i was lucky enough to bag a Fortis Flieger a couple of weeks back and i'm still feeling the love big time. it took some hunting down and waiting for and i can't afford it as a daily beater. i keep livestock and handling of animals, carrying feed and shovelling of general (and some very specific) filth on a daily basis is not a good environment for conserving such rarities.
so i've bought a 2623 based Aviator as a beater and here's a comparison of the Fortis with its significantly cheaper Russian cousin.
up front, i have to say the Fortis wins hands down - which is a relief considering the price difference. the cases are the same size (40mm), but the Fortis dial is larger and that gives it a few advantages. first though, the Fortis user benefits:
Swiss auto movement 20 ATM W/R screw-down crown, hacking and quick-set date
vs
Russian manual 3 ATM W/R
Flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating
vs
Gently domed mineral glass no anti-reflective coating
both watches came on a 20mm leather strap tapering to 18mm. the Fortis buckle is more burly than the Aviator, but the strap itself i quickly replaced with a Hirsch Liberty and carried the buckle over. the matt black Aviator strap is good though and suits the PVD case well.
i went for a black PVD case on the Aviator because i like my watches to be distinct from one another and from pictures i really couldn't pick a winner between the PVD and plain case.
both watches wear very nicely being weighty enough to have presence but without throwing that weight about like divers can.
on to the hands. the Fortis hour hand is more kite-like but at no point obscures the dial's digits. the Aviator hands are a slight disappointment. the hour hand partially obscures all numbers beyond 0800 and is a less pleasing shape. the minute hand's lume does not extend to the dial centre as on the Fortis. both second hands are good, but the Fortis wins again being slightly more elegantly thin, with a smoother sweep and a more pleasing day-glo orange that gives better contrast with the dial.
the Fortis dial is where the designer earned his or her higher Swiss salary. it's bigger allowing all even hours to be marked in full. even at 0600 where the date window could have taken priority and again at midnight. Fortis has longer odd hour tick marks that extend right to the tip of the superior hour hand greatly increasing readability. the typeface on the Fortis uses open sixes and flat-topped fours and is generally more clean and precise. the digit 2 has to be good as there are plenty of them in the top half of the dial and it doesn't fail. the typography on the Aviator is all round more clunky and industrial.
so while the Aviator is out played in every position on the pitch it still offers a good hard game and for me looks to be the perfect beater. the Fortis - i honestly cannot fault it. though i did read somewhere that it has a plastic movement spacer inside, but i'll just have to live with that.
two bad photos...