Watches Blog Wrist Watch Reviews

Oriss dedication to land and sea conservation is renowned. Following the Oceans Trilogy, this new limited-edition Aquis Upcycle supports the clean-up of non-recyclable plastics from our ecosystem. More so than a single species or localized environment, the impact of certain plastics is widespread and devastating. To bring awareness to the plight of our oceans, Oris represents the appearance of plastic-strewn beaches on the dial of the Upcycle. Used plastic products are shredded and molded into a colorful mosaic pattern. Coloured PET plastics are notoriously challenging to recycle and often end up in landfill sites or release toxins during incineration. Oris elects to upcycle the PET, bringin [...]

Since 1904, Oris has strived to make fantastic watches at accessible prices. The brand prides itself on its dedication to this mission, seeing it as an inseparable part of its identity. Through the years, watch enthusiasts have come to love Oris for this commitment to value. Indeed, this is one of the core values upon which the brand was built over 115 years ago.In this installment of A Brief History of Time, well explore as much as we can about where Oris came from, its struggles, its accomplishments, and its modern-day success. Admittedly, its a bit of a daunting task to fit such a long, uninterrupted history into a single article. Nevertheless, I hope youll stick with me, as we find out w [...]

Oris has slowly but surely been equipping more of its watches with movements from the in-house Calibre 400 series. Earlier this year, we did see the bronze Divers Sixty-Five Carl Brashear that featured the Calibre 401 and a small seconds sub-dial. Now, the time has come for Oris to release the first Divers Sixty-Five with the standard Calibre 400. It comes in the shape of a khaki dialed, 38mm limited edition piece. Time to find out more about the Oris Divers Sixty-Five Cal. 400 Limited Edition For Hodinkee.Things have been busy in the small Swiss town of Holstein over the last 12 months. Oris has been focussing on releasing a great variety of watches. Here at Fratello, we even had the pleasu [...]

Over the past months, Oris has released a handful of novel and formidable in-house calibers. Starting with the inaugural Calibre 400, name of both movement and watch, a time/date Aquis, we were then quickly given the newest iteration of the Carl Brashear diver in bronze with Calibre 401, a small seconds variant of the base 400.On June 1, the newest Oris Holstein Limited Edition was released using the never-before-seen Calibre 403 with pointer-date and small seconds to the tune of a scarce 250 available pieces. All of these are built off the base architecture of the Calibre 400, a revolution in watch engineering, longevity, and economics. But with movements numbering 400, 401, and 403, one ha [...]

It couldn't be any better. I like everything about the Oris Star. The shape, dial, bezel, wearability, and functionality. The only detail some modern critical eyes might object to would be the 36mm diameter. On the other hand, the watch is perfectly balanced thanks to the original bracelet, fitted with an Oris signed clasp.? I kept my eye on it for a few years. I wasn't actively hunting it, but I stopped and stared anytime one crossed my path. It was the 1,000 plus price tag that always chased me away. When I accidentally bumped into one Oris Star for half the price, I?didn't hesitate and bought it right away. And I?am telling you that even after a?year I?am still surprised at how well balan [...]

You may remember my introduction to the striking black and yellow depth gauge that Oris released at the start of May. The Depth Gauge was one of Oris's most technologically advanced timepieces. It features a mechanical method for divers to track their current depth underwater. However, as I noted back then, mechanical depth gauge watches are not exactly commonplace in our industry.Before I get stuck into this review, I wanted to add a caveat that there is a limitation to the Oris Depth Gauge, and that is, it only tracks the current depth. Therefore, there is no record of the deepest point of the dive. Now, for decompression time calculations, this is an essential factor to take into account. [...]

Today Oris has updated one of its more technically advanced mechanical dive watches, the watch with a hole, the Aquis Depth Gauge. The second generation of the impressive tool watch features three critical improvements over its predecessor.Mechanical depth gauges are not that commonplace in most modern divers' equipment bag. Partly because the advanced digital dive computers monitor this for them and because they're just so few and far between. That said, many divers like to take a mechanical backup watch with them, so having a mechanical depth gauge to boot is certainly a helpful addition.Into the deepThe mechanical depth gauge mechanism is actually quite simple in its science, but the exec [...]

