When Oris unveiled the Artelier Calibre 111 in 2015, it marked a significant moment in the company’s history – the rebirth of Oris’s in-house movement development programme. Now part of Oris folklore, the landmark watch is back, this time with a piercing blue dial that gives the line a stylish twist.

The magic of Artelier Calibre 111 was – and remains – in itsunique combination of complications. Its hand-wound mechanical movement delivers a 10-day power reserve, an Oris patented non-linear power reserve indicator and a date indication.

Oris is the only Swiss watch company with a movement that brings these features together in a single watch.The watch’s huge power reserve is stored in the standout feature of the movement’s architecture, a single, oversized barrel, visible through a sapphire crystal case back. That in turn feeds the non linear power reserve indicator at 3 o’clock. This is governed by a specially developed ‘worm gear’ also visible through the caseback, and shows the time remaining with ever greater accuracy as the time to rewind the watch approaches.

Calibre 111 was developed over a six-year period. Despite delivering exceptional  performance, it still conforms to Oris’s value philosophy. Ever since 1904, when the company was founded by two watchmakers in the Swiss town of Hölstein, Oris has combined state-of-the-art industrial manufacturing techniques, traditional hand-craftsmanship and sensible pricing to create beautiful, memorable watches designed to last a lifetime.

The new version of the Artelier Calibre 111 continues the legacy and positions Oris as one of the Swiss watch industry’s most pioneering mechanical watch innovators. It comes in a 43mm stainless steel case with a deep blue sun-ray dial and on a dark blue or black Louisiana croco leather strap, or on a superbly engineered stainless steel bracelet. It is presented in a luxurious wooden box and will go on sale in December 2017.

Product Features

OrisArtelier Calibre 111

Ref. No. 01 111 7700 4065 LS, Ø 43.0 mm

• Oris-developed Calibre 111, hand-wound, 3hz, 21,600vph, single barrel
• 10-day power reserve, patented non-linear power reserve indication at 3o’clock, small seconds and date at 9 o’clock
• Multi-piece stainless steel case and stainless steel crown.Water-resistant to 3 bar
• Double curved sapphire crystal top glass with anti-reflective coating inside
• Screwed stainless steel case back with see-through sapphire crystal
• Blue sun-ray dial with applied indices and numerals, and polished nickel hourand minute hands with Super-LumiNova® inlay
• Dark blue or black Louisiana croco leather strap with stainless steel folding Also available with stainless steel bracelet

Luxurious wooden presentation case

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It’s widely accepted that more people have scaled Mount Everest than have stepped foot on Clipperton Island, the world’s most isolated landmass. The uninhabited atoll sits in a zone known as the ETP, or the Eastern Tropical Zone, approximately 1,100km south of the tip of the Baja Peninsula, on the west coast of Mexico. The nearest landmass is 945km away.

But despite its remoteness, the French-owned island and its unique ecosystem are under threat because of illegal commercial fishing and pollution. Its waters are a critical migration corridor for a number of threatened species of shark and pelagic, and several endemic species, on land and underwater, call it home.

Earlier this year, Oris announced its sponsorship of The Clipperton Expedition, a ‘citizen-science’ expedition led by N2Pix, specialized in underwater imagery and expeditions owned by Canadians Michel Labrecque and Julie Ouimet. The Oris-sponsored expedition took a group of scientists and conservationists on the arduous 80-hour journey to Clipperton (it’s only accessible by boat) to raise awareness of the vital role Clipperton plays in the migration patterns of these species, to gather data to help develop existing shark migration theories, and to effect lasting change that will preserve Clipperton’s ecosystem.

Oris is now following this up with the launch of the Oris Clipperton Limited Edition, a diver’s watch based on the brand’s Aquis series. A percentage of funds raised by sales of the 2,000 pieces produced will go towards the protection of our ocean in upcoming initiatives. Last year, a French ministerial order created a 12-nautical-mile Marine Protected Area (MPA) around the atoll, but the ambition is to secure an extension of the MPA to 100 nautical miles and UNESCO World Heritage Site status for Clipperton.

The Oris Clipperton Limited Edition is a fitting tribute to the atoll and to the work of Michel Labrecque and Julie Ouimet. It has a gradient blue dial designed to reflect the colour of the water around the atoll, which drops to 60 metres deep just offshore. The 43.5mm stainless steel case is water-resistant to 30 bar (300 metres) and has a screwed case back embossed with an outline of Clipperton Island and its coordinates. Oris Clipperton is a registered trade mark.

