Fortis Uhren AG

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Fortis Uhren AG
Type	Privately held company
Founded	1912 by Walter Vogt
Headquarters	Grenchen, Switzerland
Industry	Watch manufacturing
Products	Wristwatches, accessories
Website	www.fortis-watch.com

Walter Vogt founded Fortis in 1912, and then 12 years later set up production with John Harwood, the inventor of the automatic wristwatch. In 1926, Fortis released the first self-winding wristwatch, the patented Harwood Automatic. In 1937, Fortis commemorated their 25th anniversary by manufacturing their first chronographs and in 1954 they took over the world-wide distribution of alarm watches.^[vague] In 1992, they released the first watch with indication of the 52 calendar weeks.^{[citation needed]}

Since 1994 Fortis has been the exclusive supplier of manned space missions authorized by the Russian Federal Space Agency.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004, the Flieger Chronograph was awarded the first European Aviation Watch of the Year Trophy.^[1]

[edit] Notes