Independent, and showing its workings
By Julien Moreau, Geneva ยท
Oris is one of the very few Swiss houses that has stayed independent since a management buyout in 1982, and I find that more moving than a man of my age probably should. Everyone else of its size ended up in a group portfolio somewhere between a fashion label and a whisky brand.
The ProPilot X is a modern watch through and through. The case and bracelet are titanium, 39 mm across and 12 mm thick, light and quite angular, and the grey dial is cut away so you can see bits of the in-house Calibre 400 beneath. That movement has a five-day reserve (120 hours) and Oris backs it with a ten-year warranty, which is the most sensible thing a mid-priced brand has done in my memory. The open back lets you look at it from the other side too. One hundred metres.
My quarrel is with the dial. Skeletonised dials are almost always harder to read than they should be, and this one is no exception; in dim light the hands drift into the mechanics. Purists also grumble that the Big Crown name sits oddly on a watch with a modest crown. That grumble is mine, as it happens.
At seventy-six to seventy-nine hundred dollars, it costs a little more than the IWC Mark XX and is the more interesting object of the two. For a younger buyer who wants something with its own engineering and no heritage to live up to, I think it is an excellent choice.