Formex: Out of Space in ice blue

Formex: Out of Space in ice blue

Blue for dials is a solid trend in these days of "colorful dials." And ice blue is enjoying particular popularity.

Formex is therefore fully in tune with the zeitgeist with its new "Essence Space Glacier" – even if it's not actually about ice. The Swiss brand, founded in 2000 and led by Raphael Granito as CEO since 2015, relies on a two-stage finishing process that enhances contrast and texture while preserving the Widmanstätten pattern.

Widmanstätten structures are the characteristic structures that are predominantly detectable in meteoritic material and become visible when iron meteorites of the octahedrite type are ground, polished and etched with nitric acid containing methanol.

Each "Space Glacier" dial is therefore unique. To create it, a shiny layer of 98 percent pure silver is first electroplated directly onto the meteorite. Then, six ultra-thin layers of Zapon Teinté—a transparent cellulose-based varnish with a hint of blue—are applied by hand.

With silver, Formex follows on from the “Essence Space Gold,” in which the brand first used electroplated 18-carat rose gold on meteorites.

The beveled date window is machined directly into the brittle meteorite disc, which is only 0.5 millimeters thick. This required extensive prototyping, eliminating the need for an underlying brass plate.

As with all Formex watches, the brand forgoes the conventional black and white date display, opting instead for a nuanced dial color as the background color. For improved legibility, the indices, logo, and hands are also rhodium-plated and filled with Superluminova BGW9.

The "Essence Space Glacier" is powered by a COSC-certified Swiss automatic movement SW 200-1 from Sellita, offering a 41-hour power reserve. It is protected by either a 39-millimeter or 43-millimeter stainless steel case, water-resistant to 10 bar (each size is limited to 100 pieces).

This is equipped with the patented spring bearing or case suspension system, which "flexes" under load or yields under pressure, adapting to the wrist. Also patented is the 7-millimeter fine adjustment system for the leather or rubber strap and the 4-millimeter micro-extension for the stainless steel bracelet.

"The 'Space Glacier' was the logical next step after the 'Space Rock' and the 'Space Gold'. But at Formex, we don't simply copy what's proven successful—we evolve. When we discovered that silver, not rhodium, brought out the full depth and brilliance of the meteorite beneath the blue-tinted lacquer, it changed everything. This spirit—constant evolution, never slowing down—is part of our DNA. It stems from our roots in performance engineering and continues to shape each of our watches today," explains Raphael Granito, CEO of Formex Watch SA.

(RRP 1,880 or 1,990 €)