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Affordable Oris: 5 Oris Watches Under $2,500


Founded in 1904 in Holstein, Switzerland, Oris has developed a reputation as a purveyor of very reasonably priced timepieces in a variety of styles, and all with Swiss-made mechanical movements. Here are five of the company’s most affordable watches, all priced below $2,500 (most under $2,000)* and each representing one of Oris’s distinctive watch collections.

1. Oris Williams Day Date

Oris Williams Day-Date
Oris Williams Day Date

The Oris Williams Day Date ($1,350) is the entry-level piece in Oris’s new Williams collection, a product of the Swiss watch brand’s partnership with the prestigious Williams Formula One racing team. (There is also a chronograph in the Williams collection, priced just slightly above our ceiling, at $3,100.) The watch’s 44-mm stainless-steel case takes its design cues from the shape of a Williams F1 car, tapering like the vehicle’s profile and equipped with integrated lugs that echo the shape of its nose cone. The crown, meanwhile, has been molded to resemble the shape of a wheel from the automobile’s gearbox. The dial, available in both black and the traditional blue of the Williams team, displays the day and date at 3 o’clock and a Williams “W” at 6 o’clock. The movement, Oris’s automatic Caliber 735 (based on a Sellita SW220), is visible through a screw-down exhibition caseback with a sapphire window.

2. Oris Artix Date Blue

Oris Artix Date Blue
Oris Artix Date Blue

The latest addition to the classically elegant Artix collection, the Oris Artix Date Blue ($1,650) boasts a very of-the-moment look, with a midnight blue dial paired with a matching azure strap. The dial’s spiral grooving and traditional galvanic enhancement on the two-zone dial give it a striking sense of depth. Small Arabic hour numerals are applied on the outer dial ring, lined up with the nickel hour indices (which, along with the hour and minute hands, are inlaid with Super-LumiNova; the hands are also made of nickel). The case has gently curving lugs and domed sapphire crystals in the front and back, the latter to display the movement, the Sellita-based Caliber 733. The strap of the Artix Date Blue is calfskin leather with a croco pattern and has a stainless steel folding clasp.

3. Oris Aquis Date

Oris Aquis Date Blue
Oris Aquis Date

The Oris Aquis Date ($1,650) can be regarded as the starter piece in the brand’s popular Aquis line of contemporary divers’ watches, which boasts such innovative models as the Aquis Depth Gauge and a new chronograph model released at this year’s Baselworld. This one also has an attractive (and aquatic) blue dial, along with Super-LumiNova-filled indices and hands and an unobtrusive date window at 6 o’clock. The stainless steel case measures 43 mm in diameter and features a screw-down crown (for a water-resistance of 300 meters) and a unidirectional diving bezel with a ceramic top ring for the minutes scale. It’s got a nonreflective sapphire crystal in the front and a see-through mineral glass window in the screwed caseback, offering a view of the automatic movement (also an Oris 733), which is equipped with a date corrector and a stop-seconds function, and, like all Oris movements, the hallmark red winding rotor that swings in both directions. The Oris Aquis Date comes on a stainless steel bracelet with a security folding clasp and divers’ extension.

4. Oris Diver Sixty-Five

Oris Divers Sixty-Five
Oris Divers Sixty-Five

The Oris Diver Sixty-Five ($1,850) revives the look of a vintage Oris dive watch released 50 years ago and gives it a 21st century makeover. The 1965 model had a chromium-plated brass case and plexiglas crystal, a bidirectional rotating bezel, and a black plastic strap, while the new version has a larger, more contemporary 40-mm case in corrosion-resistant stainless steel; a scratch-resistant, nonreflective sapphire crystal with a “bubble-curved” shape; and a safer (for diving) unidirectional bezel. The bezel is enhanced with a black aluminum inlay, and the hands and indices (filled with tritium on the original model) are filled with a type of Super-LumiNova called “Light Old Radium” which emits a beige glow in the dark. The steel caseback is engraved with the same historical Oris emblem found on the original’s, the crown screws down to ensure a water-resistance to 100 meters, and the modern version is available on a black textile NATO strap and steel bracelet as well as a rubber strap. The movement is Oris’s automatic Caliber 733, which is based on a Sellita SW200.

