to... (yes i´m a noob... 
:lolcina:
First of all a word of warning; this review contains descriptions of watch-atrocities that are not for the mechanically weak-hearted.
I bought my first real mechanical swiss watch ten years ago as a present to myself celebrating my first real job after many years of studying. I could not afford any of the top brands, so I set my financial limit at 1000$.
This narrowed my choices, but made the hunt even more interesting and challenging.
I wanted one single watch that I could use for all possible occations, at work in business meetings, at fancy dinner parties, while outdoors and when scuba-diving.
I also wanted a real quality mechanical movement, as spending this amount of money on a quartz just didn´t seem right. This promptly disqualified the otherwise obvious lower end offerings from TAG and Omega.
I stumbled upon the swiss brand Fortis of witch i had no former knowledge in a late night surfing session. Their website claimed they were the official watch-provider to the russian space program, making watches that could endure the harsh challenges met in the duration of a space misson; severe acceleration, vibrations, rapid temperature change with a difference of more than 500 degrees F from sunlit parts of the space station to the shadow side. This sounded like the kind of durability i wanted. The russian cosmonauts also did a lot of their weightless training underwater in large tanks, so the watches also had to have a diver rating of 200m (-don´t try that with an Omega Speedmaster!
I was lucky to find the watch on sale from a local dealer that was no longer going to carry the Fortis range and only had to pay 500$..
This was ten years ago, I was more immature than now :facepalm: and always had an urge to torture-test all gear that made claims of being tough. The temperature claims were tested by putting the watch in the deep freezer overnight, then dropping the watch in a cup of rather freshly poured tea... -In hindsight i cannot understand how the crystal held up and didn´t crack, but the watch survived just fine. The watch was left to cool in the winter snow when the outside temperature was minus 31degrees fahrenheit, then plunged directly into our jacuzzi that was steaming hot. Watch still worked like a charm. I am no longer quite so childish as to test my gear in these ways, but in the course of the last ten years this watch has been on my arm every single day and have been showed no mercy.
It has regularly gone scubadiving, It has been climbing mountains outdoors and been knocked about the walls of indoor climbing centres, it has done service as a real pilot´s watch, it has baked in the sun, sand and salty waters of the mediterranean, it has regularly gone regatta sailing, and occationaly been downhill mountainbiking (where I´m being torture tested by the constant pounding of the watch on my wrist) most recently i have taken up pistol shooting as a hobby and as I often wear the watch on my right wrist, it now feels recoil on a weekly basis.
The watch has become a very good friend and I will never part with it.
The modified ETA2836-2 movement still runs less than ten seconds fast in 24hours, and it has only been serviced once over these ten years.
It has its share of battle scars, but wears them with dignity and pride. The makers claim the bead-blasted finish actually hardens the outer layers of the metal, and it might be so, -the watch looks much better than it should after such an abusive life.
The sapphire crystal is scratch free and has been well protected as it protrudes only 0,5mm above the bezel.
The double sided ar is very good with a deep purple tint, -a bit scratched after ten years, but i choose to keep it on.
Lume is still amazing, and as the entire hour and minute hand is covered in lume, the legibility is second to none.
This is a watch I can warmly recommend to anyone wanting a seriously robust timepiece that has a rather timeless (no pun ) design that is as good looking on aligator or rubber straps as it is on the bracelet.
They still retail for less than a Grand and I still can´t think of any watch under 1000$ that would give it´s owner more…
Specs;
Movement:
Automatic Swiss Movement 2836-2, 11 1/2 ''', 25 jewels, 28.800 semi-vibrations per hour, fine timing device and Incabloc shock absorber
Case:
Diameter 38mm, thickness 13mm
Steel, brushed,three-parts, unidirectional turning bezel with 60 minute scale (120 divisions), luminous capsule at pos.12 h, pusher protection, sapphire crystal anti-reflective on both sides, screw down case back embossed with the emblems of the Russian space authorities, screw down crown with FORTIS logo, water resistant 200 m / 20 bar
Dial:
Black matt, Arabic numerals, indices and hour / minute hands with Superluminova green, centre-stop-second-hand orange with luminous dot, Day / Date indication at pos. 3 h (Bilingual English / German)
Attachment:
Steel bracelet with foldover clasp and diver extension, brushed.
FORTIS official homepage: :link:
(The brand actually has a long and interesting history..)
http://www.fortis-watches.com/
Link to another review: :link:
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f7/fortis-official-cosmonauts-day-date-automatic-review-7457
Link with some good lumeshots: :link:
Fortis Cosmonauts Day/Date | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
:lolcina:
First of all a word of warning; this review contains descriptions of watch-atrocities that are not for the mechanically weak-hearted.
