Oris Hölstein Edition 2022
Now That’s What I Call Oris! The New Hölstein Edition 2022 Samples the Brand’s Greatest Hits of the 1990s
Does the location of where a watch is made influence its very nature as much as the watchmaker’s heritage and intent? You bet.
By Mike Espindle
Executive Editor
The municipality of Hölstein, Switzerland, sits in a bucolic region in the country’s north-central zone where verdant, rolling agriculture and woodland visual beauty abounds. While it is not, in fact, the birthplace of the legendary livestock that bears its name (those cows were first bred in the Netherlands), for Hölstein’s more legitimate famous export, Oris watches, the location serves as constant inspiration for its work. Not only for the brand’s industry-leading ecological concern and activism, but also for its timepieces.
So, in celebration of today’s anniversary of the brand setting up operations there on June 1, 1904, Oris released the Hölstein Edition 2022. Commenting on the 118th birthday of the manufacture, Oris Co-CEO Rolf Studer said in a press release: “It creates a strong emotion for me. I’m always impressed upon and inspired by the rigor that my predecessors applied in managing Oris, keeping it alive through difficult times and always working for the brand and not for themselves. That’s a legacy I want to continue.”
Today, June 1st, 2022, marks the third year Oris has released a limited Hölstein Edition on its anniversary. And while the Hölstein Edition from 2020 and 2021 were striking in their own right, in this writer’s humble opinion, the Hölstein Edition 2022 presents a particularly dramatic birthday gift to the watch world. Let’s take a look.
The Spirit of the 1990s
Faithfully recreating the brand’s iconic Full Steel Worldtimer from 1998, Oris’ new Hölstein Edition 2022 is even powered by the equally impressive Oris Calibre 690 developed in 1997.
A world’s first when the function was introduced, the Oris Calibre 690 has unusually low-slung plus and minus pushers that straddle the gleaming 36.5mm steel case of the Hölstein Edition 2022 at about 4 and 7 o’clock and can quickly and easily jump hours forwards and backwards for travelers. Plus, Swiss flag-colored red and white plus/minus triangles riding above the pushers add some pop to the gorgeous blue-black dial and make this “why didn’t somebody do this before?” function abundantly apparent.
As the set time moves past midnight in either direction, the date at 6 o’clock is automatically adjusted. Moreover, the home time display (with a day/night indicator) resides in an oversized 3 o’clock sub-dial and a red-handed small seconds sub-dial lives across the watch face at 9 o’clock.
The Oris Calibre 690 automatic movement provides 38 hours of power reserve. And, as a fun added gift, the caseback of the Oris Hölstein Edition 2022 is not only edition-numbered but is also engraved with the charming Oris Bear mascot in pilot regalia.
Keep it Simple, Keep it Stylish, Keep it Sporty
Of course, there are vastly more complicated (and often overly fussy and extraordinarily priced) timepieces for world travelers out there. However, the direct one-hour-up or -back solution of the Oris Hölstein Edition 2022 smacks of Swiss efficiency. But then, once you add its flowing steel presentation, its gorgeous bracelet and folding clasp, its colorful and unexpected dial approach, and its lumed hands, numerals, and indices, the Oris Hölstein Edition 2022 wears more like an experimental sports watch.
As Studer reflected upon in the press release: “[T]here’s something about the Full Steel that captures the experimental spirit of 1990s designs. Think of the Lamborghini Diablo, and it just makes you smile. The Full Steel is the same. And the 1990s was a much freer time than today. We weren’t so connected, and we had much more reasonable expectations of each other, work, and how we build societies.”
Pricing & Availability
The Hölstein Edition 2022 is limited to 250 editions and lists for $4,300. And while this birthday present will certainly resonate with Oris fans, anyone can purchase it via an official retailer or the brand’s website (which will also allow buyers to choose their limited-edition number).
For more information, visit the Oris website
(Images © Oris)
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