Daniel Oliver 
I’ve had my eyes on the Formex Essence Leggera since the first version has been announced, a few years ago. While I really enjoy the “standard” Essence and its fantastic Dégradé dial, I was thrilled when Formex offered to loan me 2 Leggeras for a review.
The specs
CASE
Diameter: 43mm or 41mm
Height: 11mm
Lug width: 22mm
Lug-to-lug: 49mm for the 43mm / 46.4mm for the 41mm
Water resistance: 10 bar (100 meters / 330 feet)
Weight: 50g (case only) for the 43mm / 40g (case only) for the 41mm
MATERIAL
Bezel: Zirconium Oxide Ceramic
Case: Proprietary Carbon Fiber Composite
Glass: Sapphire crystal (front and back) with anti-reflection treatment
DIAL
Multi-finished and in-house manufactured dials with BGW9 Super-LumiNova on applied hands and indexes.
MOVEMENT
Swiss Made Sellita SW200-1 (self-winding) Automatic (Chronometer grade), officially certified by COSC
26 jewels and glucydur balance wheel.
Date display
Custom-built skeleton rotor with thermally blued screws
41 hours power reserve.
STRAP
NATO strap designed by WatchGecko, with stainless steel hardware
Italian calf leather straps and black rubber strap with curved spring bars, Quick Release function and carbon fiber composite folding clasp with patented Micro-Adjustment System
The case
The case is made of a proprietary carbon fiber composite that was developed in-house. The idea was to provide a material that was extremely scratch-resistant. Contrary to most other black watches, any scratch on case of the Leggera wouldn’t reveal anything but a black color underneath the surface! The bezel and the crown are made of Zirconium Oxide Ceramic, being even more scratch-proof !
The side-view of the watch remains more or less the same as the original Essence, but it’s lacking the patented suspension system. It’s extremely thin (11mm) and the slightly curved lugs makes it very comfortable on the wrist.
As usual with Formex, the glass is made of sapphire crystal and benefits from the most efficient anti-reflection treatment, giving the watch a fantastic legibility.
The dial
Offering an outstanding case wasn’t enough, Formex has also done an excellent job with the dial! The Electric Blue dial has a mesmerizing sunray finish while the Cool Grey comes in glossy cement look.
Hands and hand-applied indexes are mirror polished on the bevels to increase legibility during the day, while deep-filled grade A BGW9 SuperLumiNova emits a strong, blue lume in low light conditions.
The movement
I have already mentioned that the movement is the chronometer grade SW200. It’s COSC certified, and it comes with a decorated rotor and thermally blued screws, offering a beautiful caseback to the watch.
The straps
As usual, there are multiple great strap options! The blue nylon strap is definitely my favorite on the Electric Blue ! The strap, although a bit stiff at first, turns out to be rather comfortable and give the watch and fantastic style.
All straps come with quick release curved spring bars and the (now famous) all-carbon Formex Deployant clasp with gradual, 7mm fine-adjustment system.
Conclusion
I have been playing with these two watches during a couple of weeks, wearing one after the other. While 43mm is my sweet spot when it comes to watch case width, I must admit that the 41mm didn’t feel unusually small on my wrist.
The Leggera is ultra-light and comfortable and could be easily forgotten if it wasn’t such an eye-catching piece!
It’s available from 1650€ on https://formexwatch.com/
