Hands on Formex's Take on Travel Watches: The Stratos UTC

Formex is on a fast track, consistently surprising watch lovers with fresh releases that seamlessly fuse modern design with top-tier materials and innovative tech. This year, the brand outdid itself with the rose gold meteorite dial, a release that marked a new chapter in the brand's evolution. Other highlights include the eye-catching hand-painted fumé red dial, and a refined malachite stone model. And today, we’ve got their latest release in our hands—the Stratos UTC.

The Stratos features a multi-layered stainless steel case that boasts a visually striking combination of brushed surfaces, hand-polished bevels, and meticulously machined sandblasted cutouts. Measuring 41mm in diameter, 12mm in thickness, and 46.5mm lug-to-lug, this case is designed with both form and function in mind, as it features the suspension system, a clever design that incorporates four springs between the upper and lower case of the watch. This mechanism delivers superior shock absorption, safeguarding the mechanical movement while ensuring exceptional comfort for the wearer.

This travel watch features a 48-click bidirectional bezel with colors that complement the dial, a sapphire crystal with inner anti reflective coating, and a screwed caseback also fitted with sapphire crystal. The two pushers enable effortless adjustment of time zones, allowing the wearer to jump forward or backward in one-hour increments with just a few clicks.

The dial is available in green, dark gray, or blue, and mirrors the complexity of the case with its multi-layered design. A radiant sunray finish flows from the center, transitioning to a stepped-down hour track and a grain-textured date counter at 6 o'clock. The 24-hour track on the chapter ring features a circular brushed finish, while the day/night indicator is positioned at 9 o'clock. 

The pilot-style syringe hands showcase Formex's signature blend of brushed and diamond-cut edges, with the GMT hand accented in orange. Both the hands and indices are coated with Super-LumiNova BGW9 for enhanced visibility. The Stratos is anchored in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), the aviation industry’s global timekeeping standard, as highlighted by the orange UTC mark on the date sub-dial.

The watch is driven by an ETA 2892 movement, upgraded with a custom module from Dubois-Dépraz. This automatic movement features a fully decorated, skeletonized custom rotor and operates at 28,800 vph (4Hz). It is regulated to an accuracy of +/- 5 seconds per day and offers a power reserve of 42 hours. The watch comes with a selection of leather straps at a price of AED 16,800, or with a stainless steel bracelet at a price of AED 17,500.

You can pre-order the watch at shop.waqt.com