Formex Essence 39 Updates Its Best-Seller With COSC Movement and Tool-Free Clasp

The Promise Keeper Gets a Quiet but Meaningful Reset

There is a particular pleasure in watching a brand resist the urge to chase novelty, choose instead to refine what already works. That is exactly the story of the new Formex Essence 39mm Automatic COSC. When Formex pulled the cover off this generation of its best-selling model, it was the kind of unveiling that rewards anyone who pays attention to the details rather than the drama. The silhouette is unchanged, the proportions are untouched, and the familiar three-hander still reads cleanly at a glance. Everything that made the Essence a cult favorite among collectors remains firmly in place. Everything underneath has simply been made better.

The Essence entered the world in 2018, the first fresh model after the brand relaunched in 2016 under CEO Raphael Granito. It has spent the years since carrying the flag of the Swiss maison, a fixture of the modern Formex catalog and the reason most people discover the brand at all. For 2026 the update is evolutionary in spirit but real in substance. The case holds its 39mm diameter by 10.5mm thickness, carries the patented case suspension system that has become a defining trait, and maintains 100 meters of water resistance with flat sapphire crystals on both faces. The changes live in the crown, the clasp, and the beating heart.

A Chronometer That Runs Longer

The most consequential upgrade sits under the display caseback. Formex has fitted the new Essence 39 with the Sellita SW200-2 Power+, a chronometer-certified automatic that shares its architecture with the familiar SW200-1 but with deeply reworked internals aimed squarely at efficiency, the kind of automatic architecture we break down in our guide to the automatic watch rotor. The reward is a tangibly longer power reserve of 65 hours, a meaningful step up from the days-long rest you might otherwise need before winding a 40-hour movement. The rate remains a steady 4Hz, and the COSC certification guarantees chronometer-level precision straight out of the box.

That cert matters to this segment of the market. Buyers at this price point increasingly read the paperwork before they sign, and a chronometer tag is a quick, credible signal of build quality. The Essence has always been about delivering more watch than the number on the dial suggests, and extending the reserve while keeping the certification is exactly that philosophy applied to the movement.

Crown and Clasp, Where You Actually Touch the Watch

The other meaningful upgrades are the ones you feel every time you strap the watch on. The signed winding crown now screws down, a change borrowed from the limited Essence 41 Space Ghost that appeared last year. It is a small but welcome hardening of a daily-wear case, and it pairs with the unchanged 100 meter rating to make the watch genuinely carefree in rain or at a sink.

More important in daily life is the new clasp. The butterfly style folding clasp on the steel bracelet now carries an extension system with six millimeters of total adjustment reachable without ever removing the watch from the wrist. No tools, no lost pins, no swearing on a humid afternoon. The same thinking extends to the strap options, where the carbon-composite deployant clasp incorporates a clever micro-extension built into its structure. For a tool-free lifestyle fit, few microbrands do it better.

Three Faces, One Honest Promise

At launch the Essence 39 Automatic COSC is offered in three dials. The signature Blue is the shade most people will picture, a saturated sunburst with a horizontal line motif that changes character as the light moves across it. Alpine White offers the cleaner, more legible alternative for those who want maximum contrast. Radiant Bronze is the wildcard, a warm metallic tone that reads more fashion-forward than the rest of the lineup. All three share applied hour markers coated in Super-LumiNova and a flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on the interior.

The dials sit in a case built from stainless steel with a grade 2 titanium internal case, a detail that shaves weight without compromising structure and a signature of Formex engineering, and one that shows how far titanium has come as a case material in modern watchmaking. The anthracite-finished screw-on display back lets you watch the SW200-2 Power+ tick, and the whole assembly rides on either the three-link steel bracelet with the new clasp or a range of nylon, leather, and rubber straps.

Pricing and Availability

The new Essence 39mm models are non-limited and available now, with full details on the official Formex website. On a nylon, leather, or rubber strap the price is $1,850 USD, while the stainless steel bracelet version commands $1,980 USD. Initial coverage from aBlogtoWatch and WatchTime focused on the longer power reserve and the refreshed clasp system. For a COSC-certified automatic with a case suspension system, a screw-down crown, and a genuinely useful tool-free micro-adjust clasp, that kind of money is getting harder and harder to argue with across the industry.

The quiet competence of the update is precisely the point. Formex did not need to reinvent the Essence, it simply needed to make the best 39 millimeter sports watch it possibly could and then keep the promise affordable. This generation does exactly that, and it does it without shouting.

Specifications