Beyond these features, the watch has the same roster of highperformance functions the Oris Aquis is renowned for. Its automatic movement provides it with a date function and a sweeping seconds hand, which Oris has finished with a ‘lollipop’ filled with luminescent Super-LumiNova®. This is a significant detail – to qualify for diver’s watch status, a watch must have a display that shows the running of the watch to indicate to the wearer that their dive timing is accurate. The watch also has a uni-directional rotating bezel with a black ceramic insert with a 60-minute counter.

The Oris Clipperton Limited Edition is the next step in Oris’s commitment to conserving the world’s oceans and to bringing change for the better. It follows limited edition watches made in partnership with the Coral Restoration Foundation and shark conservation programme Pelagios Kakunjá.

‘We’re proud of our Swiss watchmaking traditions, as well as the quality and integrity of our watches,’ says Oris Chairman Ulrich W. Herzog. ‘But we’re just as, if not more passionate about bringing change to make our world better, and in particular to conserving the world’s oceans. We have been making diver’s watches since the 1960s and have deep links with the underwater world – the Clipperton Limited Edition reflects our commitment to it, and becomes a significant part of our #changeforthebetter vision.’

Product Features

Oris Clipperton Limited Edition

Ref. No. 01 733 7730 4185 MB, Ø 43.5 mm

Limited to 2,000 pieces

• Automatic movement Oris Cal. 733, based on Sellita SW 200-1, with date at 6 o’clock
• Multi-piece stainless steel case with screw-in security crown and crown

protection. Water-resistant to 30 bar/300m

• Diver’s uni-directional rotating bezel with black ceramic insert with 60-minute timer and zero marker filled with Super-LumiNova®
• Sapphire crystal domed on both sides with anti-reflective coating inside
• Screwed stainless steel case back embossed with Clipperton Island and its coordinates
• Gradient blue dial with applied indices filled with Super-LumiNova®. Nickel hour and minute hands filled with Super-LumiNova®. Nickel central seconds hand with ‘lollipop’ insert filled with Super-LumiNova®
• Black rubber strap with Oris-developed safety anchor and quick-adjust,

sliding-sledge folding clasp with extension. Alternatively available with

stainless steel bracelet with quick-adjust, sliding-sledge folding clasp with extension

• Presentation box made using environmentally friendly regenerative algae. Clipperton Island insignia included inside

The post Oris continues its mission to conserve the world’s oceans and to bring change for the better with the Oris Clipperton Limited Edition appeared first on Core Sector Communique.

Oris celebrates the unique role played in aviation history by the Dewaltine D.26 aircraft, with a limited edition Big Crown D.26286 HB-RAG. This Oris Limited Edition commemorates the training aircraft designed by the French engineer Emile Dewoitine and is limited to 1,931 pieces.

Behind the watch is a new partnership between Oris and ‘Hangar31’, a group of volunteer enthusiasts who preserve and fly the historic Dewoitine D.26 aircraft from their base in the Swiss town of Grenchen, in the foothills of the Jura Mountains. Hangar 31’s motto is ‘Conservare et volare’, conserve and fly.

The story of the Dewoitine D.26 286 HB-RAG begins when itwas put into service on August 20, 1931, one of 11 aircraft commissioned by the Swiss government and built under licence by the Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstaette K+W (Federal construction workshop) in Thun, Switzerland. It remained in the Swiss Air Force until 1948 and was used to instruct trainee pilots.After it was decommissioned, it was used to tow glider aircraft into the air in Lausanne, Sion and Zurich. A long period of neglect followed, before it was restored and then exhibited in a museum in Dübendorf, near Zurich.

In 2015, the Dewoitine D.26 286 HB-RAG was passed into thecare of Hangar 31, who maintain it and regularly fly it, continuing its historic story. Today, it’s one of only two original D.26s still flying.

Oris has a rich aviation history and has worked with a number of non-profit organisations that conserve heritage aircraft. The company’s links with flying go back to the dawn of flight in the early 1910s when it produced its first aviation-inspired watch. Oris’s first pilot’s wristwatch followed soon after and is celebrated a century later with this year’s 1917 Limited Edition. The Big Crown family was introduced in 1938 as war loomed, and proved an invaluable tool to pilots who needed a clearly legible timepiece with an oversized crown that made the watch easy to adjust while it gloved during flight.

The Big Crown D.26 286 HB-RAG Oris Limited Edition unites all of these influences. The watch is based on the original Big Crown design and inherits its fluted bezel and central pointer date hand, now Oris’s signature complication. Its stainless steelcase is 40mm in diameter; its brown leather strap, green dial and special leather pouch are inspired by finishes and materials in the D.26’s cockpit; and it’s powered by an automatic mechanical movement.

