Watch designers Peter Peter, Max Peter. The Swiss company Fortis is undoubtedly the main trendsetter in watches for pilots and astronauts.
The most sophisticated chronographs have become constant companions of the brave heroes of the air element: it was with the Fortis watch that Alexander Garnaev and Alexander Parengo set the world record on the MIG-25, and Fred North on the AS 350 Ecureuill helicopter.
Peter Peter has been at the helm of the company since 1990 and has worked hard to ensure that Fortis earns the title of Official Timekeeper of the International Space Station ISS.
In 2001, Peter Peter received the Order of the Star of the Blue Planet from the Russian space agency Rosaviakosmos for his participation in the development of a mechanical chronograph for astronauts. How to tame the time before a wristwatch and send it to outer space, in an exclusive interview with Peter Peter and his son Max Peter:
- Peter, Max, what new items can we expect from Fortis?
- These are three new models. Black chronograph in titanium, carbon and rubber in our line for the International Space Station ISS. Then the square chronograph, which was launched in cooperation with Swiss Airlines. This is the first square watch manufactured by Fortis. And we also have a new Art Edition model, created with the artist Rolf Sachs (Rolf Sachs). He has a very famous father, Gunther Sachs, primarily because he was married to Brigitte Bordeaux. This is an IQ Watch, because the dial is a "blackboard" on which arithmetic calculations are made with "chalk". In this way, we continue our series of "Artistic watches", which is released every two years. This series is a tribute to my past, because before getting into the watch business, I myself was an artist, graphic designer, and also made films.
- An interesting twist in the biography. What kind of film did you shoot when you were young? About space?
- Rather, at that time I was interested not in space in the narrow sense of the word, but in the ecology of our planet. We even had a club where we discussed what the future holds. One of my projects was with Salvador Dali. I went to see him in Spain to make a short film - a dialogue with a genius. I spent several days with him, talking about the future of humanity on the threshold of today's great discoveries, when the borders expand, we can fly to the Moon, Mars and other planets. Everything turned out extremely well. I took a photo when Salvador Dali was sitting in a chair and said that the planet must be saved, if only because he has been living on Earth for 60 years. These footage are kept in the museum.
- Marvelous. How did you come to Fortis?
- I started working in the 80s of the last century. Then there was a real quartz boom in the watch industry. A friend of mine who lived in London was selling a Fortis watch at his place, a model with interchangeable straps. It instantly became popular and shocked me so much that I became interested in this watch and tried to contact Fortis. I went to Switzerland and started distributing Fortis in Germany. And in 1990 I already became the international director of management of the company.
- Is there a special design for space clocks or not?
- We can talk about a special design of space clocks in terms of their functionality. For example, MCC (Mission Control Center) ordered us a non-standard mechanism - an automatic alarm clock with a chronograph. All our watches are tested in very serious tests. Since 1994, our company has been the official timekeeper of the International Space Station ISS. We also have very close cooperation with Rosaviakosmos, the Fortis Official Cosmonauts Chronograph is part of the standard equipment for spacewalks.
Fortis has been making watches for pilots, astronauts and divers since its inception. We found our niche. All our watches are characterized by belonging to a professional specificity.
- Peter, you are constantly working with space innovations, but do you believe in alien civilizations?
- In short, you know that in 1947, in the American town of Roswell, an alien aircraft crashed along with its pilots. The strangest thing is that it was this year that I was born. Most likely, I am one of them. But seriously speaking, I have been working for a long time with astronauts and scientists exploring the Universe, many of them are my good friends. The astronauts said they saw nothing extraordinary. Scientists agree that we are not yet so successful in space travel to draw conclusions. My opinion: it is enough to look into the sky, where there are millions of billions of stars and galaxies, to understand how foolish it is to think that there is absolutely no life in this multitude. Not necessarily a civilization like us, but maybe completely different forms of life.
- What do you like most about your job?
- I like that our watches are not only a subject of image, but a professional tool for real heroes: astronauts and military pilots. In 1995, Russian pilot Alexander Garnaev and Frenchman Alexander Parengo in the MiG-25 climbed to an insane height of 30,000 meters and set a new world record, and in 2002 French pilot Fred North on an AS 350 Ecureuill helicopter broke the altitude record recorded in 1973, having risen to a record height of 12 954 meters. They wore our watch on their wrists, and it's nice to think that they helped them accomplish the incredible. And, of course, I, as an artist, managed to realize myself, because the design of many watches is my work.
- How do you feel about the term "time"?
- For many years we have been looking for and trying to understand what time is. I often talk with philosophers, artists and scientists about what time is, how can we steal it and what are we doing in the Universe? This is a very long process and it is very difficult to understand the space-time continuum even for scientists. The most amazing thing is to produce a device for measuring this very time and at the same time keep the unknown of this very concept.
