A wonderful by-product of the human exploration of space is how often the quest has spawned a fine wrist watch. Most are connected in some way to astronauts themselves, however this new Formex is quite different. It is a part of the fabric of ‘space’ itself. In every technical way these special editions are normal Essence models however the dials of the Space Rock range are made from a wafer cutting from the ancient Muonionalusta Meteorite which crashed to the Earth in Scandinavia over one million years ago.
Available as Essence ThirtyNine or Leggera FortyOne models the new Space Rock encapsulate the history of our solar system. The 39mm Essence is in stainless steel case while the 41mm follows the Leggera design with a case made from ultra-lightweight carbon fibre and ceramic. All versions feature the same hand-finishing we have come to expect from Formex and are powered by a COSC-certified Sellita SW-200-1 automatic movement.
To make a dial from this unique extra-terrestrial material, special machining and treatments are required to reveal the distinct characteristics of the iron-based meteorite. The beautiful equilateral triangles that create the naturally occurring Widmanstätten pattern are the result of a very slow cooling process that takes place over the course of millions of years, during which the crystalline structure of the minerals within the core of the asteroid changes. After being cut and treated, the final product is a perfectly flat disc that measures just 0.65mm thick and perfectly showcases the natural pattern of the meteorite. Since the textures are organic and cannot be artificially reproduced, each individual dial will be completely unique.
Limited to just 88 pieces in each case size the Formex Essence Space Rock Automatic Chronometers will be available during the peak of the 2022 Geminids Meteor shower with an expected delivery date of late January 2023. Prices will range from £1560 to £1750 depending on model. As the UK’s official Formex agent WatchGecko will have a small number of these watches for sale so keep an eye on the WG website to check availability. We will also be making a video next week with an advance sample. The last meteor watches Formex produced sold out at light speed so we will post an advisory on The Magazine as soon as the watches land in the UK.