Product Features

Big Crown D.26 286 HB-RAG Oris Limited Edition

Ref. No. 01 754 7741 4087 LS, Ø 40 mm

Limited to 1,931 pieces

• Automatic movement Oris Cal. 754, based on Sellita SW 200-1, with pointer
• date function
• Multi-piece stainless steel case and screw-in stainless steel crown, waterresistantto 5 bar
• Sapphire crystal domed on both sides with anti-reflective coating inside
• Screwed stainless steel case back with embossed Dewoitine D.26 286 HB-RAGplane and engraved limited edition number
• Green dial with printed Super-LumiNova® Arabic numerals, polished nickelhour and minute hands filled with Super-LumiNova®. Polished nickel centralseconds hand and central pointer date hand with red tip
• Brown leather strap with stainless steel pin buckle
• Presented in a special leather pouch with additional brown leather strap

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Expected to expand presence to 32 points of sale in an exclusive partnership with Ethos Watch Boutiques

September 27^th 2017 : Mr Rolf Studer, CEO, Oris was present in India to unveil the 2017 Basel World novelties in India, today. He also announced their strategic exclusive partnership with Ethos Watch Boutiques which is India’s largest and most trusted luxury watch retailer, to strengthen the brand presence and visibility. The exquisite timepieces from the brand range between INR 60,000/- to Rs 5,00,000/- and are available pan India.

On this occasion, Mr. Rolf Studer, CEO, Oris said, “We are extremely delighted to bring our new timepieces to India and hope our customers from here continue to show the kind of overwhelming response we have received so far. Our partnership with Ethos has been very beneficial and it’s getting stronger with each passing year. They have done a spectacular job with the brand. We look forward to a long and promising relation with them.”

Oris is known for their emphasis on traditional watches in re introducing them with new technology. They bring four novelties to India which pay homage to vintage models: among them, the Oris Chronoris returns after 50 years of its launch, also the Big Crown Pro Pilot reaches new heights with introduction of Calibre 111. Oris Divers Sixty-Five makes a comeback 50 years after its launch, it retains the vintage looks but is updated with the 21^st century technology. These are currently available at 16 stores in 8 major metro cities. Over the next three years with Ethos Watch Boutiques, Oris looks to have pan India presence by reaching tier two cities and doubling the number of point of sales to 32.

Mr. Yashovardhan Saboo, CEO, Ethos Watch Boutiques said, “We are honored and delighted to have Oris, a legendary watch brand at our boutiques PAN India and offer their new range to our customers starting this festive season. I have always felt Oris represents the unique craftsmanship of an independent Swiss watchmaker which gives customers value for money. We look forward to maintain and strengthen the healthy relation with the brand and support its growth in the region.”

About Oris

Oris was founded by Paul Cattin and Georges Christian in the Swiss town of Hölstein in 1904. The first branch of Oris was opened in 1906. The original Oris factory founded in 1904 continuously expanded and by the 1960s Oris became one of the top ten largest watch producers in Switzerland.

Oris is an independent company and is one of the few Swiss watch brands remaining who specialize in only producing 100% mechanical watches. Oris, based in Switzerland has been making watches there for over 100 years and has perfected traditional watch-making skills to develop a wide range of styles from the worlds of Culture, Diving, Aviation and Motorsport. It also means they are free to innovate and explore useful functions and features for daily use. Every Oris watch is innovative, functional, sensibly priced and designed to bring many years of pleasure.

About Ethos Watch Boutiques

Founded in 2003, with its two retail brands Ethos and Ethos Summit – Luxury Watch Boutiques, Ethos is currently 42 stores strong in India. Present across 13 cities, Ethos brings an international experience to watch buying for its customers here in India.

The brand’s website www.Ethoswatches.com has emerged as Asia’s largest online luxury watch platform. With over 7,500 watches from over 50 premium and luxury brands, the website attracts upwards of 1,000,000 visits per month. Ethoswatches.com is the first of its kind to offer visitors a comprehensive buying experience through various niche services including a highly-specialized team of luxury watch consultants, as well as The Watch Guide – an in house digital magazine that curates relevant and exclusive content for watch enthusiasts and collectors. In addition to this, the website provides benefits like EMI, watch insurance and after sales service to its customers through its dedicated service facilities across India.

Ethos Watch Boutiques houses brands such as Rolex, Omega, Breitling, Chopard, Carl F. Bucherer, Cartier, and others in the luxury space. In the premium segment, they offer TAG Heuer, Longines, Tissot, Rado and Seiko, to name a few. In the fashion segment, the brands available include Guess, CK and Armani.

