In addition to being one of the industry’s standout enthusiast-driven darlings, Formex is also the house brand for the Swiss manufacturer Dexel, which develops and produces components for a wide variety of watch companies. Aside from its hands, movements, and leather straps, Formex produces pretty much everything else that goes into its watches, and this is precisely how the brand can offer an incredibly well-executed timepiece for a price that still feels fair to consumers. Formex already had a proven recipe for its standard time-and-date watches, although the Swiss brand’s latest release of 2024 represents a new aesthetic and functional frontier for the company, and the Formex Stratos UTC Automatic 41mm pairs an intricate hand-finished case with a button-operated travel time GMT movement.

At the time of launch, the new Formex Stratos UTC Automatic 41mm is available in three different colorways (gray, blue, and green), and all three versions feature bright orange accents punctuating their dials and hands. Aside from the color of their dials and bezels, the three Stratos UTC models are otherwise identical, and while they still offer Formex’s signature angular and inherently modern design language, the overall appearance of the new Stratos UTC collection represents a significant departure from anything else that the Swiss brand has ever put forward. At first glance, the Formex Stratos UTC Automatic 41mm looks like some type of single-register chronograph; however, the model is actually a highly capable GMT watch that uses its pair of pushers to jump the local hour hand either forward or backward in one-hour increments.

Crafted from 316L stainless steel, the case of the Formex Stratos UTC features a highly angular cushion-shaped profile, with a multi-layered structure that showcases contrasting brushed, polished, and sandblasted surfaces. While the majority of the case is brushed, the sides have recessed sections with a fine sandblasted finish, and thin hand-polished bevels highlight the geometric lines that define its angular form. In terms of its dimensions, the new Stratos UTC measures 41mm in diameter by 11.8mm thick, and its thick angular lugs are set 20mm apart and extend to create an overall lug-to-lug profile of 47mm. Meanwhile, the weight of the watch comes in at approximately 87 grams (not including its strap or bracelet), and despite having a rather burly cushion-shaped profile, the comparatively compact dial allows the Formex Stratos UTC to wear slightly smaller than its on-paper dimensions might otherwise suggest.

The top of the Formex Stratos UTC’s case is furnished with a flat sapphire crystal that has anti-reflective treatment on its interior surface, and surrounding the crystal is a bidirectional 24-hour bezel that operates with a 48-click motion. The bezel is crafted from stainless steel that has been engraved to create the numerals of its 24-hour scale, and the recessed sections are hand-filled with a colored resin before the entire upper surface of the bezel is given a circular brushed finish. While Formex typically uses ceramic for its colored bezels, the brand specifically wanted a stainless steel 24-hour scale that could be part of the bezel’s structure, and the resin-filled recessed sections offer superior durability compared to having thin ceramic inlays for each of the tiny colored sections that surround the numerals.

Access to the Formex Stratos UTC’s movement is granted by a signed screw-down crown and a pair of angular oblong pushers on the 3 o’clock side of its case. Unlike most GMT watches, the crown only offers a single position of operation and the Stratos UTC instead uses its two pushers to jump the local hour hand forward or backward in one-hour increments. The upper pusher advances the hand, while the lower pusher moves it in the opposite direction, and both the date and day/night indicator change accordingly, regardless of whether you are setting the time forward or backward. Additionally, while the shortcoming of most “flier” style GMT watches is that adjusting the date can be a rather tedious and time-consuming process, Formex gets around this issue by adding a dedicated date corrector button that appears as a small push-piece that sits flush against the side of the case at 8 o’clock.

The reverse side of the Formex Stratos UTC Automatic 41mm is fitted with a screw-down caseback with a flat sapphire display window, and the caseback retains an incredibly thin profile that allows the Stratos UTC to sit flat against the wrist. Additionally, despite having multiple points of potential moisture ingress, the new Stratos UTC offers the same 100 meters of water resistance as the brand’s various time-and-date Essence models, meaning that it should be more than capable of withstanding the rigors of daily wear or the occasional swim while on vacation. Although the overall appearance of the Stratos UTC’s case is very true to Formex’s aesthetic DNA, it also represents a tangibly different offering than anything else in the brand’s current lineup, and the addition of sandblasted surfaces feels like a natural evolution of the brand’s decidedly modern design language.

Similar to its case, the dial of the Formex Stratos UTC Automatic 41mm features a multi-layered surface that showcases a mix of different finishing techniques, and it is produced by the brand’s dial manufacturing workshop located in Switzerland’s Jura mountains. The innermost section of the dial receives a subtle sunburst finish, while the date register and the ring that contains the hour markers are slightly recessed into its surface and given a frosted grain texture. Meanwhile, the angled chapter ring surrounding the outer perimeter of the dial features circular brushing with a bright orange 24-hour scale, and a small round aperture appears on the left-hand side of the display, which reveals a color-changing orange/black disc that functions as a day/night indicator for the local 12-hour hand.

