Back to the Reef with the Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition

Swiss watchmaker Oris in recent years has become almost as well known for its charitable partnerships as for for its dive watches, and today the brand returns to both themes with the new Carysfort Reef Limited Edition, a new, special variation on the Aquis GMT Date model.

The limited-edition watch is being produced in partnership with the non-profit Coral Restoration Foundation, the world’s largest coral reef restoration organization, which often pays particular attention to healing reefs alongside its headquarters’ Florida coast — such as the Carysfort Reef for which the latest Oris watch is named. This new model is the third watch produced by the Hölstein brand in partnership with the Coral Restoration Foundation, the first being the Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition III —  a version of the Aquis Diver unveiled in 2019 – and the second the Carysfort Reef Gold Limited Edition, an all-gold version of the Aquis GMT Date released earlier this year.

Taking a closer look at the new limited edition, we find the familiar silhouette of previous Aquis GMT Date models, here distinguished through its orange accents and caseback engraving. The model uses a 43.5-mm multi-piece constructed steel case with large, faceted lugs, angular crown guards, and a thick, signed screw-down crown on its side. On top of the case is a prominent two-tone unidirectional bezel that adds a millimeter or so to the overall case dimensions: its blue and black color sections indicate day and night and it’s accented with a white, 24-hour scale with an orange triangle at 12 o’clock to assist in timekeeping in three time zones. 

For the dial, Oris has again opted to use the distinct, blue gradient color that it seems to have reserved for the Aquis limited editions, contrasting with the darker gradient blue used on regular editions within the collection. On the outer edge, we see a simple white outer minute ring, accented at each hour with a large applied, lume-filled marker. Inside this ring is another one for the GMT mechanism, which keeps track of an additional time zone with an orange accented, triangle-tipped pointer. Finally, at the center of the dial are two large hands for the primary hour and minutes along with an elongated, lollipop-tipped hand to indicate the running seconds.

Powering the new model is the Oris 798 caliber, which is the same caliber used in the standard-issue Aquis Date GMT. This Oris-finished automatic movement uses the Sellita SW 330-1 as its base and stores a 42-hour power reserve. This movement is protected behind a solid, commemorative caseback engraved with imagery of the Carysfort Reef alongside some of the watch’s descriptors and its limited edition number (out of 2,000). The solid caseback helps the model maintain a professional-grade 300-meter water resistance. 

The Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition is secured to the wrist with either a steel triple-link-style bracelet or an orange rubber strap that matches the orange accents seen on the dial and bezel. The model will be limited to 2,000 total editions, and will retail for CHF 2,850 (about $3,018) on the metal bracelet and CHF 2,650 ($2,807) on the colorful strap. The watch is available now, directly through Oris, with shipping expected to begin in July.

To learn more about the watch and to inquire for purchase, you can visit Oris’ website, here. To learn more about the Coral Restoration Foundation, you can visit their page, here.