I bought my first real mechanical swiss watch ten years ago as a present to myself celebrating my first real job after many years of studying. I could not afford any of the top brands, so I set my financial limit at 1000$.
This narrowed my choices, but made the hunt even more interesting and challenging.
I wanted one single watch that I could use for all possible occations, at work in business meetings, at fancy dinner parties, while outdoors and when scuba-diving.
I also wanted a real quality mechanical movement, as spending this amount of money on a quartz just didn´t seem right. This promptly disqualified the otherwise obvious lower end offerings from TAG and Omega.
I stumbled upon the swiss brand Fortis of witch i had no former knowledge in a late night surfing session. Their website claimed they were the official watch-provider to the russian space program, making watches that could endure the harsh challenges met in the duration of a space misson; severe acceleration, vibrations, rapid temperature change with a difference of more than 500 degrees F from sunlit parts of the space station to the shadow side. This sounded like the kind of durability i wanted. The russian cosmonauts also did a lot of their weightless training underwater in large tanks, so the watches also had to have a diver rating of 200m (-don´t try that with an Omega Speedmaster!
I was lucky to find the watch on sale from a local dealer that was no longer going to carry the Fortis range and only had to pay 500$..
This was ten years ago, I was more immature than now :facepalm: and always had an urge to torture-test all gear that made claims of being tough. The temperature claims were tested by putting the watch in the deep freezer overnight, then dropping the watch in a cup of rather freshly poured tea... -In hindsight i cannot understand how the crystal held up and didn´t crack, but the watch survived just fine. The watch was left to cool in the winter snow when the outside temperature was minus 31degrees fahrenheit, then plunged directly into our jacuzzi that was steaming hot. Watch still worked like a charm
. I am no longer quite so childish as to test my gear in these ways, but in the course of the last ten years this watch has been on my arm every single day and have been showed no mercy. It has regularly gone scubadiving, It has been climbing mountains outdoors and been knocked about the walls of indoor climbing centres, it has done service as a real pilot´s watch, it has baked in the sun, sand and salty waters of the mediterranean, it has regularly gone regatta sailing, and occationaly been downhill mountainbiking (where I´m being torture tested by the constant pounding of the watch on my wrist) most recently i have taken up pistol shooting as a hobby and as I often wear the watch on my right wrist, it now feels recoil on a weekly basis.
The watch has become a very good friend and I will never part with it.
The modified ETA2836-2 movement still runs less than ten seconds fast in 24hours, and it has only been serviced once over these ten years.
It has its share of battle scars, but wears them with dignity and pride. The makers claim the bead-blasted finish actually hardens the outer layers of the metal, and it might be so, -the watch looks much better than it should after such an abusive life.
The sapphire crystal is scratch free and has been well protected as it protrudes only 0,5mm above the bezel.
The double sided ar is very good with a deep purple tint, -a bit scratched after ten years, but i choose to keep it on.
Lume is still amazing, and as the entire hour and minute hand is covered in lume, the legibility is second to none.
This is a watch I can warmly recommend to anyone wanting a seriously robust timepiece that has a rather timeless (no pun
) design that is as good looking on aligator or rubber straps as it is on the bracelet.They still retail for less than a Grand and I still can´t think of any watch under 1000$ that would give it´s owner more…
Specs;
Movement:
Automatic Swiss Movement 2836-2, 11 1/2 ''', 25 jewels, 28.800 semi-vibrations per hour, fine timing device and Incabloc shock absorber
Case:
Diameter 38mm, thickness 13mm
Steel, brushed,three-parts, unidirectional turning bezel with 60 minute scale (120 divisions), luminous capsule at pos.12 h, pusher protection, sapphire crystal anti-reflective on both sides, screw down case back embossed with the emblems of the Russian space authorities, screw down crown with FORTIS logo, water resistant 200 m / 20 bar
Dial:
Black matt, Arabic numerals, indices and hour / minute hands with Superluminova green, centre-stop-second-hand orange with luminous dot, Day / Date indication at pos. 3 h (Bilingual English / German)
Attachment:
Steel bracelet with foldover clasp and diver extension, brushed.
FORTIS official homepage: :link:
(The brand actually has a long and interesting history..)
http://www.fortis-watches.com/
Link to another review: :link:
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f7/fortis-official-cosmonauts-day-date-automatic-review-7457
Link with some good lumeshots: :link:
Fortis Cosmonauts Day/Date | Flickr - Photo Sharing!