While the baton-shaped hour markers and Formex logo are hand-applied to the Stratos UTC’s dial, the stylized Arabic numerals at the cardinal points are slightly recessed into its surface to create a greater sense of depth that complements its multi-layered structure. Displaying the time is a skeletonized set of syringe-shaped hands that feature brushed top surfaces with high-polished facets, and the GMT hand appears as a thin polished needle with a bright orange arrow-shaped tip. Super-LumiNova BGW9 is applied to the hour markers and the trio of time-telling hands, and while the relatively small size of the luminous elements means that the Stratos UTC is hardly a “lume monster” like a burly purpose-built diver, its hands and indexes emit a fairly respectable amount of light that provides the Stratos UTC with a blue-glowing display in the dark.

Powering the Formex Stratos UTC Automatic 41mm is a Swiss-made ETA Caliber 2892 automatic movement, which features a custom Dubois-Dépraz module to provide its travel time GMT functionality. Just like the standard ETA caliber that serves as its foundation, the movement inside the Stratos UTC runs at a frequency of 28,800vph (4 Hz) with a power reserve of approximately 42 hours. Additionally, since the Stratos UTC’s movement is hardly an off-the-shelf offering where a chronometer-certified version was available, Formex instead uses a top-grade ETA 2892 as the foundation for its travel time movement and then regulates it to +/-7 seconds per day. In addition to having both its date display and day/night indicator move forward or backward whenever the local hour hand passes midnight, Formex’s approach of having dedicated pushers for both the local hour hand and date corrector results in an incredibly straightforward and convenient user experience.

Similar to several of Formex’s other models, the new Stratos UTC Automatic 41mm is available with either a two-piece strap or a matching stainless steel bracelet, and both options feature integrated quick-release springbars at the lugs with a subtle taper that runs from 20mm at the case down to 18mm on the underside of the wrist. The straps for the Stratos UTC are all made from Italian leather (either black, brown, or black alligator print with orange contrast stitching) and they are completed by the brand’s signature carbon-composite deployant clasp that includes a patented fine-adjustment extension system cleverly integrated into its folding sections. Just as you would expect, unlatching Formex’s deployant clasp is achieved by pressing the two buttons located on the sides of its structure; however, pressing just one of the buttons engages its integrated extension system, which offers access to 7mm of incremental adjustment.

The stainless steel bracelet for the Formex Stratos UTC Automatic 41mm is more-or-less the same style as can be found on the brand’s various Essence models (which is a good thing), and it features a flat three-link design with largely brushed surfaces and thin high-polished bevels running down the outer edges of its links. Just like all of Formex’s bracelets, the bracelet for the Stratos UTC features completely solid components with single-sided screws for its removable links, although the real standout feature of the bracelet is its butterfly-style folding clasp. Spring-loaded ceramic bearings are used at the friction-dependent contact points for maximum longevity, and despite offering a refined butterfly-style design with a double push button release, the clasp also includes a very slick 4mm extension system that seamlessly folds into one of the bracelet links whenever it is not needed.

When I first saw the Formex Stratos UTC, I initially had slight concerns that its pushers would inadvertently get pressed and cause the watch to display an incorrect timezone. However, my concerns were quickly quelled after wearing the Stratos UTC for a few days and feeling the tactile action of its pushers. In addition to requiring an intentional amount of force, the pushers must also be pressed inward a decent amount before they will engage the movement, and even when purposely squishing the back of my hand into the 3 o’clock side of the case, I still couldn’t get the Stratos UTC’s pushers to inadvertently activate. Additionally, while I’m typically not a fan of independent push-pieces as date correctors, I actually find this feature to be a welcome addition on the Stratos UTC, as it eliminates the tedious process of setting the date on a “flier” style GMT movement, which normally requires you to jump the hour hand forward or backwards, hour by hour, until enough days have passed that you reach the required value.

Formex has found significant success iterating upon its popular Essence and Reef collections, although the new Stratos UTC represents a tangibly more elaborate offering and the new apex of the Swiss brand’s modern catalog. With an official retail price of $3,850 USD on a leather strap or $3,990 USD for the bracelet-equipped version, the Formex Stratos UTC Automatic 41mm costs more than twice what the brand charges for its standard stainless steel Essence watches, although it’s undeniable that the additional premium buys you quite a lot from both an design and functional standpoint. While the Stratos UTC exists in a highly competitive price category that is occupied by some of the biggest names within the industry, it also delivers far more than than the numerous time-and-date models that routinely sell for similar values, and I can’t help but feel that this same timepiece would cost significantly more had it been produced by any of the big-name Swiss brands. For more information on the Formex Stratos UTC Automatic 41mm collection, please visit the brand’s website.