Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition – the Full Gold Aquis GMT

When you think about the brand Oris, you might picture a robust dive watch, functional and utilitarian, with a nice no-nonsense design and a relatively accessible price tag. You might also think of actions to save the planet, as this has become a recurring theme for the brand. What you couldn’t expect is a full gold dive watch with a GMT function… Until now! Meet the new Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition, a full 18k gold Aquis GMT to save and restore damaged coral reefs. 

dying Coral reefs and oris’ mission to save them

Lately, Oris has been producing watches that will help draw attention and raise funds to support several environmental projects. See, for instance, the Oris Ocean Trilogy, the Great Barrier Reef III or the “Clean Ocean” Edition. Recently, the brand which wants to save “the source of life” partnered with the Lake Baikal Foundation (to protect the world’s largest lake on Earth), after several projects with the Clean Water project, the Reef Restoration Foundation or the Coral Restoration Foundation.

For its latest environment-friendly watch, Oris teams up with the Coral Restoration Foundation in order to protect the Carysfort Reef, a coral reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary near Key Largo, Florida, and one of the world’s most iconic coral reefs. It is known as one of the epicentres of the early recreational dive industry in the 1950s and 1960s. Yet, over the last 40 to 50 years, the reef has been severely degraded. Coral populations in the Keys have declined by around 98 per cent.

Why does this matter? Coral reefs are among the Earth’s oldest and most biodiverse ecosystems. While they cover just one per cent of the Earth’s surface, they support at least 25 per cent of all marine species. The health of the oceans is vital to all life: they produce 70 per cent of the world’s oxygen. They also form natural barriers that protect shorelines and infrastructure from wave energy and storm surges. This is why Oris once again partners with the Coral Restoration Foundation, the world’s leading expert on coral restoration.

The Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition

As always with these limited-edition watches to support environmental issues, Oris doesn’t create an entirely new piece but relies on an existing watch with several differentiating elements, such as new colours for the dial/bezel, or a new complication. Here, the brand goes a few steps further and explores new territories in the form of a full gold dive watch – a first for Oris.

The Oris Carysfort Reef is based on the recent Aquis GMT, which we’ve reviewed here. A robust and well-executed traveller’s watch with diving credentials, this 43.5mm instrument was offered in only one version until now: steel with blue dial and black 24h bezel. This present limited edition keeps all the technical attributes but changes some visual elements.

First and foremost, the case is now made of 18k yellow gold, with brushed and polished surfaces. The typical shape of the Aquis is maintained, with the signature integrated lugs and the crown protection device. The bidirectional notched bezel, the crown and the caseback are also solid gold. Also new for this special watch is the bezel’s insert, in two-tone ceramic (again, a first for Oris) with black for night-time hours and blue for daytime hours. The 24h scale is laser-engraved into the ceramic and then filled in white.

The blue dial, with a slightly different colour than the steel version, is also identical in layout, with a date at 3 o’clock, a 24h central hand pointing to an internal 24h scale – this means that this Oris GMT can track three different time-zones. To match the case material, the hands and indexes are gold plated and the logo/inscription is gilt. The watch is worn on a blue, textured leather strap with an 18k yellow gold pin buckle.

Under a closed caseback with a dedicated sapphire inlay, a tribute to the Carysfort Reef, ticks the calibre 798, based on the well-known Sellita SW 330-1. This automatic movement beats at 28,800 vibrations/hour and stores up to 42 hours of power reserve.

Price and availability

The Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition (ref. 01 798 7754 6185) is a limited edition of 50 pieces – note that Oris will donate three watches to the non-profit organisation, which will auction numbers 02/50, 03/50 and 04/50 at a series of events this spring. The other examples will be available in April 2020, at a price of CHF 17,900.

More details at www.oris.ch.