Titanium is the way - the Fortitude NimbusGrey

In many of our articles, we have discussed why titanium is the best material for a watch, is not like bronze watc

hes are made of cheese or steel watches are as expensive as gold but,Titanium has many great properties, not only your skin stays the same colour (thank you bronze) but it is also lighter and harder than anything used in the industry. If you really think about it, a pilot watch is potentially the piece that could be more exposed to hostile environments, even if you are a commercial pilot, the majority of the time you are flying above water and if you are a military one, then the cockpit becomes small and full of instruments were you can bang your watch easily, this mean that water resistance and hardness is a must but legibility is also key, as probably you will have to wear the watch in dark or at a glance. As you can see there are so many requirements that watch designers have already a shell to work on, and this is what RZE watches did with the Fortitude NimbusGrey, it has all the features needed and more, always giving us their own design language. The Fortitude can easily be a professional watch but also a casual piece

that the wearer will enjoy in any situation, the versatility is key for success and I think the Fortitude range are one of the best options that an independent brand could offer, below are the impressions and features of this titanium beauty.

The specifications

The Nimbusgrey has a case of 41mm, the purist might think that 41 is too small but enthusiast might think is too big, the reality is that works perfect for both type of customers, the key here is the legibility and wearability, it is spot on and shows in my 6.25 inch wrist. I was very impressed with all the features of the watch, the case is antimagnetic with a cage protecting the movement, I remember when I read about the Rolex Milgauss for the first time, I was so impressed but I never found this feature under 3000 USD (which was an IWC), then we have the crown of the Fortitude (called HexCrown), it has a visible red line so you can see when is unscrewed, this ensures that the watch is safe for use underwater. The watch is powered by a reliable and tested SII NH35A automatic movement which is perfect for everyday use.

The design of the case is incredible, the bezel inspired by turbine engines is flawless in execution, then we move to the textured dial with the floating hands (same dark colour than the dial at the beginning) which together with the sandwich dial just blows my mind when I think of the Fortitude price point. The round date at 6 completes the symmetry of the grey dial and the theme continues with a titanium bracelet, yes, a full titanium bracelet that tappers from 20mm to 16mm, I can tell you that it feels and wears like a charm.

On the wrist:

The Fortitude comes in a variety of colours, all of them with the same features mentioned above, they all are extremely legible at a glance so you cannot go wrong with your choice, lately I am obsessed with grey but the

full lume CruiserWhite has caught my eye from time to time, anyhow I digressed. The watch is light as you expect but the case size and short lug to lug (47mm) with a 12.5 thickness, makes the Fortitude a perfect companion for every day. The bracelet has a nice tapper and also is very solid but fluid at the same time, easy to find a good length as there are plenty adjustments options. I wore the watch for a night out and it was great, one thing about titanium is that doesn’t get as cold as steel, so it is very comfortable especially in winter, then I went for a hike on a sunny day and again the watch keeps the temperature low, easy to use, easy to wear.

Conclusions:

There are many things that I loved about the Fortitude NimbusGrey but at the end is the execution of the watch, the sum of its parts, I mean, you can have a great technology or a great dial or even a great bracelet but if all of those elements do not work in harmony, you will end up with a watch on your wrist and be thinking: '' I wish this.. or I wish that…'', this is probably the coolest watch I've review from RZE, it feels like I have been using the Fortitude longer than I have and this is a problem because I want the piece to stay, to be completely honest it wouldn’t be so bad as the price is very attractive and the quality is really there, titanium is the way.

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