Fortis and 100 years of the automatic wristwatch

Russell Sheldrake

Anniversaries are a big deal in the watch trade. We have multiple to celebrate every year, but they tend to be fairly localised. One innovation that stayed with a certain brand for a while before eventually leaking out into others, or they are linked to a specific model. This anniversary, however, can only be described as foundational. It was 100 years ago that the first automatic wristwatch rolled off the production lines and made it into the market. While the invention of the winding rotor cannot be claimed by Fortis, it was this young brand’s ability to commercially produce the new mechanism which places them at the middle of this story.

Today, the automatic movement is the most used type of mechanical movement for its pure convenience over the traditional manual wind. It is not an over-exaggeration to say that the automatic movement sits at the heart of the watch industry today. It took two years for John Harwood to go from a finalised and patented invention to seeing the first industrially produced example be cased and sold. That is an incredibly quick turnaround when you consider that nothing like this had been seen before. This rapid run to market was spearheaded by the founder of Fortis, Walter Vorgt, a man willing to take risks and act quickly.

We decided to head down to the very room where that first watch was made by Fortis, and it just so happens that the brand still uses that room today to assemble its watches. Directly opposite the Grenchen Nord train station, on John Harwood Strasse, sits the original and current Fortis manufacture. A building first opened over 100 years ago, and today still producing housing for the brand that built it.

This felt like a fitting context from which to begin this exploration of one of the greatest advancements in watchmaking history. As we couldn’t get to the room on the Isle of Man where Harwood made the invention, this felt like the next best option. And while we were there, we had to chat with the current Fortis CEO, Jupp Philipp, to discuss how the brand still feels the impact of this invention today and what it means for them moving forward in such a competitive market.

We celebrate a lot of inventions in the watch world, but it is rare that we get to celebrate one that is so far-reaching. The automatic movement is the automatic choice for so many of us, and every single one we have had in our wrists can trace its roots back to that room in Grenchen. This physical connection to the past brings home just how few and far between meaningful advancements in this industry truly are, so when they come around, we should make sure to celebrate them.