BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Oris is a brand lots of watch aficionados keep an eye on, why? Well, they’re quite creative with their designs, playful with their marketing and they’re doing lots of things which resonate with the kind of people who buy their watches. With that in mind, we have two new models to show you.
Oris x LFP Divers Sixty-Five Limited Edition
The first piece is a limited edition watch worked on by Oris, Ligue de Football Professionelle, which runs the professional football leagues in France, and also CNAPE which is the National Convention of Child Protection Associations and works with 200 different associations working in France to protect children. Since 2022, Oris has been the timekeeper for the annual football tournament that LFP and CNAPE run together, where children play on professional pitches with their favourite footballers.
The watch itself is quite playful, as one would expect. The dial is the most obvious, a deep blue colour with the usual Oris logo replaced by one which looks to be hand-drawn, this is actually the typeface used in the football tournament mentioned above. In fact, this typeface is used for all of the writing on the dial, with the ‘water resistant’ bit adding in some extra colours. This is all set within a 38mm stainless steel case with a bidirectional rotating bezel and 100m of water resistance. Inside it is the Sellita SW200-1-based movement Oris calls the 733 calibre, it has a 4Hz beat rate and a 41-hour power reserve. The price of this one is CHF2,500 and it’s limited to 1000 examples worldwide.
Aquis Chronograph
The other model we’re showing you today is the revised Aquis Chronograph. The Aquis is Oris’ modern diver and probably their most well-known model. The Aquis Chronograph adds the complexity of a chronograph to the mix and makes for a watch that’s chunkier and more professional-looking. Case in point, the stainless steel case of this one measures 43.5mm x 17mm which is pretty ginormous and yet smaller than the outgoing Aquis Chronograph which measured around 46mm in diameter and was even thicker. So, if you’ve always wanted one of those but found it unwearably large, you might be in with a shout with this one. I said might. It’s 300m water resistant.
As this is a revamp of the entire Aquis Chronograph range, your options are limited at the moment. In the words of Henry Ford’s secretary (probably), you can have this in any colour you want as long as it’s blue. The dial’s layout is simple; a tricompax subdial setup means reading information from the chronograph is easy, and there’s a colour-matched date wheel, too. This is powered by the Oris calibre 771 which is based on the Sellita SW510 and has a 4Hz beat rate and 62-hour power reserve. It’s also visible through the caseback, with the iconic red-painted rotor symbolising that it’s a Sellita-based movement rather than one of Oris’ new in-house calibres. That does keep the price down, though, to CHF4,400.
Which of these two was your favourite? What colours do you think will come next to the Aquis Chronograph? Let us know in the comments!
