Teddy Baldassarre
Formex Watches Guide
Formex Watches have been on the market since 2000 but the story of the Swiss independent brand’s success really begins with its revitalization in 2016, which marked a more streamlined approach to the product line and a new focus on direct-to-consumer online retailing. We spoke to Formex CEO Raphael Granito about the company’s origins, its new direction, and what distinguishes each of the models in its current portfolio. Formex Watch SA traces its conception to 1999 and its actual foundation to 2000. Based in Biel/Bienne in the Swiss canton of Bern, It was the passion project of Hans-Peter and Ferdinand Grädel, brothers with deep roots in the watchmaking industry and a shared enthusiasm for motorsports, and a group of their friends from the industrial engineering field. The company name “Formex” is a portmanteau of the French phrase “Forme Extrème” (or “extreme shape,”) a philosophy that is most evident in the earliest watch models produced by the brand (example above), which leaned into the high-tech automotive aesthetic of high-performance cars and motorbikes as well as the era’s propensity for large, bulky case sizes. The 46mm cases of the original Formex models, in fact, were designed specifically to put the founders’ signature technical achievement - the innovative, inner-case suspension system for the movement, a shock absorption device inspired by the suspensions in car engines - on full display. The patented system (below), which remains ...
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