Swiss watchmaker Fortis has been on a bit of a tear as of late, updating their Flieger pilot’s watch with a recycled steel case and prepping their legendary Cosmonauts Chrongraph for a mission to Mars. Now, the brand is moving below sea level by bringing back a ‘70s favorite in a striking new luxury guise.
Fortis has resurrected the Marinemaster nameplate, last seen in their regular collection as a colorful supercompressor diver in the ‘70s, in a brand-new line of dive watches. Available as two distinct models, the 40mm M40 and 44mm M44, the new Marinemasters have a modern luxury sports watch look that honestly wouldn’t feel too out of place in Patek Philippe’s catalog as an Aquanaut sibling. Reinforcing the Aquanaut vibes is the 3D-embossed “O” pattern on the dial that is also replicated on the integrated ultra-flexible Horizon rubber strap (there’s also the option of a stainless steel block bracelet). The cases on the new Marinemaster are made of recycled steel, and both the M40 and M44 sport easy-to-grip Gear Bezels and bright X1 Super-LumiNova lume. But there are a number of differences between the two models besides their size. While the M40 has 300m water resistance and a UW-30 Performance automatic movement with 38 hours power reserve, the M44 boasts 500m water resistance, a COSC-certified Werk 11 in-house automatic movement with 70 hours power reserve, and a unique locking bi-directional bezel.
The Fortis Marinemaster M44, which comes in Amber Orange, will go on sale in early 2022 starting at $4,150. The Marinemaster M40, meanwhile, is available now at the Fortis website in four colors — Woodpecker Green, Snow White, Serenity Blue, and Rockstone Gray — with prices starting at $2,850.
