Oris says that its Big Crown ProPilot X Calibre 115, which launches this month, is nothing less than “the most Oris watch we have ever made”.
“Every watch that went before it has led us to this point”, the company adds.
In the world of luxury watch marketing, this is an eye-catching statement, and the watch itself is noteworthy with its in-house made Oris Calibre 110 movement providing the base architecture for an industrial skeletonised version of the hand wound movement known as the Calibre 115.
The concept was to produce a watch that exposed all its inner workings, and the open-worked dial provides a lesson in how mechanical watches work, including exposing the barrel at 12 o’clock where the main spring can be seen tightening as the watch’s oversized screw-in crown is wound and then feeding that power into the escapement.
The watch is housed in a 44mm titanium case, which makes it light and tough, and is worn on a titanium bracelet, integrated into the case, that was designed exclusively for the Big Crown ProPilot X Calibre 115.
There is also the option of a black leather strap.
“We’ve been building towards this moment. We’ve known for a long time that we had the know-how in-house. Calibres 110 to 114, each unique, gave us confidence, because they were so well received. Each time, we learned new things, and each time people started to understand more about Oris as a watchmaker. We have the freedom to create watches our customers want and that we like, because we’re independent. After these developments, we felt ready to produce and release a high-concept piece that would show the world on another level who Oris really is,” says Oris’s chief operating officer Beat Fischli.
The watch will retail for the equivalent of CHF 6,800 on the leather strap and CHF 7,200 on its titanium bracelet.
