Formex Doubles Down On Ceramic With The Essence Ceramica Automatic COSC “Dark Matter” 41mm
What do you do when you have a good thing going? You double down, of course! Formex spent years developing a ceramic Essence with best-in-class finishing and a first-ever ceramic micro-adjustable clasp. The Swiss brand fitted it with a skeletonized dial for its debut earlier this year. And then, Formex doubled down indeed. This September, we saw the introduction of the Ceramica with regular dials and a new Soprod caliber. Today, we get another addition in the Formex Essence Ceramica Automatic COSC “Dark Matter” 41mm.
This latest addition looks beyond our skies for inspiration. The good folks at Cadranor crafted the dial out of meteorite, innovating the traditional methods as they went. So, even though this release technically entails little more than a new dial, we have plenty to unpack.
Formex Essence Ceramica
Just in case you missed the two prior releases in this line, allow me to do a quick recap of the basics. We’ll get into the Dark Matter stuff later. I won’t regurgitate all the specs once more, but you will find them in the spec sheet below.
The Essence represents Formex’s idea of a sporty everyday watch. With its aggressive styling and spring-dampened case, it offers something distinctive in its pricing segment. Formex quietly spent several years in cooperation with Dexel (Cadranor and Dexel are companies held by the same Granito family that spawned Raphael Granito, CEO of Formex) to produce an all-ceramic version of the Essence. So, why did this take so long? After all, ceramic watches have been around for decades now.
Formex was a little more ambitious than most. The Essence Ceramica features the same intricate and finely executed combination of brushed and polished surfaces as the steel model. In ceramics, however, that is absolutely unheard of in this price segment. Dexel had to reinvent the wheel for the toolless micro-adjustment mechanism, now also fully executed in ceramic. I handled the previous version, and I can attest: these are on par with ceramic watches far north of €20k in terms of exterior work.
The Formex Essence Ceramica “Dark Matter”
Okay, on to today’s news — the new meteorite dial inside the Ceramica “Dark Matter.” The Muonionalusta meteorite hit our home planet about one million years ago. It broke up and landed in a part of Scandinavia approximately 140 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. The first fragment was found in 1906, and around 40 pieces have been found since then. Your Essence dial, should you decide to buy one, comes from one of these pieces.
Crafting a watch dial from meteorite is no easy feat. The material needs to be cut at the right angle to reveal as much of the patterning as possible. This so-called Widmanstätten pattern is then elevated through chemical etching. Usually, the resulting wafer of meteorite sits glued atop a brass dial. Cadranor and Formex instead built the entire dial out of nothing but meteorite, soldering the dial’s feet directly onto it. This allowed them to cut a neat date aperture with angled edges. Formex and Cadranor must be quite confident, mounting the meteorite dial without glued support.
Next, Cadranor darkened the material to suit the “Dark Matter” theme. This, again, required a ton of experimentation as the darkening threatened to dull the dynamic, erratic pattern. Finally, the team landed at this dial, combining subdued darkness with the lively reflective behavior intact.
Initial impressions of the Essence Ceramica “Dark Matter”
You may have already gathered from my tone that I appreciate this effort. In fact, this type of ambition and tenacity persuaded me to take the production of my humble microbrand to Dexel and Cadranor as well. In this case, then, you could say I put my money where my mouth is.
I feel the Essence Ceramica is gathering pace with this new “Dark Matter” version. While the skeleton editions were a bit much for my taste, this feels right on-brand for Formex. The watch looks ominous…foreboding even. Comparisons to Darth Vader come easily with watches like this.
Add to this the build and finishing, which are both beyond what you might expect at the price, and you have another winner for Formex. The new Essence Ceramica “Dark Matter” costs CHF 4,150 / €4,590 / US$4,920. Formex will produce 100 examples of this watch annually, with preorders opening December 9th for delivery in January of 2026.
What do you think of the new Formex Essence Ceramica Automatic COSC “Dark Matter” 41mm? Let us know in the comments section below!
