Introducing The Fortis AMADEE-20 Official Cosmonauts Chronograph

Following up on their 2019 release of the AMADEE-18, Fortis has built a new Official Cosmonauts Chronograph watch in collaboration with the Austrian Space Forum’s AMADEE-20 Mars Simulation mission underway in Israel. The new watch, called the AMADEE-20, offers a slew of features that may come in handy for the participants within the mission, and sports the mission logo at 6 o’clock. If you’re not a crew member of AMADEE-20, no worries, you can buy one, too. 

The AMADEE-20 Chronograph is the latest chapter in Fortis’ surprisingly robust heritage space watches. The brand’s watches have been an official piece of equipment for Russian Cosmonauts since 1994, and are no strangers to life outside of earth’s atmosphere. The AMADEE-18 and this AMADEE-20 have a slightly different intended purpose, however, and that is aiding in humankind’s journey to Mars.

AMADEE is a program developed and managed by Austrian Space Forum (OeWF), and serves as a framework through which the tools and science that would one day be deployed on Mars can be honed and developed. Every 2 to 3 years they run simulation missions in which these tools, operational procedures, and science experiments can be put to the test in an environment that approximates the surface of Mars. AMADEE-20 is set to take place later this year in the Negev desert in southern Israel. 

Fortis has developed the AMADEE-20 Official Cosmonauts Chronograph in partnership with the Austrian Space Forum for the benefit of the team members involved in the simulation experiment. No, it doesn’t account for the slightly longer Martian day (Sol), but it does have some cool features you might find useful right here on earth. 

The 44mm case is constructed from titanium, and that includes the engraved caseback (depicting the Earth, the Moon, and Mars along with its moons), is affixed to a titanium block bracelet or a hook strap unit courtesy of Nick Mankey. The watch uses something called the Mission Control Bezel (MCB) which is a countdown bezel that has a lumed triangle at the zero position, and another at the 50 minute mark, for a 10 minute window of easy tracking in low light situations.

The AMADEE-20 also receives a 7750 based UW-50 movement providing a day and date complication at 3 o’clock and a chronograph with 30 minute totalizer at 12 o’clock. The running seconds hand is placed at 9 o’clock and is set within intersecting lines that remind me quite a bit of the Pulsar map seen on the Voyager’s golden records (and the plaques on Pioneers 10 and 11). Each hour is represented by double digits, as lumed filled numerals for high visibility (though all the extra zeros feel less than necessary). Friday is represented by SOL on the date wheel, adding a nice easter egg for owners to enjoy. 

The dial itself is visually split on the diagonal from the 56 to 36 minute marks, with the right half getting a radial pattern emanating from the center. Finally, the mission patch appears at 6 o’clock here to keep some symmetry compared to AMADEE-18. Overall the look is quite striking and unique as something very different from their other Space watch families. Pair that with the novel use for which it was designed and we’ve got a pretty cool Cosmonauts watch on our hands with this one. 

The AMADEE-20 will be priced at CHF 3,600 (~$3,900) and available through select Fortis retailers. FORTIS.