Fortis has just presented us with yet another member of its Art Edition limited edition series. Designed by a kinda obscure German pop artist Andora and called the Fortis Art Andora Emotions Limited Edition, this crazy timepiece looks like a colorful fountain of positive emotions and fun!
Technically, there is nothing particularly outstanding about this edition. Powered by the omnipresent ETA Valjoux 7750 automatic movement, this well could have been just another “Swiss Made” chronograph. If not for its crazy mix of colors, images, and hourly advice, that is.
Really, could you have expected to see such a cheerful device on the market, which is overwhelmed with high-end limited edition models that look like they should have gone right to a major contemporary art museum, not to a local jewelry boutique? Could you have imagined an automatic chronograph that, from a first glance, would look like you have got it at McDonald’s with your kid’s Happy Meal package?
Well, if you haven’t seen previous Art Edition models, you probably should have, because this brand is one of the few that are capable of offering you an object, which is absolutely, clearly a piece of, hmm, kitsch, while keeping a straight face about it.
The Andora Emotions comes in a 42 mm titanium case with rubber chronograph push-pieces and crown. Judging by the looks of it, it uses the popular Fortis B-42 Official Cosmonaut’s Chronograph (ref. 659.27.11) as a base model but features partly skeletonized hour and minute hands. The central chronograph hand is also different: for some reason, Fortis has removed the usual dot of white lume from its middle.
While being a lot of, ahem, less formal than the base model, the limited-edition chronograph looks a lot less cluttered than the original B-42 chrono. Perhaps, it is because the chronograph’s totalizers at 12 and 6 o’clock, as well as the small seconds subdial at 9 that features a rotating on axis smiling Earth, are no longer perceived as such, hence your brain doesn’t pay too much attention to their readings, concentrating instead on the hour and minute hands, as well as on the calendar display at 3 o’clock.
The only (pretty insignificant) problem that I can see here is that abbreviations on the “day of week” disk, as well as “Chronograph Automatic” inscriptions right below the calendar windows are done in English, while the rest is printed in German, which some people may find rather irritating.
Andora’s feather-light titanium bracelet also features some laser engravings and I hope that Fortis will make enough spares since it will be a shame to replace the scratched bracelet with a standard one.
Fortis plans to produce on 100 of these crazy devices, so, if you feel like the Fortis Art Andora Emotions Limited Edition strikes a chord with you, you should probably hurry up. You know, there are lots of eccentric millionaires that spend their vacations in Amsterdam.
See also: The Black Diamond: Montblanc Timewalker Dual Carbon Automatic Chronograph (Ref. 105805)
Photos: Fortis
Fortis Art Edition Andora Emotions specification
Movement: Caliber ETA Valjoux 7750, automatic, Swiss Made
Jewels: 25
Cadence of balance: 28,800 vph
Complications: Date, month, chronograph
Power reserve: 42 hours
Case: Titanium
Shape: Round
Size: 42.00 mm
Dial: White, painted
Numerals: Arabic
Hands: Steel, black with white lume, partly skeletonized
Water resistance: 200 meters
Strap: Titanium with folding clasp, laser engraved
Crystal: Sapphire
Back: Solid, titanium, engraved