By Jovan Krstevski
Does anyone care for a watch with a shade of honorable history? Well if you do now is your chance to buy one whilst supporting a foundation and nodding to a great man.
The Oris Carl Brashear Limited Edition Dive Watch is a tribute to the first African-American Master Diver Carl Brashear. He pretty much survived the US Navy’s tough diving program and spent many years of his life staying true to his motto, “It’s not a sin to get knocked down, it’s a sin to stay down.” Besides the historical ambience, this Oris watch is very interesting for its bronze build which is quite subtle and very classic. It’s no wonder why bronze watches are becoming popular these days to the point that some manufacturers are actually playing with the patina process to yield unique results to the bronze aging. Personally, though, steel is much preferable for its impressive durability and aesthetics but that’s not the case here.
Anyhow for the lovers of true classic timepieces, the Oris Carl Brashear Limited Edition Dive Watch is indeed a remarkable find. As for the bronze highlights, it’s a clear nod to the great man whose diving helmet was made of bronze. Okay, so much for history lessons, let’s go and see how the watch’s specifications fare to its tributary persona. By the way, the case is bumped up to 42 mm from Oris’s usual 40 mm cases which is, of course, better when it comes to sporty watches. The case also uses a bronze material with high copper content which results to speedy aging so don’t fret if your shiny watch suddenly becomes hazy as if it has been left so long underwater. This is the patina effect which is the desirable expectation of the designers of the watch. Besides, it looks appealing especially with the beautiful lugs and crown. The caseback is made of solid stainless steel with the limited edition markings minus the exhibition of the movement.
The magic is somehow resonated by the inky dark blue dial with bubble-curved sapphire crystal offering a unique yet subtle magnification. Reading time is a breeze and delightful thanks to the traditional applied rose gold-plated markers and hands which are so much functional with the magnification effect of the curved crystal. The date position at six also owes to the symmetrical design of the watch which is quite subtle and very nice. If you look at the watch when it is fully aged, you’ll somehow appreciate what I’ve been talking about here, the classy and minimalist style.
What powers the Oris Carl Brashear Limited Edition is the in-house Oris’ calibre 733 based on the Sellita SW200. It beats at 4 Hz frequency which offers perfect precision for high reliability. It also sports 38 hours of power reserve and a tested water resistance of 100 m. Note that its big brother, the Oris Sixty Five is also being powered by the same movement so yeah, this is a very capable movement for a themed watch from a Swiss manufacturer.
You get to wear this watch on a brown leather strap and also enjoy its wooden box sporting the US Navy Master Diver badge. The watch is limited to 2000 pieces and will retail for CHF 2,600. For more info, please visit oris.ch
JOVAN KRSTEVSKI – FOUNDER, PROPRIETOR & EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Jovan Krstevski has been collecting watches every since his father bought him an Omega Seamaster back when he was just a teenager. He launched Watchgeek back in 2011, which is now known as WristReview and is one of the most widely read watch blogs on the Web. He quotes ’WristReview is a site to help people find, explore, discover and enjoy wristwatches.’ Besides WristReview, he also writes for a number of publications. Read his articles here
