In this Test Drive I bring you the Astor + Banks Fortitude Lite. I am not completely sure when was the first time I saw this watch. It might have been on Instagram or in an article online. One thing I know for sure is that one of the times I saw it on someone’s wrist, I saved the photo. I remember looking at the mint green dial, looking at the hour markers, the hands, a combination I had not seen before. Without further rambling, let’s get into what exactly we are talking about today.
Lately I have turned my attention from the top luxury watch brands to the independents, or microbrands if you will. There has been an explosion of watches that have been interesting to me, from the Nivada’s, Farer, Chrisopher Ward, Bamford, you name it. Well, there have been two brands I have been following rather closely as of lately, Astor + Banks and Traska.
Turning the magnifying glass to these two brands, and why I decided to focus on them now, they released/ re-stocked two of their sports watches. Traska the commuter, and Astor + Banks the Fortitude and Fortitude Lite. Long story short, I decided to give Astor + Banks a try first, simply because the design of the watch differentiated itself more than what I had seen out there. At the same time, Traska has really interesting things going for them, specially the anti-scratch coating used on the metal. But I would like to leave this for a good, future Traska article. Finally, let’s focus on Astor + Banks.
Astor + Banks?
Let’s start with a bit of background from Astor + Banks. They are a veteran owned business from Chicago, where the watches are also assembled. The latest movements from the brand are Miyotas and Sellitas, which you know you are getting something reliable. I had the pleasure to meet Andrew Perez, the owner, during the latest Windup Watch Fair ’22 in San Francisco. Andrew is a really nice dude, very approachable and willing to have a good watch conversation.
The Watch
The Fortitude Lite, to me, is a homerun of a watch. Let’s start with the dial. It is a matte dial that to me the texture resembles a bit the texture of chalk. The white applied markers contrast very well against it due to the black outline around them. The railroad track, also black, all along the diameter of the dial frames it without being actually intrusive . There is minimal amounts of text on the dial “Astor + Banks” below the 12 position, “Fortitude” and “20 ATM // Automatic” over the 6 o’clock position.
Finishing with the contents of the case, the hands. One of my favorite parts of the watch. The hands remind me of pencil led, graphite. They have this in between black and gray color and can even look silver depending on the direction of the light. Yes, they can be reflective but this is not an issue, they don’t get lost on the matte dial, which helps a lot with the legibility. The same treatment is used for the aforementioned hour markers.
The lugs extend significantly beyond the circumference of the case but are relatively small compared to the total size of the watch. the lugs also are perforated for easiness of swapping straps. The crown is concave and signed with an “A”. The crown is actually one of the things I would change, I am more of a flat crown kinda guy but not a deal breaker by any means. The case back is very flat which helps the Fortitude Lite sit very flat on the wrist.
The Bracelet
The bracelet might be the area where you might hear complains, only if you are already spoiled with the clasp adjustment without tools or quick release spring bars or bracelets. Let’s get this out of the way and say what the bracelet isn’t. If you are looking for something like the new IWC bracelets, this is not it. This bracelet is a classic spring bar (it requires tools), MILLED clasp and SCREW link type of bracelet. In my experience, most brands offer pin and collar bracelets, yes milled clasps might be becoming the norm but don’t be surprise to still see them… ahem, Seiko.
Now that we got the possible negatives out of the way, let’s get to the good part. The bracelet is very well executed, tapers from 20mm to 16mm, very flexible. The links resemble the shape of a classic president bracelet and an H link bracelet but instead of being 3 pieces is a single piece. Definitely not a hair puller and very flexible that molds to the wrist without issues. My highlights of the bracelet, without including the clasp, are the single screw system and the perforated lugs. Big brands use a two piece screw, that in my opinion can be a pain the rear end, especially if you lose the tiny screw… Not that it ever happened to me (I found it though). If you are hesitant because you don’t have tools to size the bracelet, Astor + Banks includes one with the watch.
Finally, the clasp. Again, if you have been spoiled by some of the brands including on the fly adjustments for the bracelets, you might complain about this clasp, but by no means it is bad. This is a milled flip-lock clasp with 6 microadjustment options. The flip-lock is signed “Astor + Banks”, and it is also the part of the clasp that might feel the “weakest” if you will. Overall a very good clasp that gets the job done and lets you adjust without too much fuss.
So?
As mentioned above, this watch had been on my radar for a while and finally was able to pull the trigger. Unfortunately, I was not counting on my wife liking the watch so much, that she has kept it. The whole package, to me, is a bargain. This watch for the price it has been offered ($625 – $645) kicks a bunch of big brands in the ass. No joke. The fun colors and the little details make this watch, to me, very worthy and enjoyable. Astor + Banks, if they were not on your radar, they should be now.
DL