Formex

Formex was founded in 1999 by two Swiss watchmaking brothers, Hans-Peter and Ferdinand Grädel, united by a shared passion for watchmaking and high-performance motorsport. The brand's very name tells this dual story: "Formex" is a contraction of "forme extrême," French for extreme shape, a direct nod to the engineering of racing cars and motorcycles that inspired the robust, angular aesthetic of its watches from the outset. Its distinctive technical feature, patented in that same year of 1999, is the Case Suspension System: a mechanism that suspends and cushions the watch case on four small springs, absorbing shocks and improving wrist comfort during sporting use.

In its first decade, based in Biel/Bienne, the heart of the Swiss watch industry, Formex developed more than forty different collections, often large in size (43mm and above) and designed for extreme conditions, going as far as sponsoring teams competing in prestigious motor racing events such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The global financial crisis of 2008, however, hit the brand hard, as it did many small independent watchmakers: production shrank drastically, and by the mid-2010s the company was down to a single watchmaker, with its future far from certain.

The turning point came in 2016, when Hans-Peter Grädel met Raphael Granito, an entrepreneur with a background in precision watch-component manufacturing, who became the brand's CEO. Granito set a radical strategy: abandoning traditional retail distribution in favour of direct online sales, reinvesting the budget saved on marketing into engineering and product development. The success of the crowdfunding campaign launched for the Essence Chronometer marked the brand's public rebirth; today Formex remains family-run and independent, a Swiss Made manufacturer that in 2025 celebrated the 25th anniversary of its founding.