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Updating a classic

Oris refines its most enduring line for a new generation

What makes a watch Swiss? All over the world, Swiss watches are revered for their beauty, their quality and their timelessness. No one knows watchmaking like the Swiss.

Sometimes, a watch design epitomises the essence of Swiss watchmaking heritage in a way others can’t. One such design is Oris’s Classic Date, a pure expression of Swiss design and manufacturing savoir-faire. This year, Oris has updated the Classic Date for a new generation of consumers.

The new Classic Date has a more elegant profile. Oris’s designers have slimmed down both the case and the bracelet, in keeping with the tastes of today’s watch buyers. Both men and women in search of a classic watch that can slip easily between daywear and dress wear want slender watch designs that give them confidence and make a subtle, but powerful statement about who they are.

But what really stands the Classic Date apart is its attention to detail. The guilloché pattern in the hour chapter ring around the dial is inspired by the glazed canopy of the Great Court at The British Museum, an iconic glass structure designed by Lord Norman Foster, one of the world’s greatest living architects. The knurled ring below the bezel takes its cues from the Roman columns in the same building. And the watch’s Roman numerals and hour markers are double-edged, a considered touch that means the watch catches the light regardless of the angle.

The Classic Date is available as a 42mm men’s watch and a 28.5mm ladies watch. Both are powered by automatic mechanical movements visible through a transparent case back, and come with a choice of case materials, dial colours and strap and bracelet combinations. In each case, the Classic Date communicates style and elegance, giving the wearer a timeless, hugely versatile watch.

Product Features

Oris Classic Date

Ref. No. 01 733 7719 4071/4371/4373/4871, Ø 42.00mm

• Automatic mechanical movement Cal. 733, based on Sellita SW 200-1, with

date at 6 o’clock

• Multi-piece stainless steel case or steel case with decorative knurled ring

with rose gold PVD-plated bezel or rose gold PVD-plated steel case. Water-resistant to 5 bar

• Flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating inside
• Screwed case back with see-through mineral glass

• Silver or dark grey guilloché dial with applied rose gold PVD-plated indices

and Roman numerals. Rose gold PVD-plated hands. Hour and minute hands

filled with Super-LumiNova®

• Multi-piece stainless steel bracelet, or stainless steel combined with rose gold PVD-plated links. Also available with dark brown leather strap with stainless steel pin buckle

Oris Classic Date

Ref. No. 01 561 7718 4071/4371/4373/4871, Ø 28.50mm

• Automatic mechanical movement Cal. 561, based on ETA 2671, with date at 6 o’clock

• Sapphire crystal domed on both sides and with anti-reflective coating inside

• White, grey or dark brown leather strap with stainless steel pin buckle. Also available with multi-piece stainless steel bracelet or stainless steel combined with rose gold PVD-plated links

The post Oris refines its most enduring line for a new generation appeared first on Core Sector Communique.

The independent Swiss watch brand presented the Oris Art Cube at this summer’s event in Munich.

Oris is pleased to announce a new partnership with the MUCA Urban Art Festival. The festival takes place in Munich and opened on July 27 with a series of events and performances. Oris opened the Oris Art Cube on the same evening with a live art performance by Berlin tape artist Klebebande who exploits the theme of space and time.

The new partnership is part of Oris’s #CRAFTINGCULTURE campaign, through which Oris is collaborating with a growing community of enthusiasts who, like the company, play an active role in communicating Oris’s independence, craftsmanship and quality, values that have underpinned the company since it was founded in 1904.

Berlin-based collective Klebebande create graphic installations using adhesive tape, a utilitarian product they use to explore the way we interact with materials. The art form is still young, but in two years, Klebebande have produced more than 40 installations, covering building facades, interiors and event spaces. They’ve previously worked with brands including Audi and Adidas.

The Oris Art Cube is a symbiosis between urban street art and watchmaking. Inside, visitors will experience the Oris brand in an unconventional, more challenging. The cube is all about detail. Its proportions are based on the Pantheon in Rome, right down to the hole in ceiling.

MUCA, or the Museum of Urban and Contemporary Art to give it its full name, is Germany’s first urban art museum and was created to enrol street art into art history. Its vision is to build a bridge between the international art scene, artists and the public.

The festival and the Oris Art Cube will be open to the public until August 28. The event line-up includes live music, poetry slams, dance performances, live painting and Germany’s largest calligraphy exhibition. Oris will invite members of the MyOris club to the Oris Art Cube.

