# Fortis Chrono landed



## deepcdvr

Fortis B-42 Official Cosmonauts Chronograph

I'm not much of a reviewer, so I'll just say that I really like this watch. I coincidentally got my Aquagraph back from Rob the same day, so this one has been sharing wrist time with the Tag.

It is a big watch. Although it is billed at 42mm, I say a big BS to that. The watch HAS to be 44mm. I'll measure it on Monday, but it is bigger than my U1 or Aquagraph, but smaller than my JSAR (aren't they all??).  It has a very 'professional' look and feel to it that I like.

That said, it is very comfortable on my wrist. I like big watches and this one is impressive. I owned the Marinemaster (non-chrono) for a while and wanted to get another Fortis and when this one came along, I couldn't pass it up. How long will I keep it? Well, I'm a hopeless flipper, but I'll keep this one at least through an extended honeymoon, then we shall see..

Bottom line for me, as related to Fortis, is that they make great watches for the price. Not sure why they are not more often discussed on the forums..(?).

Ok, the cons? Well the dial is busy. I don't mind that, but some of you do. The MM is less busy, more military looking - even the chrono version.

The other con is that the lugs are only 20mm. I like at least 22. The bracelet, though, looks and feels good to me..

Another con is that the lume, although initially bright, fades rather quickly - lasts only a few hours. I like good lume, but it is not a necessity.

Ok, that's all I've got. I you have any questions, let me know.

A few crappy pics (For reference, I have a 7" wrist):









































































From Fortis:

_Officially recognized
The FORTIS B-42 OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH baptism of fire was aboard the International Space Station ISS. During manned space missions the FORTIS Automatic Chronographs have proven their reliability in space since 1994, authorised by the Federal Space Agency. Today the new B-42 Official Cosmonauts Chronograph incorporates the intrinsic values, excellent material, high precision and performance evenunder the harshest conditions.

Award-winning for the developmental work performed on automatic watches in space, the models of the FORTIS Cosmonauts collection exclusively bear the official logo of the Federal Space Agency of Russia on their solid casebacks. Each watch is water and pressure tested and guaranteed to 200 meters / 20 bar. The sapphire crystal, with its anti-reflective coating on both sides, is standard in the collection's equipment. The unidirectional rotating bezel features a 60-minute scale.

Model 638.10.11M - Bracelet $3100 plus shipping & handling. Buy the complete kit with two additional bands for $3600.

Movement: Automatic Valjoux 7750; 13 1/4''; day/date indication; 30-minute counter at 12 o'clock position; 12-hour counter at 6 o'clock position; 25 jewels; 28,800 semi-vibrations per hour; Incabloc shock absorber

Case: Stainless steel; brushed finish; black uni-directional turning diver bezel with 120 grid; tachometer scale on dial flange; screw-down solid steel caseback; water-resistant to 200m (20 ATM); sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on both sides; steel crown with FORTIS logo

Dial: Black with Arabic numerals

Attachment: Stainless steel brushed finish bracelet with double screwed links; also available with padded leather strap. For better fit and security, a stainless steel bar slides through attachment and lugs, and is screwed to outside of case.

Special Features: 42 mm case diameter;white function hands; numerals, hands & indices coated with Superluminova; colored triangles on dial guide day and date adjustment; individually numbered ._


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## cnmark

Congrats on the new catch, that's a beauty! :-!



deepcdvr said:


> It is a big watch. Although it is billed at 42mm, I say a big BS to that. The watch HAS to be 44mm.


The _case_ diameter is 42mm, but the _bezel_ diameter is 44mm. This makes the watch appear much larger than it actually is, because the bezel extends over the case sides (and it also makes for easy operation of the bezel).


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## J.D.

Paul, very nice pickup there. It doesn't look crazy big on you actually, maybe it's just the pics though. I always wanted to try that one, but not sure if I could pull it off, what with 6.5" wrists and all. Looks good on you though! |>


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## sunster

Beautiful wrist shot. Congrats


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## Dimitris

Congrats Paul, it's an impressive watch and you 'll love it. As for legibility I think you'll get used to it. The bracelet although is 20mm it's non tapered and this gives to it good presence.

I noticed some differences between your case and my case.
Mine is totally straight at the sides with a small "step" right before caseback. Yours has a curvature before caseback.
Shape of the lugs is different and the point of screwed bars.
Also mine has bigger crown (push-pull).




























Enjoy it.

Regards
Dimitris


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## cnmark

Dimitris said:


> I noticed some differences between your case and my case.
> Mine is totally straight at the sides with a small "step" right before caseback. Yours has a curvature before caseback.
> Shape of the lugs is different and the point of screwed bars.
> Also mine has bigger crown (push-pull).





deepcdvr said:


>


Hi Paul and Dimitris: Dimitris did point out an interesting model modification on the 638.10.11 / 638.22.11, done by Fortis about 3 years ago. Makes getting the matching bracelet for the older version hard nowadays.

