Heard of the science fiction movie Cargo? No? Neither did I until recently. It will be released soon and is a Swiss film. I didn’t know they make sci-fi movies, but I will go with it. Check out the trailer here. We have seen this plot before. Can’t say how good the movie will be based on the trailer so we will wait until it comes out soon. Nevertheless, Swiss Fortis will come out with two very cool watches in celebration of the movie. My favorite being the Fortis Cargo Limited Edition Spaceleader watch. A very cool timepiece with a sophisticated futuristic look and a nice Valjoux 7750 mechanical movement.
To be fair, Fortis did not come up with all of the design themselves. You can see some borrowing from brands such as Xemex and Ventura, but you should really not care. The spacey looking asymmetrical case make for just watch the spaceship captain ordered. The the design was actually a collaboration between Fortis and Volkswagen Design. More on the watches in a moment. You know that Fortis has been involved with professional aviation and space exploration watches for a while. Russian cosmonauts have been using Fortis watches, and Fortis recently submitted their MARS 500 Experiment watch as they want to be the watch to go to Mars. Maybe they will be.
Cargo will feature a few Fortis watches in the movie, but these two limited edition ones are the most interesting and have the name of the movie in them! The more basic watch is the Fortis Cargo Limited Edition Spacematic. It comes in a limited edition of just 2012 pieces and has the title of the movie right on the dial. The watch is in sandblasted steel and 40mm wide. Movement is a Swiss automatic, and probably the ETA 2836. It has a sapphire crystal, rubber strap and 200 meters of water resistance. The revolving Arabic numerals are large, and Fortis here is at their best when it comes to that black/white high contrast dial look that makes them easy to read. An attractive watch fit for a spaceship crew member.
The real jewel again is the Cargo Limited Edition Spaceleader. I really am liking this watch. Even the minute hand is asymmetric (look closely at it), while the hour hand is skeletonized. I like not only the contrast between the polished metal and black rubber casing, but also that curves of the case mixed with the sharp angles of the dial. The rubber used is the very high quality caoutchouc (spelled various ways) rubber that is hard and durable, but also flexible enough to be comfortable. The pushers on the 43mm wide case are long and easy to depress even when using gloves, while the dial is a modern looking exemplar of clarity. Just a great looking face. Notice the curved chapter ring that adds depth to the dial.
Inside the Spaceleader watch is an automatic ETA Valjoux 7750 chronograph movement. The watch also has a sapphire crystal and here is water resistant to 100 meters. Like the Spacematic, the Spaceleader will be limited to just 2012 pieces. Unlike the Spacematic watch, the Spaceleader has no “Cargo” movie branding on it. Just Fortis and Volkswagen design. That way, if the movie sucks, you can still enjoy the watch without being reminded of the failed film. You can also feel good that captain of the space ship in the movie will be wearing this watch. I really think that it will be one of the hottest Fortis watches of the next year, and that they will be quickly snatched up quick. I would even go so far as to say that the watch will be a design classic in years to come.
Of course how fast the watches go depends on pricing. I anticipate the Fortis Cargo Spacematic to be in the $1000 – $2000 range, and hopefully the Fortis Cargo Spaceleader won’t be more than about $3000 or so. By the way, another watch that will be in the Cargo movie is the Fortus B-42 Official Cosmonauts chronograph titanium watch. The Cargo movie should be out this month, and hopefully the watches will find their way to market soon.
See Fortis watches on eBay here.
See Fortis watches on Amazon here.
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