Oris Chairman Ulrich W. Herzog commented: ‘This new partnership shows Oris at its most visionary, creative best. We’re excited to see the festival, a pioneering concept that will provide urban art with a platform that’s representative of its growing international influence over the art scene. The Oris Art Cube will expand the way people think about Oris. I’m sure it will prove to be a memorable experience, and I can’t wait to see what Klebebande do with it.

Christian Utz, founder of MUCA said: ‘We firmly believe that art has the potential to change the perception on the world. We’ve seen the same values and ambitions at Oris and we’re excited to have them on board as a partner and look forward to the impact the Oris Art Cube will have on the festival and its visitors.’

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Oris is very proud to have presented its PA Charles de Gaulle watch in Toulon to the ship’s commander, Eric Malbrunot, and to some of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier’s crew. The event was also attended by a number of Oris VIP guests who came to mark this special association.

The Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier has been protecting France and its allies for more than 15 years, both as a symbolic deterrent and also in active service. It can be made ready to sail within 72 hours, traverse an operational zone at 27 knots, and cover 1,000 km a day. Its two 75m-long catapults can launch 25- tonne planes at a rate of one every 30 seconds, or 20 planes in 10 minutes, each reaching a speed of 270 km/h within two seconds. It can accommodate a crew of as many as 1,950 marines, and has been deployed in various theatres of operation such as Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and Syria. This titan of the seas is currently at the dry dock in Toulon for important modernisation work, which will continue for 18 months and cost 1.3 billion euros. The transformation will mean it can maintain its operational performance beyond 2040.

Oris guests enjoyed the unique opportunity to visit this magnificent ship in Toulon, from where the commander coordinates the ship’s activities and its 1,300 marines.

Oris worked closely with the officers of the famous aircraft carrier to design the limited edition watch, which takes its design cues from the iconic Oris Big Crown, introduced in 1938. The watch has a number of details linking it to the military vessel. Its insignia is printed on the dial, the tip of the central seconds hand is printed with the colours of the French flag, and the PA Charles de Gaulle is engraved on the case back. The crown is engraved with ‘R91’, the aircraft carrier’s identification number. The watch is a fitting tribute to one of the world’s finest navy ships.

After visiting the vessel, the guests were introduced to the PA Charles de Gaulle Oris Limited Edition in the Toulon naval base’s ‘conservatoire des tenues’ (a collection of military uniforms). During the event, Oris Chairman Ulrich W. Herzog presented watches numbered 1 and 1,890 to the aircraft carrier commander and to the ADOSM (Association des Oeuvres Sociales de la Marine).

Eric Malbrunot, Commander of the Charles de Gaulle, expressed his admiration for Oris’s century-old watchmaking tradition and for the independent company’s military watch expertise. He said the Oris watch dedicated to the French aircraft carrier was a wonderful tribute to the vessel’s entire crew, and that receiving the number 1,890 for the Association des Oeuvres Sociales de la Marine was an honour.

In his speech, Mr Herzog said: ‘Oris is very honoured to present a watch that was created in cooperation with the officers of the PA Charles de Gaulle. I was very impressed by this vessel, an active deterrent that has been protecting France and its allies since 2001. Throughout our visit, I was captivated by the passion of the crew, a value that inspires the staff of Oris every day.’

Product Features

PA Charles de Gaulle Oris Limited Edition

Ref. No. 01 754 7679 4084-Set LS, 40.00 mm

Limited to 1,890 pieces

• Automatic movement Oris Cal. 754, based on Sellita SW 200-1, with pointer date function
• Multi-piece stainless steel case and screw in security crown, water-resistant to 10 bar/100 metres, with marking R91 on the crown, referring to the PA Charles de Gaulle’s identification number
• Sapphire crystal domed on both sides with anti-reflective coating inside
• Screwed stainless steel case back, embossed with the PA Charles de Gaulle and the limited edition number
• Black dial featuring the PA Charles de Gaulle’s insignia, with applied Arabic numerals printed on top with Super-LumiNova®
• Nickel hour and minute hands filled with Super-LumiNova®. Central seconds hand with special shape and printed with blue, white and red tip
• Dark brown leather strap with stainless steel folding clasp
• Special presentation box with the PA Charles de Gaulle’s insignia on the inside

The post Oris Charles de Gaulle Limited Edition appeared first on Core Sector Communique.

Sir Frank Williams, the legendary founder of Williams is a force of nature, a visionary who turned his British outfit into a championship winning team, and one of the most successful Formula One teams in history. This year, Williams Racing celebrates the 40th anniversary of its first Grand Prix, at the 1977 Spanish Grand Prix. To mark this historic moment and Sir Frank’s extraordinary achievements, Oris has created a limited edition version of its iconic Chronoris, also a product of the 1970s, the Williams 40th Anniversary Oris Limited Edition.