Earlier this year, Oris dropped the third generation of the Carl Brashear Limited Edition. As with the previous two Carl Brashear watches, the popular Divers Sixty-Five is the base of this creation. Yet, for the first time, within the bronze Sixty-Five case is a new proprietary Calibre 401 movement. But how does this new watch compare with the regular SW200-powered Sixty-Five?It's now a regular occurrence that each new Carl Brashear dive watch in the collection adds another string to Oris' bow. For the inaugural Carl Brashear, Oris gave us the first-ever bronze case Divers Sixty-Five. This watch was one hot tamale back in 2016. I distinctively remember the grudge match that ensued with fanat [...]

Oris's Change for the Better campaign wants to make a difference. The company partners up with various nonprofit environmental organizations and clean-up movements that work around the world. Other than raising attention to these causes, Oris also releases beautiful timepieces, and through them, they support the project financially. Their new Oris Aquis Dat Watt Limited Edition is the next one in line.The company's latest project is with Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, a trilateral organization aiming to protect and conserve the Wadden Sea, the world's most extensive unbroken tidal flat system. Oriss new watch is the latest in a line of timepieces dedicated to special marine life conservation [...]

By now, you may have noticed I have a strong affection for Oris watches. For me, it kicked off with the Divers Sixty-Five that I purchased in 2015. For Oris, this vintage-inspired model was a crucible for the revitalization of the brand. From there, Oris has gone strength-to-strength. By releasing a myriad of limited-edition models, chronograph options, and recently the third bronze Carl Brashear edition with Calibre 401, Oris has certainly kept us on our toes. Today, Oris unveils a trio of bronze watches with surprising Cotton Candy color codes for its latest trick.The new Divers Sixty-Five Cotton Candy receives a complete Bronze treatment on the bezel, case, and bracelet. However, most app [...]

The most important introduction by Oris last year was the introduction of their own in-house produced Calibre 400. By doing so, the brand made a move that watch enthusiasts widely applauded. Over the last couple of months, we have seen Oris equip more and more watches with the in-house caliber. The newest introduction powered by Calibre 400 is the Oris AquisPro Date. With this new introduction, Oris has made their ProDiver part of the successful Aquis series, equipped it with an in-house movement and impressive stealthy appearance. Time to find out more.It was only last October that Oris introduced their Calibre 400. It seems like it was longer ago. But in this case, it is a good thing as we [...]

I'm sure most of you got started in the watch hobby a while before we got into this weird isolated way of living. Well, not me Alright, I got a Seiko Kinetic Perpetual when I was in high school, and that was quite a serious watch for me at that time. But it was not until January last year when I got my Oris Art Blakey that the bug truly bit. From then on, Ive been hooked. This is a look back at the first year of an obsession I know many of you shareI think all it really took was a connection. Finding a simple emotional link to a watch seemed to open the floodgates. I never expected it to happen the way it did, but the Art Blakey stirred something in me and that was that. My dad really made m [...]

Okay, Im going to keep this short, because Oris, for some unknown reason, has decided to release an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous watch with just three images. Normally I would wait until more become available, but I just cant contain myself. I wanted to be one of the first to share this with you because I think the new Oris Aquis Date cherry dial dive watch is an absolute beaut and deserves a lot more attention than the three images I currently have at my disposal seem likely to get it alone.You know we love Oris as a team. However, within that team, there are three distinct camps. There are the pilots, the traditionalists, and the divers. I am in the latter camp despite not being qualified [...]