- Dimitris' watch is the older version as is clearly visible by the lugs' shape. I assume the end links on Dimitris' watch are marked 635 (or 638) and the case back number does have only three number goups at all. Looks also like this watch is the 638.22.11 with the (unfortunately) discontinued blasted finish.

- Paul's is the newest variant of the 638.10.11 as can be seen by the lugs' shape (also the 645 on the end links) and the ending ".3" on the case back number (638.10.141.3).

- Dimitris: As your watch has the pull/push crown, it must have been serviced at some time in it's life, as this version did originally come only with the screw-down crown. In case you bought it new with the pull/push crown: Fortis did a call-back of unsold watches with the screw down crown that were still stocked at the local distributors (not of watches already delivered to the Ads).


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## deepcdvr

Yes, I see the differences...

I think mine is only a few months old... should make it easier to trade soon...:-d

Thanks for all the info, guys!


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## Inq

Here's mine:










It says 638.10.141 and 2729 on the back. How old do these numbers make mine?


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## cnmark

Inq said:


> It says 638.10.141 and 2729 on the back. How old do these numbers make mine?


The serial number 2729 does not help much, as Fortis did never disclose the relations of those to the date of production.

The case back number without the final ".3" and the huge crown (that came only as "screw down", unless modified sometime after production, by factory mod or servicing) give an estimate for the production year as: build in early 2006 or before 2006. Surely not younger.

The change of production from "screw down" to "push/pull" for all B-42 models, combined with assigning the ".3" revision code in the case back numbers was done in 2006.

The first watches with the push pull crown only arrived on the market in autumn 2006 (B-42 Marinemaster Day/Date and B-42 Marinemaster Chronograph).


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## Inq

cnmark said:


> The serial number 2729 does not help much, as Fortis did never disclose the relations of those to the date of production.
> 
> The case back number without the final ".3" and the huge crown (that came only as "screw down", unless modified sometime after production, by factory mod or servicing) give an estimate for the production year as: build in early 2006 or before 2006. Surely not younger.
> 
> The change of production from "screw down" to "push/pull" for all B-42 models, combined with assigning the ".3" revision code in the case back numbers was done in 2006.
> 
> The first watches with the push pull crown only arrived on the market in autumn 2006 (B-42 Marinemaster Day/Date and B-42 Marinemaster Chronograph).


I see, mine does come with a push-pull crown system but I suspect that was made after production as I can see slight marks on the crown.

I bought the watch new this summer but taking in to account it's 3 years old should I have it serviced? (it keeps excellent time btw: gains about 0.5 seconds per day).

Cheers,
Catalin

PS: Thanks for sourcing the bracelet for me.


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## slb

More great info.
These pix are the proof to me that Fortis needs to stick with this basic setup.
They're beautifully simple, easy to read, and most definitely identifiable as a Fortis.
Some of the funky designs they're coming up with need to go.
Maybe they'll never take a huge chunk of the market, but they surely have a following of dedicated buyers.
I would like a PVD model for something different - but I love the orange hands that are a subtle, yet lovely bit of the overall design. :-!


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## J.D.

slb said:


> More great info.
> These pix are the proof to me that Fortis needs to stick with this basic setup.
> They're beautifully simple, easy to read, and most definitely identifiable as a Fortis.
> Some of the funky designs they're coming up with need to go.
> Maybe they'll never take a huge chunk of the market, but they surely have a following of dedicated buyers.
> I would like a PVD model for something different - but I love the orange hands that are a subtle, yet lovely bit of the overall design. :-!


I agree with this statement. It would be a shame for Fortis to go this route, and I truly hope it is not the case. A perfect example of this is Hamilton, whose watches I used to love across the board. Their pieces had a timeless no-nonsense style that drew me to them. Now there are only a few models I would even consider.


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## gte355u124

Came across this thread while recently looking to acquire a fortis in the collection. I'm specifically interested in the differences between the current B-42 chrono and the one that Dimitris had here--i think its the 638-10 vs the 638-22. I found the 638-22 model (old version) for significantly less than the current version, but am concerned since it is the older version. Does anybody know of any other differences between these two besides the crown and finish??

I guess even more so, this brings me to a more general question of how a new watch ages, i.e. this "new" watch would have been made say 4 years ago now. Does anybody know of significant risks in buying an aged new watch? or should i be just as happy with a good deal


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## Beau8

See what you mean about the dial being cluttered~Cheers! ;-)


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