FORTIS - a platinum automatic gentleman's Platin Alarm Cosmonaut chronograph wrist watch, the...

FORTIS - a platinum automatic gentleman's Platin Alarm Cosmonaut chronograph wrist watch, the matt black dial with hourly luminous markers, outer minute track, subsidiary recorder dials to six, nine and twelve o'clock, tonneau case with platinum tachymeter bezel fitted to a blue leather strap with platinum buckle, exhibition case back engraved with "FORTIS OFFICIAL CHRONOGRAPH PLATINUM NO 010/100", signed calibre F2001-5. Case diameter 42.2mm. With box and papers.

Fortis went into space in 1994 when one of their chronographs (duly christened Official Cosmonauts Chronograph) was selected following endurance testing by the training centre of Star City to be issued as part of the official cosmonauts equipment. The space mission "EUROMIR 1" crew was the first to be presented with the Fortis Cosmonauts Set and it became the world's first automatic chronograph in open space outside the space station. Again, in 1997 the Official Cosmonauts Chronograph was chosen to be the official watch of the German-Russian space mission MIR 97. This platinum watch was created to commemorate over ninety years of Fortis and houses calibre F2001; the first automatic chronograph with alarm function introduced by Fortis in 1998 (patent EP 0806712). The design of the movement was by Zurich based horologist Paul Gerber, member of the Académie Horlogère Des Créateurs Indépendants and creator of the world's smallest flying tourbillon. Gerber incorporated an ingenious double barrel system into the Valjoux 7750 without altering the height of the movement itself. The watch's sister model won second place in "The Golden Balance Wheel" award in 2007.