Been to a local Oris dealer and saw they have a Oris Aquis Depth Gauge on display. Asked the boss if can see or not. He let me see but no pictures. Its a divers watch, rated for 500M, very heavy, solid build, automatic and has a unique depth gauge complication. The set comes with a shock and water proof carrying case and has a rubber strap included with springbar tool and springbars.
Basic Specifications:
Crystal: Sapphire, domed on both sides, double-sided anti-reflective coating
Case Back: Stainless steel, special engravings, screwed
Crown: Stainless steel crown
Water Resistance: 50 bar (500 m, 1640ft)
Lug Width:26 mm
Movement:
Number:Oris 733, base SW 200-1
DimensionsØ:25.60 mm, 11 1/2’’’
Functions: Centre hands for hours, minutes and seconds, date window, instantaneous date, date corrector, fine timing device and stop-second
Winding: Automatic winding, bi-directionally rotating red rotor
Power-Reserve: 38 hrs
Vibrations: 28’800 A/h, 4 Hz
Jewels: 26
Strap: Stainless Steel
EXTRAS
Waterproof presentation box set, additional rubber strap, professional strap changing tools
First impressions were that this is a true divers watch as it has all the pre-requisites such as screw down crown, solid caseback, simple but legible dial, and unidirectional bezel. The watch is heavy on the wrist, but it feels solid and has quality to it. At 48mm, it is not awkward to wear at all, surprisingly considering its size.
The movement is an Oris modified movement. The base movement is actually a Seilita SW200. This movement is manufactured by Seilita, a new Swiss movement manufacturer. The SW200 is actually a generic version of the ETA 2824-2. This change of movement supplier is due to the fact that ETA is supplying less movements to companies outside the Swatch Group.
The crystal is a double domed sapphire crystal with antireflection coating on both sides. The crystal incorporates the unique depth gauge complication. It has a thin groove milled into the side to allow water to enter the space and gauge the depth. (more on this below)
The bracelet is a solid bracelet with screwed links. It does not utilize spring bars but is screwed on to the case itself. This type of bracelet is more secure than the lower end which utilizes spring bars. The clasp is a deployant clasp, again with a unique locking system. There are buttons on each side of the clasp as per other diver watches but in this case, each button operates a separate lock. Therefore, if only one side is pressed the clasp will not unlock. Both buttons must be depressed simultaneously in order to open the clasp. A very secure design, by my observations.
The case is machined from solid stainless steel, and incorporates a large crown guard. The crown is easy to operate, I find it easy to be unscrewed and tightened as it is easy to locate the threads, compared to other screw down crowns. The caseback is also solid stainless steel and has a depth conversion chart engraved into it.
The bezel is another technological marvel. It is made from high tech porcelain and not stainless steel as seen on other divers. This bezel is not sharp but at the same time offers a great grip. The bezel markers are actually part of the ceramic, therefore no bezel insert to worry about. Plus the markers will not fade or come off.
The depth gauge complication:
This watch incorporated a new design of gauging the depth by using Boyle’s law. The crystal which has a groove milled into the side to enable water to enter serves as a depth gauge. From what the shopkeeper explained, the water will enter through a hole cut at the 12 o’clock position and as the diver reaches deeper depths the water will compress the air trapped in the groove. The depth is read by the refraction of light as the yellow marker printed on the dial will look grey. The deeper the diver the more water will enter the groove and the more the scale becomes grey.
It is a rather ingenious system, but the drawback is that it can only tell the depth at which the diver is at now, but cannot record the deepest depth achieved. The maximum scale is only to 100M. For those who are worried about water entering the case, fret not. There is a system of seals to prevent water from entering the case.
Extras:
This set comes with a nice shock and water proof carry case . Has an extra rubber strap with deployant clasp . It even comes with a spring bar tool and extra spring bars. A nice complete set if I may say so.
Overall this is a great piece of watch, and it can pass off as a casual dress watch too, if you don’t mind the bulky size at 48mm. At the price it was retailing for, it is a great deal.
(Pictures are from online sources, no photo allowed at the shop)
