This New GMT Tool Watch Has a Surprisingly Sophisticated Detail

We didn’t expect to see this kind of feature from this brand.

Published October 14, 2024

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Updated October 14, 2024

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Although it’s a lesser-known brand than many of its competitors, Swiss watchmaker Fortis has one of the most impressive and extensive résumés around when it comes to tool watches.

Fortis is perhaps best known for its space watches. The brand’s Cosmonaut chronograph is essentially the Russian space agency’s answer to NASA’s Omega Speedmaster. Fortis was also one of the first brands to launch a dedicated dive watch, with its Marinemaster debuting in 1954 just one year after the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and Rolex Submariner established the category.

Now, Fortis has debuted a brand-new tool watch that — while still boasting the highly technical and robust features typical of the brand — offers a surprising touch of luxury and sophistication.

Fortis Vagabond

$6,800 at Fortis

A Tool for Travelers

Fortis’s latest watch is a GMT called the Vagabond, and there’s a whole lot to like about it.

I’ll start with the movement. Powering the watch is a manufacture movement Fortis has dubbed the Werk 13 calibre. It’s a “true” GMT automatic movement with an independently adjustable local hour hand and is COSC-certified as a chronometer. It also features a healthy 70-hour power reserve and a traverse bridge for added shock resistance.

The movement was made for Fortis by Kenissi, Tudor’s movement manufacturing arm, and as far as I can tell, it looks to be nearly identical to the Tudor Cal. MT5652 that powers the Black Bay GMT and Black Bay Pro.

fortis watch movement — If the Fortis Werk 13 movement from Kenissi looks familiar, it’s because it’s nearly identical to the Tudor Cal. MT5652.

Moving onto the case, Fortis opted for a cushion-shaped case in 40mm featuring some interesting angles and contrasting finishes. The top of the case features radial brushing, there’s vertical brushing on the lugs, and the side chamfers and thin bezel are both mirror-polished.

It’s a pretty dynamic look made more impressive by the fact that the case is made of Grade 5 titanium, the harder version of the lightweight alloy that’s notoriously difficult to work with. The case is also water resistant to 200m thanks in part to a screw-down crown reinforced with the brand’s specially engineered triple FKM rubber gasket system.

fortis watch on a mans wrist — While still a seriously robust tool watch, the Vagabond is more sophisticated and luxurious than Fortis’s other offerings.

The crystal is sapphire with anti-reflective coating on both sides (Fortis claims to use the highest-quality AR), and there’s a smoked sapphire crystal on the exhibition caseback. The bracelet is also made from Grade 5 titanium and is Fortis’s classic block bracelet, complete with an on-the-fly micro-adjust clasp.

Home, Sweet Home

The watch’s defining feature, however, can be found on the dial. Available in either a grained “Stormy Gray” or one of two sunburst options, “Blue Dusk” and the charcoal “Urban Shadow,” all three colorways feature applied indices that alternate between Super-LumiNova X1-filled markers and non-luminous Arabic numerals.

A stubby arrow-tipped GMT hand follows an inner 24-hour ring that’s made of solid white gold, which is the watch’s crowning detail. I wouldn’t expect to see the luxe material pop up on a rugged tool watch from Fortis, and yet, it works surprisingly well here and really helps the watch pop.

fortis watch dial closeup — A white-gold GMT track on the dial is the Vagabond’s defining feature.

So why white gold? Well, according to Fortis, the use of precious metal for tracking your home time while traveling is meant to symbolize that nothing is more precious than home. A little sappy, maybe, but also kind of sweet, and it looks great.

Pricing and Availability

With its mix of typical Fortis tool-watch toughness and ingenuity with the surprisingly luxurious addition of white gold on the dial, the new Fortis Vagabond is one of the more intriguing GMT watches to come out in recent memory.

I like practically everything about this watch, but if there’s one area where it can improve, it’s the price. Listed at $6,800, the Vagabond is now easily the priciest watch in Fortis’s permanent catalog.

On the one hand, you can justify the price due to the high-end materials used and the fact that it’s using a manufacture movement. On the other hand, there are still arguably better buys out there.

fortis watch case — The Vagabond’s case features some comples finishing, particularly for being made of Grade 5 titanium.

The Longines Spirit Zulu Time in Grade 5 titanium has an exclusive true GMT movement and costs just $4,275 on a bracelet — more than $2,500 less than the Fortis. If you want a touch and gold, a steel-and-gold Zulu Time will set you back just $4,550.

Other watches using the same movement as the Vagabond are also priced for less. Most notably, Tudor’s Black Bay GMT is $4,375 in steel and $6,125 in steel and gold, which includes a two-tone bracelet and a lot more gold than the Fortis.

Is the Vagabond the first sign that Fortis is planning to move upmarket? Or is it simply a case of the brand flexing its muscles? Either way, it looks like a spectacular watch, but I’ll be interested to see how competitive it ends up being at its rather ambitious price point.