ORIS HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE 1904 and derives its name
from a nearby stream in the Swiss town of Hölstein. Its offerings
are neatly organized into four distinct collections, one of which
is diving. The Oris Sixty-Five shares the dive platform with the
Oris ProDiver and Oris Aquis, but the Sixty-Five is seemingly
aimed at the casual water watcher and not so much for the
nitrogen-narcosis-fearing fellows diving off the Calypso. satisfying click I love to hear and feel as it turns around the dial. It’s
easy to grip and the black aluminum bezel inlay gives clear contrast
for each of the sixty clicks. There is a small, dot of lume on the triangle
pip on the bezel, and it adds enough lume to orient your low light
inspection, but the lack of lume on the rest of the bezel may give the
serious tool-watch user some pause.
Oris Diver Sixty-Five is a low profile, modern-sized rendition
of a classic diver watch using minimalistic design, curved
sapphire crystal and aged-looking luminescence. The 42mm
wide stainless steel case represents the new normal for watch
sizes and its lug-to-lug length is 51mm. It’s curved at just the
right angle to hug my 7.5” wrist. The vintage-like leather strap is
substantial; it sized simply for me with plenty of strap left and
needed very little break in time. The Sixty-Five also comes in a
steel bracelet and black textile or rubber straps. The movement in this watch is a mechanical mainstay in Swiss
watchmaking and will be around for a while. The Oris Cal. 733 is
a modified automatic Sellita SW-200-1 which is modeled after the
ETA caliber 2824. It has the typical time only, center seconds, date
window and hacking feature that allows you to stop the sweeping
seconds hand to precisely set the time. The automatic movement has
a standard reserve of thirty-eight hours and hums along at a reputable
frequency of 28,800 vph. The signed, screw-down crown unscrews
with ease and clicks into the hand-winding mode quickly. From there,
it’s one more click to set the date and another to set the time.
DIAL
MOVEMENT
The case size and movement all point to a well-designed dial.
The stunning silver version has an off-white luminescence that
feels aged without trying too hard while the thin, black Oris
logo and water resistance rating remain submissive to the dial’s
simplistic intent.
The hour and minute baton hands are filled with
SuperLuminova and are the ideal shape and length. The hour
hand has an added aluminum bridge creating a separate space
for the lume while the minute hands aligns with the outer
chapter ring as it should. The sweeping seconds hand is easily
tracked in light or dark with a luminous circle hovering over the
dial. The applied indices are a perfect proportion and shape and
come to life in the dark. The trapezoid date window at 3 o’clock
is such a subtle design nuance that the die-hard diver may never
notice the window shape framing the black Arabic numerals on
the white date wheel.
CASE
The case has an alternating finish with brushed lugs and
polished sides and caseback. It’s a low profile case, but the
curved sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating adds height,
thus it measures 14mm thick. Still, it wore well under a long
sleeve and since it weighs only 87g, it was hardly noticed.
The case is water resistant to 100 meters and comes with the
screw-down crown. The steel, unidirectional bezel has that
SUMMER 2017 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | 57