The 40mm stainless steel watch is characterised by its streamlined case shape, an homage to the original Chronoris, and houses an automatic chronograph movement that provides a central seconds chronograph hand and 30-minute and 12-hour counters at 12 and 6 o’clock.

Oris’s designers have given it a number of touches to denote the link to Williams. The central chronograph seconds hand and minute scale are both in Williams blue, while the case back is embossed with the Williams Racing logo. It comes on a brown leather strap or on a black rubber strap, or an articulated metal bracelet.

The new watch is a fitting tribute both to Williams Racing and its eponymous founder, and also to the Chronoris. When it was launched in 1970 the Chronoris became Oris’s first chronograph, created to appeal to a generation of racing enthusiasts hooked on the daredevil exploits of the era’s F1® drivers. Its unconventional, uncompromising case shape epitomised the bold design tastes of the time, and it passed into Oris folklore.

This year, the design has been reimagined and upgraded to suit the demands of a contemporary audience. The Williams 40^th Anniversary Oris Limited Edition, the hero piece in the new collection, has a sapphire crystal glass, a 48-hour power reserve and 100 metres of water resistance. It will be limited to 1,000 pieces, a real collectors’ piece.

 ‘We’re extremely proud to have been working with Williams Racing since 2003 and to be the team’s longest-serving partner,’ said Oris Chairman, Ulrich W. Herzog. ‘We created this watch to show the profound admiration we have for Williams Racing and for Sir Frank, who has been an inspiration to us and to many others for years.’

‘The Williams 40th Anniversary Oris Limited Edition is a wonderful watch and a vivid interpretation of the Williams Racing spirit,’ said Claire Williams, Williams Racing’s Deputy Team Principal. ‘It’s bold, daring and made in the pursuit of

excellence. We’re proud to have been in partnership with Oris for so long and would like to thank them for their continued support and for sharing our values.’

Product Features

Williams 40th Anniversary Oris Limited Edition

Ref. No. 01 673 7739 4084 LS, Ø 40.0 mm

Limited to 1,000 pieces

• Automatic movement Oris Cal. 673, based on ETA 7750, with chronograph function and date at 3 o’clock

• Multi-piece stainless steel case, crown, pushers and case back with embossed Williams Racing logo. Water-resistant to 10 bar/100 m

• Sapphire crystal domed on both sides with anti-reflective coating inside

• Black dial with applied polished nickel indices, hour and minute hands filled with Super-LumiNova®. Nickel polished hands for chronograph hour/minute counters and blue central chronograph seconds hand with white tip (can be used as running central seconds hand)

• Perforated brown leather strap or perforated black rubber strap with stainless steel pin buckle. Alternatively available with 15-link articulated metal bracelet with folding clasp

• Presented in a special leather pouch with additional grey NATO textile strap, strap changing tool and antistatic watch-cleaning cloth

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Events of the past don’t change, but our understanding of them can. Until recently, Oris believed that its first pilot’s watch was the Big Crown of 1938, an iconic piece of design named after its oversized crown that still informs the company’s aviation-inspired watches today. But a recent discovery made it clear history had a different story to tell.

Recent research in the company’s Hölstein archives (Oris has been on the same site since it was founded in 1904) revealed that Oris first made watches for pilots in the early 1910s. One catalogue featured a pocket watch with a Blériot airplane engraved on its case. Louis Blériot, the French pioneer aviator, successfully completed the first flight across the English Channel on July 25, 1909.

The same research uncovered what appears to be Oris’s first pilot’s wristwatch, and also one of its first wristwatches. The round, brass-cased watch had a big crown, an aluminium dial and a pin-lever movement, and was essentially a pocket watch with wire loop lugs soldered to its case. This was common practice during the First World War as officers looked for practical ways of wearing watches and as aerial warfare developed.

Today, Oris is remembering that landmark wristwatch with the Big Crown 1917 Limited Edition. In design terms, the new watch is faithful to the original. It has the same onion-shaped big crown, the same early 20th century Arabic numerals, the same blued steel hands, and the same domed glass. Even the vintage Oris logo has been revived.

Most memorably, Oris is introducing a new calibre into the watch, Calibre 732, which the company’s watchmakers have engineered so that the time can only be adjusted when the button at 2 o’clock is pushed down, in keeping with a quirk of the original.

While the aesthetic is lifted from the early days of wristwatches, the Big Crown 1917 Limited Edition is every bit a 21st century watch, manufactured according to Oris’s exacting standards.

