Baselworld 2017 Oris Novelties

ORIS launches four novelties at Baselworld. Three watches pay a homage to vintage models. One pays homage to something that may soon become vintage: coral reefs.

 

The Oris Big Crown 1917 Limited Edition

The discovery of its first pilot’s wristwatch is celebrated by launching a limited edition timepiece as a tribute to the original watch. Research in the company’s archives revealed a pilot watch made in the early 1910s. One catalog shows a pocket watch with a Blériot airplane engraved. Louis Blériot completed the first flight across the English channel on July 25, 1909. The researchers discovered a round, brass-cased watch with a big crown, an aluminium dial and wire loop lugs soldered to the case. This was a popular method to make life easier for pilots who needed both hands to fly.

Oris revives this watch with the Big Crown 1917 Limited Edition. The new edition shares the onion-shaped big crown, the early 20th century arabic numerals, the blued steel hands, time-adjustment-unlock button and domed glass with the original  The watch also bears the vintage Oris logo.

Arguably the most interesting feature is the movement, the new calibre 732 – based on a Sellita SW200-1 – to enable unlocking the time-adjustment function with the push-down button at the 2 o’clock position. While remaining faithful to the original design, the watch has also been modernised. The case is made of polished stainless steel, water resistance is set to 5 bar, and the glass is made of sapphire crystal. The Arabic numerals are finished with luminescent Super-Luminova. The watch comes with a brown leather cuff strap with a stainless steel pin buckle. The case-back carries the original OWC trademark and the limited edition number. When you order the watch you will also receive a travel pouch, containing an additional leather strap with twin rivets and a stainless steel pin buckle.

Specifications 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
• Swiss retail price CHF 2,400

Oris Regulateur “Der Meistertaucher”

This year Oris launches yet another edition of the Regulateur Meistertaucher (Master Diver). The regulator dial – with separated minute and hour hands – was introduced by clockmakers in observatories in the 18th century. Oris introduced this complication for the first time in a diver’s watch in 1999. When you are a diver yourself, you know that legibility is important when you are wearing goggles, especially when visibility is low.  The idea behind the regulator dial is to allow divers to instantly see what their diving time is or what their remaining dive time is. The minute hand is in the center. The hour is shown by a hand on a sub-dial at 3 o’clock. Seconds are displayed in a sub-dial at the 9 o’clock position. A date window is located at the 6 o’clock position. By aligning the uni-directional rotating bezel to the starting minute, you can quickly see your dive time. Likewise, when you align the marking with the targeted minutes, you can quickly see what your remaining dive time is.

This year’s version of the Meistertaucher takes its design cues from the next generation Aquis (see below). It has become a bit sleeker and has an upgraded bezel with an easier grip. Like before, the 2017 Regulateur Meistertaucher has a titanium case and bracelet. A relief for those who fear that reflections attract barracudas. The minute hand now has a bright red outline that corresponds to the 15-minute scale in the bezel and to the red rubber strap option. Obviously this is only relevant above water. Underwater the red color is the first color to vanish (typically lower than 5m). But who cares. It looks great above water.  Furthermore the watch has an automatic helium escape valve at the 9 o’clock position.

Specifications Oris Regulateur ‘Der Meistertaucher’

• Ref. No. 01 749 7734 7154 MB, Ø 43.50mm
• Automatic movement Oris Cal. 749, based on Sellita SW 220-1, with minute hand in the centre, hour hand on a sub-dial at 3 o’clock, small seconds at 9 o’clock, and date window at 6 o’clock
• Titanium case and crown protection, with stainless steel screw-in security crown and automatic helium escape valve at 9 o’clock.
• Water-resistant to 30 bar/300 m
• Diver’s uni-directional rotating bezel with black ceramic inlay with 60-minute timer and zero marker filled with Super-LumiNova®
• Sapphire crystal domed on both sides with anti-reflective coating inside
• Screwed titanium case back with embossed Oris shield and ‘MEISTERTAUCHER’ inscription
• Black dial with applied indices filled with Super-LumiNova®. Red outlined minute hand filled with Super-LumiNova®, white hour hand filled with Super-LumiNova®, and white seconds hand painted in Super-LumiNova®
• Titanium bracelet with folding clasp and extension system. Supplied with red rubber strap with folding clasp and quick-adjust extension system
• Presented in a black water-resistant case with red rubber replacement strap and strap-change tools
• Swiss retail price CHF 3,100

 

