Geneva Watch Days: The Oris Divers Sixty-Five 12H Calibre 400
For the first time, the Swiss independent brand equips its evergreen dive watch with its game-changing, anti-magnetic automatic movement with five-day power reserve and 10-year warranty.
When Oris first unveiled its in-house, automatic Calibre 400 movement nearly two years ago, the independent Swiss brand also pledged to gradually roll-out this game-changing movement across its collection. So far, we’ve seen Calibre 400, or variations of it, power models in the brand’s ProPilot X, Aquis, and Big Crown lines. But one burning question on many an Oris fan’s minds remained: When will this anti-magnetic calibre, which boasts a five-day power reserve and 10-year warranty, find its way into the Hölstein-based watchmaker’s vintage-inspired diver series, the Divers Sixty-Five.
Well, this week at Geneva Watch Days 2022, the 118-year-old company has answered that question with the release of the Oris Divers Sixty-Five 12H Calibre 400.
Not only that, but this smart, understated 40mm time-and-date watch in stainless steel marks the first time a Divers Sixty-Five combines a black dial with white Super-LumiNova indications and a steel bezel. It is also the first time a Divers Sixty-Five model has featured a second time zone display and sapphire crystal display caseback.
Catering to Contemporary Collectors
As a recap, Calibre 400 came to life in late 2020 after Oris co-CEO Rolf Studer and his team had sat down and pondered what today’s watch collectors and “world citizens” sought in a contemporary mechanical watch.
First, they identified the tendency for collectors to switch up the watches they wear on a daily basis. In light of that, the Oris team felt an automatic timepiece should have ample autonomy to continue running while it was off the wrist for a sustained period of time. Thanks to twin barrels aligned in series, Calibre 400 duly packs an impressive 120-hour – five-day – power reserve.
Second, the Oris team noted that with the proliferation of smartphones, tablets, and earphones, today’s watch collectors are exposed more than ever to magnetic fields, the nemesis of mechanical watch movements.
Thus, Oris ensured that Calibre 400 has more than 30 components made in non-ferrous, anti-magnetic materials, including the escape wheel and anchor, which are made from silicon. These help to make Calibre 400 resistant to magnetic fields up to 2,250 gauss – above and beyond the protection needed for usual, everyday wearing.
Confidently Reliable
Oris equally felt that reliability was a must-have for contemporary collectors. As such, the brand managed to simplify its automatic winding system, allowing the Calibre 400 to come with not only a 10-year warranty but also 10-year recommended service intervals.
Finally, Oris made setting Calibre 400-powered watches as easy and accurate as possible by including a quick-set corrector for the instantaneous date function plus a stop-seconds mechanism for precision setting of the time.
Familiar Form
And so to the Oris Divers Sixty-Five 12H Calibre 400 itself. At first glance, there is a familiar profile to it, which can be explained by the fact that the Calibre 400 is housed in the same 40mm multi-component case – here in stainless steel – that characterizes a good deal of the Divers Sixty-Five collection.
While the screwed caseback and screw-in crown help to offer a water resistance of 100 meters, this time, the inclusion of a sapphire crystal display back helps to showcase the Calibre 400 in all its glory, including views of the winding rotor and magnetically resistant components mentioned above.
Second Time Zone Scale
The Divers Sixty-Five 12H Calibre 400 also features another first for the Divers Sixty-Five collection: Oris has forgone its usual minutes scale on the notched, bi-directional bezel with a blackened aluminum insert. Instead, the brand has opted for a 12-hour scale, offering a second-time zone that will no doubt please globetrotters.
The bezel serves as a neat frame for the super clean, black dial that features applied indices and hour-minute hands treated with crisp, white Super-LumiNova. It is a sober yet stylish affair, and the bezel-based second time zone ensures the dial remains pure and uncluttered.
Pricing & Strap Options
Owners have the option of pairing their Oris Divers Sixty-Five 12H Calibre 400 with a black leather strap with stainless-steel buckle ($3,500) or a multi-piece stainless-steel bracelet with folding clasp ($3,700).
For more information, please visit the Oris website.
(Photography by Liam O'Donnell)