The case is polished stainless steel and water-resistant to 5 bar, and set on a beautifully crafted brown leather cuff strap with a stainless steel pin buckle. The bubble-curved glass is made of scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, and the Arabic numerals and hands are finished with luminescent Super-LumiNova®.

The Oris Big Crown 1917 Limited Edition has a number of additional special touches. The case back is embossed with the original ‘OWC’ trademark, which stood for ‘Oris Watch Company’ and was used as a ‘Poinçon de Maître’ quality stamp on Oris’s 18-carat gold watches. The case back also carries the limited edition number – only 1,917 examples will be made. The final flourish is a travel pouch, which contains an additional leather strap with twin rivets, as per the original, and a stainless steel pin buckle.

The Oris Big Crown 1917 Limited Edition is an historic watch and a charming reminder of Oris’s rich watchmaking heritage.

Oris Big Crown 1917 Limited Edition

Ref. No. 01 732 7736 4081 LS, Ø 40.00mm

Limited to 1,917 pieces

• Automatic movement Oris Cal. 732, based on Sellita SW 200-1. Time adjustment via pusher at 2 o’clock

• Polished multi-piece stainless steel case and crown. Water-resistant to 5 bar

• Bubble-curved sapphire crystal domed on both sides with anti-reflective coating inside

• Screwed stainless steel case back with embossed original ‘OWC’ Oris Watch Company logo and engraved limited edition number

• Silver dial with printed numerals filled with Super-LumiNova®, blued steel hour and minute hands filled with Super-LumiNova®

• Brown leather cuff strap with stainless steel pin buckle

• Set includes leather travel pouch and additional leather strap with stainless steel pin buckle

The post A lifetime in flight: Oris celebrates the discovery of its first pilot’s wristwatch with a special limited edition piece made in homage to the original appeared first on Core Sector Communique.

More than 75 years after Oris made its first pilot’s watch, the company is proud to announce the launch of the most innovative pilot’s watch in its history – the Oris Big Crown ProPilot Altimeter, the world’s first automatic mechanical watch with a mechanical altimeter.

It’s the latest in a long line of Oris pilot’s watches, stretching back to 1938. Oris has a proud tradition of making accurate, reliable, industrially manufactured and sensibly priced wristwatches, which is why Oris has become the pilot’s choice.

Watchmaking takes to the skies

The histories of watchmaking and aviation are inextricably linked. Developments in aviation during the first four decades of the 20th century had transformed the notion of heavier-than-air flight from an impossible dream into a commercial, industrial and military reality. Flying was the future – it was fast, exciting, dangerous, and the men and women who took to the skies became heroic figures.

Like the aircraft themselves, early navigational flying aids were very basic. It quickly became clear that pilots needed quality timekeeping instruments they could depend on when planning routes and manoeuvres, and undertaking airborne missions.

Pocket watches were still the trend during the early flight years at the beginning of the 20th century. But for pilots, who would be gloved to protect them from the elements, fumbling around in a pocket for an important reading was impractical.

The practical alternative was a watch worn on the wrist. No longer hidden from view, wristwatches meant pilots could quickly and easily reference the time without a great deal of movement. Wristwatches were quickly adopted by pilots around the world.

A period of innovation

But they weren’t perfect, and improvements followed. Movements became smaller, because few pilots could wear a pocket watch on their wrist without it being an obstruction in the confined space of a cockpit. Dials became more legible, stripped back to the essentials, with luminescent materials applied to the hands and hour markers so the watch could be read during night flying. And crowns became larger so pilots could operate a watch while wearing gloves.

As aircraft and the men and women who flew them became more and more popular, so the pilot’s watch aesthetic grew in influence. Those returning from wartime operations were heroes – and their standard-issue watches became symbols of their heroic deeds. Aviation made wristwatches both better and more fashionable.

The pilot’s choice

Oris was at the heart of this sea change. The original 1938 Big Crown Pointer Date watch was pioneering, not just because of its oversized crown, but because of its pointer date function, a design that would become the Oris signature.

In the decades since, Oris has produced legion pilot’s watches. Over the last 20 years, many have been produced in honour of Oris partnerships; others have been limited editions, created to mark significant landmarks in aviation history or the achievements of contemporary pilots.

The Oris Flight Timer 1945 LE marked 60 years since the end of the Second World War; the Oris Polly Vacher Limited Edition celebrated the remarkable British aviatrix, who in 2003 became the first woman to fly solo around the globe via the North and South Poles; and this year, the Oris Royal Flying Doctor Service Limited Edition embodies the company’s partnership with the iconic Australian aeromedical service.

