Fortis Colour battery change

I was on holiday when the battery on both the watches I brought with me died. Luckly I was on holiday in Malaysia and headed to my favorite watch shop to have the batteries changed. It is Hings in Bangsar Shopping Center.

The Fortis Colour.

Actually after a close look at the watch, had the battery died at home, I would most likely send it to a watch maker to have the battery changed. Why?

I don't have the proper tools to do at home. You need to remove the module from the interchangeable black body. And from the pictures, I can't really find the gap to put the blade to remove the case back. 

The other reason is that I also do not have the proper tool to close the case back. With the module removed, the crystal does stick out a tad. Not having the right tool could damage the crystal.

So what is inside?

The module or movement. Yes it is a quartz watch. it uses an SR626 (377) type battery. 

The movement is a Miyota 2115 basic 3 hand movement offering the date complication. 

Fortis Watches AG

I was going to change the battery of my Fortis Colour watch when I remembered reading something about Fortis going under. I did some research and found out it has been taken over.

Basically, in 2017, Fortis Uhren AG came into a spot of financial difficulty. However in 2018, a German businessman, Mr. Yupp Philipp took over the company and it was renamed Fortis Watches AG. 

Mr. Yupp Philipp works in the food industry and he has a personal interest in Fortis. It is understood that he has taken over the company and all its staff.

In line with the takeover, Mr. Philipp has appointed Mr. Lorenz Aebischer to manage Fortis Watches AG as its new CEO. 

Mr. Aebischer has over 20 years experience in the industry having worked with Mido SA, Tissot SA and with Auguste Raymond before moving to Fortis Watches AG. 

I wish Fortis all the best in its future undertakings. 

Lume shot....

This is the Fortis Colour watch. The luminosity on this watch is interesting in that the hour markers are brighter as compared to the hands. My personal experience has been the opposite. 

Rubber strap...

I got this watch (for review) today. It is a Fortis and it is from the Fortis Colours collection. The first thing to do is to size the rubber strap. The right tools is important. 

The watch. I got the black version. 

The watch is modular. It is made up of two parts. The watch module.

The bezel/ strap module. 

Would be lovely to get this...

Photograph: Fortis

The tools... 

And the process begins....

Not bad for a watch in this price range to have a butterfly deployment. 

Disconnect the ends from the deployment. You can see the holes on the strap. These are there to help with the strap adjustment. You can measure your wrist and use that measurement and cut the rubber to the correct length. Or you can be like me and do this slowly. That means cutting the rubber at every notch, reattach the strap to the deployment and try out the watch to check fit. I also cut from both ends of the strap to make sure the deployment is still center. 

Each adjustment notch. 

From each end. I had to cut 4 pieces, or about a total of 12mm. 

All done. It is good that the deployment have 2 slots for further adjustments. 

On the wrist. 

The Flipper is back...

I was walking around at one of the malls here in Bangkok when I spotted this. 

I found it very interesting but did not know anything about it. Actually I saw this watch in a small article in a Japanese watch magazine. But I did not pay heed to it. After seeing the real thing, I got interested. This is what I found out. 

The watches is called Fortis Colours. You can see more about it here:

Fortis Colour

There is a video showing the watches in zero gravity during a parabolic flight experiment. Cool....

Anyway there are two sets available for the Fortis colours:

Reference 9.989

and reference 9.988

Photographs: Fortis

Evidently this is a reissue of the watches that Fortis issued in 1967 which became a cult watch known as the Flipper. 

Photograph: Fortis

The original Flipper watch was quartz powered and water resistant to 200M. The original became a cult watch as was seen on the wrist of such stars as Ron Wood (Rolling Stones), Leonard Bernstein and even James Bond... ok Roger Moore. 

Fast forward to 2012/2013. The Fortis Colour watch. The 10 colour set is priced at about USD 700 while the 3 colour (or lack off) is priced at about USD 300. I would go with the 10 colour set. I understand the Fortis Colour was release to celebrate Fortis 100th Anniversary. 

The Fortis Colour watch features a quartz movement (module) and is water resistant to 10 ATM (as opposed to 20 ATM of the Flipper). It is fitted with a mineral crystal and has the date complications. 

The Fortis Colour strap comes with a stainless steel deployment buckle and the strap is made of silicon. The straps comes with a 60 minute uni direction rotating bezel. 

The Fortis Colour features an easy change system. You simply push the watch module to release it. Choose the colour of the strap according to your mood or even coordinate it with your clothes, reinsert the module and you have a new watch. My main worry is the durability of the easy change system. 

I have to say that it is an interesting set or collection.....