Granito: “As a small independent watch brand, you simply cannot dream of re-inventing the ultra-thin mechanical wristwatch without having the right movement in the first place.” While Granito has been successfully working with well-known base calibers and suppliers in the past, none of them had decided to invest in the creation of a high-performance micro-rotor movement, which is historically the only way to reduce an automatic movement’s thickness. “Needless to say, there are several highly desirable micro-rotor calibers in the haute horlogerie segment of our industry, a few of them even available to outside brands, but we wanted to remain in the much more competitive environment that we are known for. More importantly, we needed to make sure that a reduction of the caliber’s thickness would not require compromising on performance or comfort, which automatically excluded traditional manual-wound movements, for example.” In the end, Formex found the perfect solution almost next door with Horage: In 2009, Andreas Felsl and his wife Tzuyu Huang started the process of designing and engineering an in-house watch movement from scratch, which is “among the most difficult of watchmaking ventures”, and that statement didn’t even include a micro-rotor architecture. Felsl: “It takes anywhere from 7 to 10 years to go from concept to production models.” With a thickness of only 2.9 mm, the FX01 is not only an exceptionally thin, but also highly efficient modern Swiss Made caliber that combines chronometric precision (each movement is tested individually by the COSC, the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Authority), a long power reserve, anti-magnetic characteristics, and contemporary movement architecture with the typical Formex approach to finishing and engineering.