Mainstays of the Oris aviation collection include the Big Crown (continuing the story started 76 years ago), the BC3 and the BC4. The BC3 was introduced in 1999 and is a classic pilot’s watch, with a robust round case, and black or white dials with simple, highly legible detailing. The BC4 design first appeared in 2008.

Its design was based on high-functioning cockpit instruments, and it came loaded with functionality – current models carry chronographs, retrograde dates, regulator dials and a world timer that shows three time zones simultaneously, one of which can be adjusted forwards or backwards in one-hour jumps via plus and minus pushbuttons on either side of the case. In 2009, the BC4 won a prestigious Red Dot Design award.

The story continues…

Aviation continues to play a significant role in the Oris line-up. In 2014, Oris introduced the Big Crown ProPilot collection, a series of mechanical watches designed to cope with life in the cockpit. Initially, there were three models – a date, a day/date, both with an enlarged font size, and a chronograph. Now, the Swiss watch company is unveiling the most complicated pilot’s watch it has ever made – the Oris Big Crown ProPilot Altimeter. The new watch is an innovation pioneered by Oris in its Hölstein factory, and the world’s first and patented automatic mechanical watch with a mechanical altimeter.

It demonstrates Oris’s exceptional watchmaking know-how and horological ambition, both of which have been built up over 110 years of watchmaking history.

An instrument designed for altitude workers

The Oris Big Crown ProPilot Altimeter has been developed entirely by Oris to serve as a high-performance instrument for pilots, mountaineers, explorers and research scientists, who work at altitude. Its sturdy 47mm multi-piece stainless steel case houses an Oris automatic movement, and a Swiss mechanical barometric altimeter and barometer movement.

One of the biggest challenges facing Oris engineers was the design of the altimeter hand itself. Making the altimeter mechanism small enough to fit inside a wristwatch meant the hand had to be extremely lightweight, but stiff enough to avoid tolerances and therefore inaccurate readings. The solution was to create it from laminated carbon fibre, making the hand seven times lighter, but 10 times stiffer than the average watch hand.

Another challenge was how to protect the inner workings of the watch from moisture when the altimeter is activated. Oris patented a new altimeter adjustment and venting crown, which prevents moisture from entering the watch using a membrane made of PTFE, which creates a vapour barrier.

The above mentioned aspects are covered by an Oris patent i.e. the multi-function adjustment venting crown, the co-axial layout of the watch and altimeter movements, including a skeletonised movement holder, and the carbon fibre altimeter hand.

How the patented Oris Big Crown ProPilot Altimeter works The Oris Big Crown ProPilot Altimeter has two crowns. The crown at 2 o’clock is a conventional crown to adjust the time and date, and to wind the watch as necessary (the automatic movement has a 38-hour power reserve).

A second screw-down crown at 4 o’clock operates the altimeter. When screwed down into ‘Position 0’, the altimeter is inactive and the watch is water-resistant to 10 bar. The altimeter is activated by unscrewing the crown into ‘Position 1’, indicated by

a red ring.

When the crown is pulled out into ‘Position 2’, the altimeter can be calibrated. Once set, the watch shows the current altitude via the yellow indicator, and the corresponding air pressure via the red indicator. The altitude scale is around the outer dial ring; it can measure altitude up to 15,000 feet or 4,500 metres (two models have been produced, one with a scale in feet, one in metres). The air pressure scale is recessed between the altimeter scale and the central dial. Once the altimeter is no longer required, the crown can be returned to Position 0 by screwing it down, resealing the watch case and ensuring it is once again water-resistant to 10 bar.

The Oris Big Crown ProPilot Altimeter, the world’s first automatic mechanical altimeter watch developed for ambitious explorers.

Product Features

Oris Big Crown ProPilot Altimeter

Ref. No. 733 7705 4134 TS, Ø 47.00mm, with Feet Scale

Ref. No. 733 7705 4164 TS, Ø 47.00mm, with Metre Scale

• Oris automatic mechanical movement Cal. 733, based on SW200 with date window at 3 o’clock
• Integrated Swiss mechanical barometric altimeter and barometer movement
• Multi-piece stainless steel case. Water-resistant to 10 bar/100m
• Sapphire crystal domed and with anti-reflective coating on both sides
• Screwed case back
• Screw-in stainless steel crowns. Patented Oris altimeter adjustment and venting crown, incl. a PTFE vapour barrier
• Black dial with printed Arabic numerals filled with Super-LumiNova®, same as hour and minute hands
• Altimeter hand made from laminated carbon fibre
• Textile strap with stainless steel folding clasp. Also available with leather strap or metal bracelet

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