A History and Guide to Formex – Windup Watch Shop

This focus on racing was the driving force behind the brand’s early forays into print advertising. The brand went so far as to sponsor teams competing in crowning events like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the premier sports car endurance race.These watches — mostly above 43mm — were purpose-built to withstand the toughest sporting conditions in the world.

Then disaster struck. Just eight years into its full-fledged existence, the global financial crisis of 2008 brought everything to a standstill for the brand. Formex, like many small independent manufacturers, was hit especially hard. The brand, while not dormant, drastically reduced its output over the next eight years. Moving forward required something bolder.

The brand made its most daring move yet in 2016, upending its entire distribution model and cultivating a more streamlined product line. At the same time, the brand shifted from marketing campaigns to focus a greater portion of its budget on engineering and product development.

It proved wildly successful.

Formex’s relaunch leveraged crowd-funding, putting its new distribution model to the test by providing enthusiasts with an in-depth look at the collection that has come to define the brand’s contemporary incarnation: the Essence Chronometer.

The relaunch also saw a shift within the brand’s design language. The core inspiration was still there, but where brawn reigned before, a certain elegance entered. Case sizes came down, dials sobered from former hardcore motoring inspiration, and the finishing level was raised.While the Essence remains at the brand’s core, they’ve branched out into new realms. Capitalizing on the popularity of the travel and dive watch forms, Formex has continually charted its own unique expression of these archetypes while incorporating its signature avant-garde design and extreme forms.

The Stratos UTC is Formex’s expression of the modern pilot’s watch. Featuring a 41mm steel case, the GMT complication is managed through pushers at 2:00 and 4:00, negating the need to unscrew the crown to adjust to local time, all while maintaining 100m of water resistance. The Reef collection of dive watches features two cases, 42mm and 39.5mm, each featuring 300m of water resistance. These COSC-certified divers feature tool-less interchangeable bezels for an always fresh appearance and easily swapped strap and bracelet options. Operating at the edge of function and style, the collection is a tribute to the brand’s extreme form design language.