Oris Staghorn Restoration Limited Edition

Oris supports the work of the Coral Restoration Foundation through the sales of the new Oris Staghorn Restoration watch, which is limited to 2,000 pieces. The Foundation is a Florida-based non-profit ocean conservation organisation focused on restoring the world’s coral reefs. It believes that everyday individuals can make ecological change happen and inspires people through education and volunteering action programs. For example, in 2015 the Foundation planted 22,502 new corals and was preparing another 40,000. The need for such change is obvious as one quarter of the coral reefs – ecosystems in themselves – have been damaged beyond repair by bleaching, fishing and careless tourism. Recently a cruise ship damaged a large area and I have seen divers damage the reefs with their diving equipment.

The Staghorn is part of the next-generation Aquis collection launched this year. The dial is dark blue. Central seconds and the bezel’s zero marker are in orange. Orange is the color of the Staghorn coral. Besides hours, minutes and seconds, the dial features day and date indicators. The day is shown through a sequence of seven windows organised in a circle. An orange indicator reflects the day of the week. The date is located at 6 o’clock, also in orange.

The Staghorn Restoration features an automatic mechanical movement and a uni-directional bezel with ceramic insert. The case-back is decorated with an embossed Staghorn coral as well as the limited edition number.

A nice touch is the insignia of the Staghorn coral on the inner cover of the box. The box itself is made of environmentally friendly regenerative algae.

Specifications Oris Staghorn Restoration Limited Edition:

• Ref. No. 01 735 7734 4185 RS, Ø 43.50mm
• Limited to 2,000 pieces
• Automatic movement Oris Cal. 735, based on Sellita SW 220-1, with date window at 6 o’clock
• Weekdays displayed through seven apertures on an inner circle by an orange indicator. Instantaneous jump at midnight
• Multi-piece stainless steel case and screw-in security crown with crown protection. Water-resistant to 30 bar/300 m
• Diver’s uni-directional rotating bezel with polished black ceramic insert and orange/white minute scale
• Screwed stainless steel case back with embossed Staghorn coral and engraved limited edition number
• Sapphire crystal domed on both sides with anti-reflective coating
• Dark blue dial with applied indices filled with Super-LumiNova®. Nickel hour and minute hands with Super-LumiNova® inserts. Orange central seconds hand with Super-LumiNova® ‘lollipop’ insert
• Black rubber strap with Oris-developed safety anchor and quick adjustment sliding-sledge folding clasp. Also available with a stainless steel bracelet
• The presentation box with an insignia on the inside featuring the Staghorn coral is made using environmentally friendly regenerative algae
• Swiss retail price CHF 2,000 on a strap, CHF 2,200 on metal bracelet

 

Oris Chronoris Date

Perhaps the most interesting novelty is the launch of the Oris Chronoris, a contemporary version of the Chronoris of the 1970s. The original Chronoris – chrono oris – was Oris’ s first stop-seconds chronograph. The watch had orange hour markers and seconds hand and a case that – in hindsight – can be characterised as the “1970s” case. Although Oris introduced a replica Chronoris in 2005, the 2017 model is a re-interpretation of the original watch. The new Chronoris date watch has a streamlined case, the already-mentioned orange markers and seconds hand, and a multi-tone dial.

The inner rotating bezel is operated by a separate crown at 4 o’clock position. The marker can be aligned with hours and minutes to time seconds, minutes and hours. The date window is located at the 3 o’clock position.

The Chronoris Date comes on a brown or black vintage leather strap, a black rubber strap, or a grey NATO textile strap. There is also a stainless steel bracelet option, which looks quite nice. The designers had the original bracelet with its 15 links across in mind when they designed this bracelet.

Specifications Oris Chronoris Date:

• Ref. No. 01 733 7737 4053 LS, Ø 39.00mm
• Automatic movement Oris Cal. 733, based on Sellita SW 200-1, with date at 3 o’clock
• Multi-piece stainless steel case and crowns. Water-resistant to 10 bar/100 metres
• Revolving inner bezel timer function operated by screw-down crown at 4 o’clock
• Sapphire crystal domed on both sides with anti-reflective coating inside
• Screwed stainless steel case back
• Grey dial with white indices, hour and minute hands filled with Super-LumiNova®. Orange central seconds hand
• Available with brown or black leather strap, black rubber strap, grey NATO textile strap or a stainless steel bracelet with 15 links across
• Swiss retail price CHF 1,600 on a strap, CHF 1,800 on metal bracelet