Formex Essence Leggera Forty Three Review

Formex was established in 1999 by two Swiss brothers, both watchmakers, who had a huge interest in motorsports. The goal of the brand was to create watches that were as high performance as the racing cars and bikes they loved. The name Formex is short for “forme extreme” in French, translating to “extreme shape”.

The past years have seen Formex come under new ownership that has a very clear vision for the future of the brand. They have introduced new models with respect for what the brand has done previously, but also are excited to innovate and take the brand forward. I had a long call with the brand where they told me of how they plan on growing and evolving the brand before I did this review.



Since Formex was formed just as my interest in watches was starting to take off, I’ve long known of the brand. Twenty years in, I still hadn’t had the chance to handle a Formex watch in person. Like I’ve mentioned previously, Hourstriker now gives me the chance to get wrist time with watches I hadn’t had to pleasure to over the past twenty years.

Over the past few months I had formed a good relationship with Markus over at Formex and he offered us the chance to spend some time with two Formex models. The watch we’re going to be looking at today is the Essence Leggera Forty Three in carbon fiber composite and ceramic with a cool grey dial.



The Essence Leggera Forty Three caught my attention the most from the Formex collections being it is their flagship line and also comes in a larger 43 mm case size. The Essence Leggera is more of Formex’s answer to the one watch collection, able to take on most any challenge you throw its way while still looking formal enough for a night out. Formex also has collections of dedicated diver and field watches as well.

Formex sent over various straps for the watch, but I ended up spending most of my time with the watch on the black rubber strap. This really gave the watch a stealth look and was very pleasant during the extremely warm temperatures we’re seeing here in Austin, Texas during the first few weeks of summer.

The first thing I noticed about the Essence Leggera Forty Three was how lightweight the watch was. On the various straps I put the watches on, the Essence Leggera weighed anywhere from 68 to 70 grams, the watch alone only weighs 50 grams. On the wrist the Essence Leggera was defiantly one of the lightest watches I’ve worn for any extended period of time. Even at 70 grams, the watch disappears on the wrist, it really makes me wonder what some of the 20 grams or less Richard Miles feel (or don’t feel) like on the wrist.



The next thing I noticed was the cool grey dial under the sapphire crystal, which added a nice contrast to the blacked out look of the carbon fiber case, ceramic bezel and black rubber strap. Formex does offer a few additional color dials, including a forged carbon variant. I feel the forged carbon would look awesome, but might be a bit too blacked out like my wife’s Hublot Big Bang 41 All Black, which I feel sometimes is a bit too black… The cool grey still kept the subtle look of the watch intact, while also adding a bit of contrast to the watch.

The hands and indices are mirror polished and compliment the cement colored dial nicely. They stand out nicely during the day, making the watch super easy to read quickly. All markers minus the seconds hand are covered with BGW9 Super Luminova that glow a brilliant blue in low light situations.

Completing the dial is the Formex logo at 12 o’clock and “Automatic Chronometer” at 6 o’clock printed in black. At 6 o’clock there is also a color matched date window. I love that Formex used a color matched date since it really just blends in nicely with the dial. I feel a black or especially a white date window would have ruined the dial. Around the outside of the dial is an index ring with black marks for each minute.



The bezel is crafted out of black Zirconium Oxide ceramic, ensuring that the bezel is pretty much scratch proof. The top of the bezel has a brushed appearance, while the sides of the bezel are polished. These two finishes add a nice touch to the flat dial and matte carbon fiber case. There are also four exposed case bolts at each corner of the watch, which adds a nice industrial look to the watch. They sort of give the watch a little bit of the Royal Oak or Big Bang look, but are different enough to not be seen as any sort of copy or homage.

The case, case back and deployant clasp are all crafted out of black carbon fiber composite. This material has a rich matte black appearance and is virtually indestructible. Besides its durability, the carbon fiber composite makes the Essence Leggera super lightweight. When it comes to my personal watches, I tend to buy watches that are either crafted out of titanium, ceramic or carbon. I just love how strong and lightweight these materials are and also how few brands pick to use them. So the Essence Leggera being made out of carbon fiber composite is a huge plus for me.



The crown of the Essence Leggera is made out of ceramic like the bezel. The crown offers fantastic grip with its deep grooves as well. Although the watch offers 100 meters of water resistance, the crown is not screw down, it’s just a push pull crown. When I spoke with Formex about the reason the crown wasn’t screw down, they told me the gasket system allows sufficient water resistance, even when pulled out and that the watch wasn’t meant to be a diver, so they didn’t feel the need for a screw down crown was necessary. They did say they would consider future versions of the watch having a screw down crown based on customer feedback, although it wouldn’t offer any real upgrade in performance.

