Oris Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph – Black and Bronze and Cool all Over

Black and gold or black and bronze watches are pretty hot commodities these days. Who can forget the Rolex Sea-Dweller Rolesor, the Tudor Black Bay Chrono or even the Bell & Ross BR V2-94 Belly Tanker? Oris joins the black and gold “John Player Special” gang with this Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph, a solid diver/chrono with a cool vintage vibe and a competitive price tag. Launched at Baselworld 2019, we take a closer look at the regular production stainless steel Oris Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph.

A 1965 RESURFACES IN 2015

In 2015, Oris relaunched its 1965 dive watch. Riding the wave of nostalgia for vintage-inspired timepieces, the Divers Sixty-Five watch was and is a resounding success. With funky material combos of bronze, steel and bronze and a wide variety of colours, the Sixty-Five family proved that owning a cool vintage-style dive watch did not mean breaking the bank.

Following in the wake of the top hit 2016 Carl Brashear Limited Edition three-hand-and-date solid bronze model, a chronograph version of the Sixty-Five joined the family in 2018 and was soon snatched up by Bucherer to become part of its select ‘Blue Editions’ line-up of 2019. Earlier this year the regular series-produced stainless steel model joined the Sixty-Five family and we were able to spend some hands-on time with both the steel bracelet model and the leather strap version.

Jacking up the vintage vibe

Brice introduced the regular production Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph earlier this year and I have to admit that the dimensions seemed a bit off-putting on paper. Weighing in at a hefty 43mm with a case height of 16.93mm, the stainless steel case is large but wears nicely on an 18.5mm wrist as you can see from the photos. It certainly sits high on the wrist but the profile of the watch has been shaped to virtually decrease this thickness.

The notched bronze trimming on the bezel is a perfect touch. Discreet but effective, the bronze trim on the bezel is well finished and doesn’t have the spiky-toothed edge of the Tudor Black Bay Bronze model. The insert of the bezel is black anodised aluminium and the all-important 60-minute markings are silver to match the case.

The coherence between the external features of the case and the dial is solid with echoes of the handsome black and golden colour scheme replicated throughout. The retro vibe of this Sixty-Five model is asserted with the vintage-style pushers and twin counter layout. The domed glossy black dial and its golden trimmings are very attractive with rose gold PVD-plated hands and applied hour markers – notice the cathedral-style hour hand.

Even the minutes track is picked out in gilt print along with the brand name and other letterings on the dial. The twin-counter chronograph layout is crisp and easy to read and legibility never an issue with the large hour markers and hands filled with ‘light old radium’ Super-LumiNova.

Following the domed contours of the dial is the steeply domed sapphire crystal covering the dial. Just look at those cool distortions it creates as the indices and counters take on groovy shapes depending from which angle they are viewed!

Thoughts

The black and golden colour scheme, the touch of bronze on the bezel and the legibility are all winning factors. I guess the idea of a dive watch combined with a chronograph doesn’t make a lot of sense to serious divers, but if you look at it as a chronograph with a 100m water-resistant case, the sales pitch is perfect. If only it could be a bit smaller/thinner.

Movement, Straps and Price

The Sixty-Five Chronograph is equipped with an automatic chronograph movement based on Sellita SW 510 with a decent 48-hour power reserve. The watch comes with two strap options, a brown leather strap with a buckle or an integrated stainless steel riveted bracelet with a folding clasp. Prices start at EUR 3,800 on leather to EUR 4,000 on steel. More details at Oris.ch.