Oris has been making big steps over these last twelve months. Obviously, we were delighted to work with the brand on our Fratello a Oris Big Crown Bronze Pointer Date. Next to that, the brand released its new Calibre 400 to much critical acclaim. And we have seen a string of new releases, the latest being the Carl Brashear Cal. 401 Limited Edition. Now Oris is back with a new release for its Change for the Better campaign. The new Whale Shark Limited Edition might just be the best in the series yet. I had a chance to check it out.Back in August of last year, I had the pleasure of trying out the Oris Aquis Hangang Limited Edition. It was a nice break from most of the watches released in the s [...]

Here at Fratello, we love vintage dive watches. They not only represent the times in which they were made but also express the quality and precision of manufacturing available these days. So when I came across this awesome collaboration, I felt the need to take a closer look at the new CronotempVS? a Oris Spirit of Sixty-Five.Back in the sixties, two underwater diving pioneers Hans Hass and Christian J. Lambertse needed a proper tool watch that was technologically advanced enough to help other divers keep track of the time while diving. Oris was the major contributor in this venture and it resulted in the very first Oris diving watches for professional divers.In 2015, Oris decided to commemo [...]

Youve seen pictures of bronze watches before, some with almost no patina at all, and some that looked like theres a forest growing on them. How quickly does the Fratelloris (Oris x Fratello collab watch) start to develop patina? A question we received a number of times of people who ordered one. In this video, well show you.Together with Karina, I talk about the development of patina on the Oris Big Crown Pointer Date in bronze. We show you a brand new Oris that we just unboxed versus the one I have been wearing since December 1st (or actually a few days before the introduction day).Bronze PatinaBronze has been used for many years now for watches. One of the first watches in bronze I ever ca [...]

Well, what a wild ride that turned out to be In the wake of our largest, most ambitious, and certainly most exciting adventure of 2020, I thought it would be fun to look back on the Fratello Oris Big Crown Bronze Pointer Date Limited Edition project and enjoy some of the positive feedback we received from our satisfied customers that, by purchasing one of the 250 pieces in the Fratello shop, became part of the ever-expanding Fratello family.Its truly humbling to hear how our efforts brought a little bit of joy to so many wrists. After such a positive experience, you can expect more of the same from Fratello in 2021. We have several projects keyed-up for release this year, and were keeping [...]

Oris is introducing a new movement in its third collaboration watch with the Carl Brashear Foundation. Meet the Oris Carl Brashear Cal. 401 limited edition watch of 2,000 pieces.I am pretty sure you will remember the recent introduction of the Oris caliber 400 movement. The 400 is an in-house movement with a power reserve of 5 days. It is anti-magnetic (2,250 gauss) and comes with a warranty of 10 years. My colleague Ben (our in-house Oris guru) wrote an opinionated piece on the Aquis with caliber 400 here. But, today, we are showing you the new Oris Carl Brashear Cal. 401, which is limited to 2,000 pieces in total. It is a bronze variation on the popular Oris Diver Sixty-Five model.Carl Bra [...]

I didnt make Fratelloris up, it was one of the persons who purchased it last week. But it does sum it up perfectly, it was a great effort from both sides.Mike shared the entire story on how this watch came to life in his head, and how it finally came to us last week. You can read all about it here. The oxblood or burgundy red dial found its way into the bronze case of the Big Crown Pointer Date and it just looks amazing. What I noticed during the past week, is that the watch is very difficult to capture in pictures. Some of those who purchased it shared their images on Instagram and in the Oris Watch Club Facebook group and they did a better job than me.Wrist shot by James Stacey for Hodinke [...]

Under the haze of dusk, Oris snuck in a Divers Sixty-Five in October. No fanfare or press release that usually accompanies a new configuration. Instead, just a quiet assurance that this watch was available by listing it on the website. But don't think this smooth criminal will get away with its stealthy strike. The sunset gradient brown dial has rekindled my interest in the Sixty-Five range, and I'm here to tell you why.Before I backtrack, let me jump straight to the action. New for 2020 is the 40mm Divers Sixty-Five with what Oris calls the Brown dial. For me, this sells it short as the gradient from the black aluminum bezel to the golden center takes you on a journey of color. It reminds m [...]