The crown allows manually winding while pushed in. Pulling the crown out to position one allows you to set the day in one direction, while pulling the crown out to position two sets the time. Winding the watch manually has a nice resistance, while time setting is nice and sure with no jump in time when pushing the crown back in. After having to replace the crown on my Royal Oak Offshore Montoya that would no longer screw in, I can also see some reasons to not have a screw down crown…



Like I stated before the Essence Leggera Forty Three measures 43 mm in case diameter. The lug to lug measures in at 49.7 mm and the case thickness is 11.2 mm. I have a personal bias of preferring watches with a lug to lug of over 50 mm, so the Essence Leggera fell right at the bottom of where I feel most comfortable size wise. My preference is not a popular one in terms of today’s watch trends, but I do like a watch that covers my wrist a little more than the Essence Leggera did. I do have a fairly flat wrist, so I feel there is more space to cover so to say. I would wager to guess that the Essence Forty One is actually more popular than the Forty Three since smaller watches are in vogue nowadays. So this isn’t a ding against the watch, it’s just my personal bias.

Flipping over the case shows off the Swiss made Sellita SW200-1 automatic movement. For the Essence Leggera Formex picked the chronometer certified version of the movement, meaning the watch should run between -4 to +6 seconds per day. On our timegrapher the Essence Leggera ran a stunning 0 seconds a day in accuracy. We have only seen two watches run at that accuracy since we started looking at watches more closely while running Hourstriker. Boasting such accuracy is extremely impressive, so hats off there. The movement beats at 28,000 VPH (4Hz) and has a power reserve of 41 hours. The movement is finished in-house by Formex with a skeletonized rotor with the Formex logo, blued screws and some nice perlage.



While still talking about the case, Formex integrates something I haven’t really seen in any other watches into the case of the Essence Leggera. There are four springs inside of the two part case that allow the watch to flex under movement. This allows the cases to separate by up to a few millimeters to absorb substantial shocks. It also allows the case to adjust to your wrist as it moves and swells, making the watch more comfortable. The idea for this was taken from the love Formex has for sports cars and their suspension systems. The only other watches I’ve seen with some sort of case movement are some De Bethune watches that also flex, but that flex is built into the lug system and not the actual case.

With mentioning the two part case system allowing flex in the watch for better comfort, we absolutely must talk about the deployant clasp used on the Essence Leggera. I’m a huge proponent of deployant clasps on watches mainly for peace of mind (not dropping) and making short work of putting on a watch. Both deployant clasps and pin buckles lack a feature now starting to appear on bracelet watches, micro adjustments.



There are few things more annoying than a watch being too tight or too loose on a hot or cold day. You then either size the watch up or down and all of a sudden the watch is now too big or too small. I guess Formex must have identified this problem and developed a deployant clasp that features micro adjustments. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this on a strapped watch and am just in love with it. I now look at all my personal watches with deployant clasps with disgust!

As opposed to standard deployant clasp, the strap actually goes under the clasp when being sized. There is a small lever behind the pins that when depressed allows the strap to slide in and out up to 7 mm. Along the 7 mm, the strap can slide as much or as little as you like, basically allowing you a perfect fit. I told Formex they should sell these clasps for any strap ranging from 18 to 24 mm, I can think of a few watches I’d love to put them on. Being crafted out of carbon fiber composite also makes the clasp extremely lightweight.



One interesting thing that I found out while speaking with Markus at Formex was how integrated the brand is with various component manufactures. Everything from dials to cases and clasps can be developed “in-house” by Formex or their partners. This allows some amazing flexibility and cuts down development time that lets Formex create some truly amazing pieces. The carbon fiber composite case, suspension system and adjustable clasp are all examples of the wealth of engineering Formex has direct access to. The one thing not done in-house right now are the movements, but with the accuracy we’re seeing with the Sellita, the best Formex could hope for with an in-house movement would be matching what the chronometer grade SW200-1 is already doing.

My time with the Essence Leggera involved the normal torture tests of going out to dinner and drinks, watching over twin 18 month old girls and running errands. The best compliments I could give to the watch on wrist were that it completely felt like I was wearing nothing and with its durability eliminated any fear of banging it up. In stark contrast, I wore my Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Montoya a day after I wore the Essence Leggera and would obsess over the watch any time I thought I might have bumped into anything, no matter how soft that object was.



There was a period when I didn’t wear the Essence Leggera for over a day and it was still running when I pulled it out of the safe. I’m sure if this would have rolled over to two days, the movement might have wound down, but I didn’t see this in the time I spent with the watch. As mentioned before, the super comfortable rubber strap on the adjustable deployant was a true treat. Since Austin is kind of going through a very hot and very humid period, there were multiple times I used the micro-adjustments on the clasp to size the strap up and down to meet my confused wrist going from outside to air-conditioned spaces.

