Oris celebrates its roots with the first in a series of limited edition pieces named in honour of the Swiss village of Hölstein where the company was founded more than a century ago.
On 1 June 1904, Paul Cattin and Georges Christian signed a contract in the Swiss village of Hölstein that began a story of the brand. The contract gave the two watchmakers permission to set up and run their own watch company. They named it after a local creek: Oris.
More than a century later, Oris and Hölstein have become synonymous with one another. The village and the surrounding Waldenburg Valley have shaped Oris’s philosophy, just as Oris has shaped the area and its identity.
Now Oris has released the first in a series of limited-edition watches named in honour of this place. The Oris Hölstein Edition 2020 celebrates the company’s roots and its association with the Swiss village of Hölstein.
An all-bronze timepiece
The timepiece is cast in solid bronze, including the bracelet (a first in Swiss watchmaking), an industrial material with intriguing characteristics that Oris hopes will charm everyone who comes into contact with it. On top of that, the case back is embossed with the Oris Bear, for one simple reason – to make people smile!
“The Oris Hölstein Edition 2020 is a celebration of Oris’s roots and the values we carry through into today and tomorrow,” says Rolf Studer, Oris Co-CEO. “But we also wanted to give Oris fans and all watch enthusiasts something to cheer, something to make them smile.“
The Oris Hölstein Edition 2020 is a bronze version of the Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph. It’s inspired by designs of the 1960s, when Oris made its first diver’s watch. Its case, bezel, bezel insert, crown and pushers are all cast in solid bronze. So too is the bracelet, which is made of solid bronze links, each of which will acquire a natural patina as the bronze oxidises. As with the bronze dial on the Oris Big Crown Bronze Pointer Date, this is a first not just for Oris, but also for Swiss watchmaking.
Finally, the case-back is embossed with the Oris Bear. In recent years, the bear has become a symbol of the Oris spirit – warm and honest.
Technical specifications
| Case: | Multi-piece bronze case, uni-directional rotating bronze bezel with bronze insert |
| Size: | 43 mm |
| Dial: | Gold-plated with black chronograph counters, rose gold-plated indices. Hands and indices with Super-LumiNova® |
| Top glass: | Domed sapphire with anti- reflective coating inside |
| Case-back: | Stainless steel, screwed, special engravings of the Oris Bear |
| Bracelet: | Multi-piece bronze bracelet with folding clasp |
| Water resistance: | 10 bar (100 m) |
| Movement: | Oris 771, automatic |
| Functions: | Centre hands for hours, minutes and chronograph 1⁄4 seconds, two subsidiary dials with continuous seconds at 9 o’clock and a chronograph 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, fine timing device and stop-second |
| Power reserve: | 48 hours |
| Limited edition: | 250 |
| Reference: | 771 7744 3182-Set |
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