Introducing – Oris Aquis Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition II (specs & price)

Oris is well known for creating high-quality watches with classical but pleasant design, all with an interesting price tag. Of course, we’re not talking about dream machines but the watches Oris produces are clearly to be considered for anyone seeking for a solid, well designed and reliable mechanical watch. Many collections exist, including racing chronographs or pilot watches, but the most famous series of watches concerns diving. Here is a new iteration, made jointly with the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) to help protect and preserve the Great Barrier Reef: the Oris Aquis Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition II.

The Oris Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition II is based on one of the most successful watches made by the brand: the Aquis, a robust, efficient, well constructed dive watch, with a rather classical look. We’ve been testing it here and our reaction was surprisingly good, knowing how snob the Monochrome-Watches team can be. The Oris Aquis is a perfect watch to enter the world of luxury timepieces, to start to enjoy the pleasure of a mechanical movement and also a very reliable ally when it comes to explore the deep blue seas. Of course, it is a modern watch, with a rather classical look. It has not the vintage charm of the Oris Divers Sixty Five, but still, it is a very interesting tool, with a bold feel on the wrist.

For this limited edition, Oris choose first to introduce some colours on the dial. The base has a nice dark blue tone with sun-ray pattern while the minute track and the second hand bear a contrasting orange paint (a colour that can also be found on the triangular marker). For the rest, the case, the bezel and the hands of Oris Aquis Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition II remain similar to the other watches of the collection: a 46mm stainless steel case, alternating between brushed and polished surfaces, a large crown with protection and a unidirectional rotating bezel with ceramic inlay. This Aquis is water resistant up to 500m.

The main novelty of this Oris Aquis Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition II comes from an extra-complication. Of course, it displays the hours, minutes and seconds on the central axis, as well as a date in a window at 6 but Oris adds the indication of the day. It is elegantly located on a inner chapter-ring in the middle of the dial. This display is powered by the Oris Cal. 735, based on Sellita SW 220-1 (with the extra day-date function), an automatic movement that ticks at 28,800vph and boasts 38 hours of power reserve.

It will be available with a stainless steel bracelet or with a black rubber strap with Oris-developed safety anchor and quick adjustment sliding-sledge folding clasp. This watch will help protect and preserve the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest reef system. Oris will make a donation to the charity’s vital work, funded by sales of the Oris Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition II. Price: 2,100 Swiss Francs (just below 2,000 Euros). Available in February 2016. www.oris.ch.