The Essence Leggera was noticed a few times on my wrist, mostly by acquaintances of ours who know I’m in the watch business. They were really impressed with the watch and also commented on the lightness and look of the carbon fiber composite. Most of them questioned the price and guessed that the price was multiples higher than the watch retails for. The watch being all black with a cement grey colored dial pretty much kept it under the radar to strangers though. Unlike watches like the rose gold Freak or Diver X Skeleton on a khaki strap, the watch doesn’t scream for attention. Changing the strap from black rubber to something with a bit more color would probably get it noticed a lot more though. I think an orange strap would look pretty amazing with the blacked out look of the case and bezel for example.



With a retail price of $1,790 on a rubber strap with the adjustable deployant clasp, the Essence Leggera Forty Three offers exceptional value. The use of carbon fiber and ceramic, the suspension system and adjustable clasp marry high tech materials with innovated design. At this price point you aren’t really going to find any other brands offering such features.

As for competitors, I’d say the closest would be the Norqain Wild ONE. We have a very good relationship with NORQAIN and have spent a lot of time with the Wild ONE, so comparing the two is rather easy.

The Wild ONE we have is the khaki variant with a khaki green rubber strap and green rubber middle case. With the NORTEQ carbon case also including the bezel, the Wild ONE looks more rugged than the Essence Leggera. The polished and brushed ceramic bezel of the Essence Leggera makes the watch feel more every day than the Wild ONE. The Wild ONE’s textured dial with repeating Ns gives more depth and interest to the dial than the concrete grey dial of the Essence Leggera, but you could opt for the forged carbon dial on the Essence Leggera for a much more unique dial.



Both the Wild ONE and Essence Leggera offer way more shock protection than you’d find with a normal sports watch, with the Wild ONE using a rubber middle case and the Essence Leggera using a suspension system. The Wild ONE has twice the water resistance and offers a screw down crown, which we’re guessing if Formex added a screw down crown you’d see 150 to 200 meters of water resistance. The Wild ONE also features a manufacture movement by Kenissi which almost doubles the power reserve of the Essence Leggera and one of the now three watches we’ve tested that run +/- 0 seconds a day, along with the SW200-1 found in the Essence Leggera.

The Essence Leggera and Wild ONE have very similar case dimensions and lug to lug lengths, with the Essence Leggera being a bit lighter and thinner. The Wild ONE does have a very nice pin buckle, but the Essence Leggera offers the amazing and innovative adjustable clasp. Both watches wear extremely similar on wrist and are nothing but comfortable. I do wish both were just a smidge larger though.



It should be mentioned that at $5,490 the NORQAIN Wild ONE does cost three times the price of the Formex Essence Leggera. The Wild ONE does boast a manufacture movement and was designed in part by Jean Claude Biver, which adds considerable cost to the watch. I’m not sure if the Essence Leggera is crossed shopped with the Wild ONE, but they could definitely be. Picking one would come down to budget and aesthetics in my opinion.

Would I recommend the Formex Essence Leggera for somebody looking for a sports watch under $5,000? I’d say if that person was interested in a unique watch that didn’t look like every other Submariner clone, I’d 100% recommend the watch.



I love that Formex with their close ties to watch component manufactures were able to craft a watch that has a unique case design and is crafted out of cutting edge materials like carbon fiber and ceramic. The case suspension system is truly innovative, as is the adjustable clasp system. The lack of a screw down crown and non in-house movement would be my only issues with the watch. The screw down crown really isn’t necessary, but I still like the added layer of safety. Having an in-house movement will bring added cost and make the watch harder to service down the line though.

For under $2,000 Formex is offering a ton with the Essence Leggera Forty Three. There just aren’t many watch brands out there that can offer the same kind of complete package found in the Essence Leggera for a similar price. Also I’d love to see more brands follow Formex’s lead and offer adjustable deployant clasp systems with their watches.



We’d really like to thank Markus and Formex for sending us the Essence Leggera Forty Three. We will also be reviewing another watch from Formex in the coming weeks. The Essence Leggera Forty Three was a great introduction to the brand and we can’t wait to see what the future has in store for them.

For more information about the Essence Leggera Forty Three please visit : Formex

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: 0330.4.6309.910

Retail Price: $1,790

Case Size: 43 mm

Lug to Lug: 49.7 mm

Thickness: 11.2 mm

Weight: 50 Grams Watch Only (70 Grams with Rubber Strap and Deployant Clasp)

Case Material:  Carbon Fiber Composite

Bezel: Zirconium Oxide Ceramic

Strap: Black Rubber on Carbon Fiber Composite Adjustable Deployant Clasp

Movement: Sellita SW-200-1

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Date

Power Reserve: 41 Hours

Water Resistance: 100 Meters