Watches and Wonders 2021: It’s a sweet time to be an Oris fan...
As we kick off our Watches and Wonders 2021 coverage, we can’t help but start with a brand adored by many, Oris. They are a Swiss player who creates watches at an approachable price point and today they’ve announced some gorgeous watches that are going to break the internet.
The New Oris Diver Sixty Five ‘Cotton Candy’
The New Oris Diver Sixty Five ‘Cotton Candy’ - Image Credit: Oris
The new Divers Sixty-Five ‘Cotton Candy’ has a simple ambition – to bring a smile. It picks up the all-bronze case, bezel, crown and bracelet combination engineered by Oris for the Hölstein Edition 2020, and adds a peppy palette of dial colours in either sky blue, wild green or lipstick pink. The 38mm case is intentionally unisex, while bronze creates its own story by patinating during the natural, charming process of oxidisation. Each model is powered by an automatic Swiss mechanical movement and delivers the same quality standards the Divers Sixty-Five collection is now synonymous with: domed sapphire crystal, water-resistant to 10 bar (100 metres) and hands and applied indices filled with bright Super-LumiNova®. Why ‘Cotton Candy’? Because these are watches designed to bring warmth and the optimism of better times.
Stats:
Reference: 01 733 7771 3155, 01 733 7771 3157, 01 733 7771 3158
Case width: 38mm
Movement: Number Oris 733
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds and date
Power reserve: 38 hours
Case: Bronze
Water-resistance: 10 atm (100m)
Dial: Sky blue, wild green or lipstick pink
Strap: leather or bronze bracelet
Price: CHF 2,500
Availability: June 2021
First Thoughts
The New Oris Diver Sixty Five ‘Cotton Candy’ - Image Credit: Oris
Oh man, people are going to go crazy over these and I totally see why. Oris have ticked every box that people care about at the moment. Firstly the watches are bright and colourful. This is something we saw in a major way last year via Rolex and it isn’t the last time we will see it this year (Cartier has some lovely stuff up their sleeve). Next, people love (and have loved) bronze. I believe it was thought of as a bit of a trend a few years ago, but Oris are certainly the kings of affordable bronze watches. Oris went out of their way to say how these are unisex watches, and rightfully so. I know men who would wear all of them (hell I’d wear them why not) and at 38mm wide it's a very balanced and wearable size. And finally that price, at around 2,500 CHF these releases offer something genuinely different that will put a smile on your face.
The New Oris AquisPro Date Cal 400
The New Oris AquisPro Date Cal 400 - Image Credit: Oris
Oris’s professional diver’s watch, the AquisPro Date, is the latest watch to be equipped with Oris’s in-house Calibre 400 movement. Boasting elevated levels of anti-magnetism, superior accuracy compared to a chronometer, a five-day power reserve and a 10-year guarantee, Calibre 400 is the new standard in Swiss Made automatic mechanical movements.
The AquisPro Date is a natural home for Oris’s high-performance Calibre 400. Designed to serve professional divers on saturation dives, it’s a highly technical tool watch chosen by divers who work on complex engineering projects in helium-enriched environments hundreds of metres below the water’s surface.
Among its special features is Oris’s patented Rotation Safety System, known as RSS. This exclusive Oris device, commissioned by the professional diving community, enables the wearer to adjust and lock the uni-directional rotating bezel into place. This means that during a dive they can read off remaining dive time with absolute certainty.
Stats:
Reference: 01 400 7767 7754-07 4 26 64BTEB
Case width: 49.5mm
Movement: Oris in house Calibre 400
Functions: Centre hands for hours, minutes and seconds, date window, instantaneous date, date corrector, fine timing device and stop-second
Power reserve: 120 hours
Case: titanium case with DLC plating
Water-resistance: 100 atm (1,000m)
Dial: Black dial with wave motif
Strap: black rubber
Price: CHF 4,200
Availability: April 2021
First Thoughts
The New Oris AquisPro Date Cal 400 - Image Credit: Oris
This new AquisPro from Oris really highlights their diversity and full spectrum of watchmaking skills. On the one hand to offer a candy pink dial 100m bronze watch, to them pull a full 180 and offer a near 50mm wide, 1,000m, PVD black diver. Now that is impressive. Of course the talking point here is the rollout of their new fantastic movement into more and more models. The Calibre 400 is a marvel and is an example of how brands like Oris don’t need to just rely on their strong design team to remain relevant.
The New Oris Aquis Dat Watt Limited Edition
The New Oris Aquis Dat Watt Limited Edition - Image Credit: Oris
Like nature, Oris’s Change for the Better campaign is unlimited by treaties or border controls. It’s also holistic. Change for the Better is about conserving our planet, just as it’s about improving people’s lives.
Based on the Oris Aquis diver’s watch, the Dat Watt Limited Edition is named after a local dialect for the Wadden Sea. The 2,009 pieces mark the year the Wadden Sea was awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site statu.
The Dat Watt Limited Edition is a special watch. Its dial displays the lunar cycle and tidal range in the Northern Hemisphere via the Oris-developed Pointer Moon function, created for professional divers. This works using a central white pointer hand that once aligned with the correct day in the 29.5-day lunar cycle, shows the corresponding tidal range via the white outline on the dial. The same hand indicates the waxing and waning of the moon.
Stats:
Reference: 761 7765 4185
Case width: 43.5mm
Movement: Oris 761
Functions: Centre hands for hours, minutes and seconds, centre hand moon phase, date window, instantaneous date, date corrector, fine timing device and stop-second
Power reserve: 38 hours
Case: Stainless steel
Water-resistance: 30 atm (300m)
Dial: Gradient blue/grey
Strap: metal bracelet
Price: CHF 2,450
Availability: Limited to 2009 pieces, available May 2021
First Thoughts
The New Oris Aquis Dat Watt Limited Edition - Image Credit: Oris
Once again Oris have shown their diversity, creating a watch that embodies their strong beliefs in protecting our world and improving lives. It’s a noble trait and one that 10 years ago would have just been some marketing jargon BS thrown around in focus groups to get people interested. But Oris do more than that as the special watches they create actually reflect what they’re getting behind in the watch design. The story is right there on the dial and if there is one thing we watch people love is a good story...
Final thoughts
These releases are Oris doing what Oris does best. Their ear is always to the ground as they’re one of a few brands who genuinely understand what the customer is looking for. This coherence from release to release over the years has helped shape the brand into one that is worth getting into it.
The New Oris Aquis Dat Watt Limited Edition - Image Credit: Oris
Recently I compared the Tudor Black Bay to the Oris Aquis Calibre 400 saying how I think Oris has a very strong case to put to Tudor now - Well, the new Cotton Candy Divers cements what I've thought for a long time. Oris are nailing it at the moment and I can see the next few years for them being very, very successful ones.
To find out more be sure to head over to the Oris site here.
