BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Dubai Watch Week is currently underway. While we still weren’t confident about heading out to a large gathering, especially given the newly discovered Omicron variant from South Africa, we’re still here to provide you with coverage over some of the watches coming out of the show. Oris is always a brand that gets our readers buzzing, and this new Big Crown Pointer Date Calibre 403 looks to do the same.
The Big Crown Pointer Date came around in the late 1930s as a watch for pilots. The large crown allowed pilots to adjust the time and wind their watch (if needed) quickly while wearing their gloves. The pointer date was another helpful feature, indicating the date clearly using a centrally-mounted hand pointing to the dates which were arranged around the edge of the dial, the date window as we know it today wouldn’t appear until 1945 on the Rolex DateJust, prior to this a subdial and hand would require you to squint at it to get the date.
This watch is smaller than the traditional Big Crown watches, with a diameter of 38mm, which, judging by the comments, is one of the favourite sizes of our readers. The coin-edged bezel is gone, too, with Oris opting for a smooth and polished variant. The steel case provides a cool backdrop for the simplistic blue dial, which has touches of lume here and there and a red accent on the pointer date. Apart from a small seconds display, not much is happening here, meaning a pilot would be able to glance at it and gauge the time accurately and quickly.
Inside the watch is the in-house calibre 403, which comes with a 120-hour power reserve and automatic winding. It also employs non-ferromagnetic components like Omega does to reduce the impact of magnetism on the movement. It’s COSC chronometer-certified to between -3/+5 seconds per day. It’s virtually the same as the calibre 400 except for the small seconds display. It’s on view through a sapphire crystal caseback. It also has a 10-year warranty.
The leather strap for this watch is black and comes with a stainless steel pin-buckle and quick-change system. The price is set at CHF3100, and this is not a limited edition.
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