Formex Essence Space Glacier Takes Meteorite to the Arctic

Meteorite dials are cool. I own a quartz chronograph that has a single meteorite subdial and while the rest of the watch is demonstrably subpar, the fact that it contains material that has flown through space for millions of years before completing its journey here on Earth means it’s still a proud member of my personal collection. However, it pales to absolute nothing in the face of a watch like the new Formex Essence Space Glacier, which presents meteorite as you’ve never seen it before.

Specifically, its meteorite dial features a hand-applied, ice blue lacquer. Coloured meteorite as a concept isn’t new, even Formex themselves have done it before with the Space Gold and other brands like Czapek & Cie. have tackled the concept to award winning effect with the Antarctique Green Meteor. What makes the Space Glacier special is that Formex have developed new in-house techniques to achieve the specific icy blue tone seen here.

The raw surface of meteorite isn’t suitable to take a lacquer due to its imperfections and darker iron colour, which means lacquers look much duller than they should. Therefore, Formex give the material an ultra-thin electroplated coating of a metal that is suitable for lacquer, which is most commonly rhodium. However, after some experimentation, the six layers of hand-applied blue lacquer just didn’t look right over a rhodium base. So, for the first time ever, Formex tried a 98% pure sterling silver plating and it worked perfectly. It results in a rich, clear colour while also highlighting and emphasising the individual details of the signature Widmanstätten pattern.

It looks great. The organically formed striations of the meteor – the specific meteorite used is the Muonionalusta, the most common commercially available meteorite – create a fractured appearance like the surface of a glacier, hence Formex Essence Space Glacier. It’s also an intentional reference to the fact that Muonionalusta was discovered in what is modern day northern Scandinavia, inside the arctic circle.

As for the actual timekeeping elements, it features applied indices with Super-LumiNova inserts for low light legibility and matching hands. There’s also a date window at 6 o’clock carved into the meteorite of the dial. The date wheel itself is a dark grey colour with black numerals so that it doesn’t create a stark white eyesore at the bottom of the display.

The Formex Essence Space Glacier is available in two sizes, either 39mm or 43mm. I’m more a 39mm type of person but even though the 43mm is large by most people’s standards, it’s on the more wearable side with a thickness of just 10.6mm. The 39mm is thinner still at a round 10mm. The Essence itself is a versatile watch that is suitable for all occasions with a combination of brushed and polished finishing, exposed screws and a steel construction. Robust but also smart.

Beneath the surface of the meteorite dial is housed the Swiss Sellita SW200-1. It’s the higher grade COSC chronometer version, which means it has been tested in multiple positions to ensure a high accuracy. It’s also the newer edition of the movement that launched a few years ago with an improved 41-hour power reserve.

As for price, the Formex Essence Space Glacier is £1,680 on leather strap with deployant clasp or £1,790 on steel bracelet. Formex have also made a note that for customers in the US they are not currently planning to raise their prices during the uncertainty of tariff changes, tanking any raised costs themselves so that you can enjoy your watches at the current great value. If you’re in the UK you don’t have to worry about that but what you could do is come and see Formex yourself at London’s new premier watch exhibition and showcase, Hands On Horology.

More details at Formex.

​Oracle Time 

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