5. Oris Big Crown ProPilot GMT

Oris Big Crown ProPilot GMTBoasting a newly developed movement with a second-time-zone function, the Oris Big Crown ProPilot GMT ($2,300) expands the aviation-inspired Big Crown collection, based on a 1938 model and launched in 2014. The watch has a hefty, multi-piece 45-mm case, made of matte satin-finished stainless steel and topped off with a vintage-look coin-edge top ring on the bezel that evokes the design of a jet turbine. The domed sapphire crystal is engineered to be cockpit-friendly, minimizing glare with a nonreflective coating applied to the inside. The big, white Arabic numerals also aid in legibility, contrasting starkly with the black dial and printed in Super-LumiNova. (The hour and minute hands are also filled with the luminous substance.) The date appears in a window at 3 o’clock, while the small seconds tick away in a subdial at 9 o’clock. The watch’s signature feature, its GMT indicator, uses a center-mounted, yellow-tipped hand and a 24-hour scale that encircles the dial. The self-winding Oris Caliber 748, which is visible through the clear caseback, is based on a Sellita SW-220-1. Even the military-style, olive-green textile strap offers a nod to aviation: its patented folding clasp operates like an aircraft’s safety belt, with a release tab indicating “Lift.”

This article was originally published in 2015; prices are subject to change.

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  1. I have an Oris Aquis and love the way it looks, however… The movement has been inaccurate from day one and struggles to ‘self-wind’. Even after a warranty service, it just isn’t a great movement (IMO). Now it froze and the is out of warranty, Oris says its normal to have a full service every 4-5 years on these. At 1/3 the cost of the watch, it seems extreme to me to pay that kind of money to keep (simple) time and at least do it well… I have 5 mechanical watches and my Oris looks the best but is the worst at the task it was meant to perform ;(

    Reply
  2. Kerith Cowell

    I have always been a fan of Oris, it’s movement and overall price range. I just can find a dealer in my location. Toronto Canada.

    Reply
  3. Jimid Pinayao Mansayagan

    Oris is an institution on excellent watches. Can you spare me one watch? I love it so much. Thank you.

    Reply
  4. Marc Silver

    Oris will no longer service grey market watches ( any watches NOT purchased from authorised dealer). If it breaks they won’t fix it. – this means eBay, and other “online stores”.

    Reply
  5. Jim Savage

    Like Or is Art is Blue watch Is there a retailer in south Jersey who would carry this watch?

    Reply
  6. meir bsrac

    l leked much more the olf stile of Oris. Also the Selita movement is not a real Swiss mlbement it hss the Chinees origin.

    Reply
  7. JOÃO CARLOS MASTROBERTI

    Aqui no Brasil, é proibitivo mergulhar com relogios deste valor. estes modelos são vistos somente fora do ambiente marinho.

    Reply
  8. Michael z

    What?! No Artelier skeleton. I own and love this watch. At $2400, I was surprised not to see it on the list.

    Reply
    • Michael z

      I know it has a retail of $2600, but an authorized retailer quoted me $2400 in 2014. It can be had for much less on the web ($1700).

      Reply
      • If you trust on-line watch merchants.

        For me, spending a little more at an authorized dealer is worth it just so I know I’m getting the real thing and don’t have to worry about dubious content in the watch.

        “Gray market” watches can be OK but they can also be fakes not worth 10% of what you paid for them.

        Reply
        • Michael z

          Agree. Which is why I bought mine from an A/D in Norwalk Ct. I also have a TT1 diver that I bought second hand at a jeweler and I love them both.

          Reply
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