Oris has been a great supporter of socially responsible endeavours, creating watches that have benefitted numerous environmental and social causes. Linking these causes to watchmaking serves to heighten awareness, and encourages watch enthusiasts to think about where their money goes when they purchase their next timepiece. In Australia, as the year comes to a close, it traditionally becomes a season of heightened vigilance – the traditionally hot and dry weather makes the landscape ripe for bushfires. This not only poses a threat to property and life, but to wildlife and the environment as well. It takes daring people and extreme machines to defend land, property, human and animal from these fires, not only in Australia, but around the world. In partnership with Coulson Aviation, Oris creates the Coulson Limited Edition – based around the Big Crown ProPilot, to bring awareness to the work that Coulson Aviation does to defend against raging bushfires.
Coulson Aviation operates a fleet of aircraft to fight fires, and is the only aerial firefighting company that operates both fixed-wing and type-1 helicopters. Amongst their fleet are custom-designed Hercules C-130s, Sikorsky S-61 Helicopters, Boeing Chinook CH-47 helitankers and custom-converted Boeing 737 FireLiner aircraft.
To give a sense of the extreme nature of their work, on some missions, the pilots of Coulson Aviation fly a Boeing 737 (normally a commercial airliner) 60 metres above the ground to fight these fires – an extremely low altitude for such a large aircraft. The company splits its time between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, following the summers of each region, ready and willing to fight fires at a moment’s notice.
The Oris Coulson Limited Edition measures in at 41mm, made from a 3D printed carbon fibre and polymer (called PEKK) mix, weaving these together during the printing process. This process, developed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, represents a higher precision than normal carbon fibre case production, as the exact pattern of the case can be determined – as opposed to traditional carbon fibre cases which have a random pattern due to layering/forging processes. All of this precision and material science for the case leads to a watch that weighs 65 grams, which also includes the weight of the movement.
The dial is perhaps the most striking part of the watch, with its gradient red and orange dial representing the fires that Coulson Aviation fights during the summer. Like many of its ProPilot brethren, the hours are denoted by Arabic numerals, and made incredibly legible with hour and minute markers in white. Filled with SuperLuminova for night-time legibility, the hands too are filled with this material for legibility. A date function can be found at 6 o’clock which is cleanly integrated into the design of the dial, adding a sense of everyday utility to this watch. Framing the dial is a grey-PVD titanium bezel. Securing the watch and its water resistance is a screw-down crown, also in grey-PVD titanium to match the bezel.
Turning the watch over, the Oris Calibre 400 is visible through a grey-PVD titanium caseback with sapphire crystal. The Calibre 400 is remarkable for its 5-day power reserve, chronometer-like accuracy with tolerances between -3/+5 seconds per day and is highly anti-magnetic to protect against modern threats to mechanical watchmaking like laptops, iPads, purse clasps and the like. The watch is delivered on a black textile strap with a grey-PVD plated folding clasp.
The Oris Coulson Limited Edition sheds light on another organisation that helps social and environmental causes. Working ever so diligently in the background, Coulson Aviation continue to serve and protect people, property and wildlife, and this watch is great recognition of the work they do, and are committed to continue. Limited to 1000 pieces, this is sure to please the aviation enthusiast, as well as those who are environmentally conscious.
Tech Specs
Watch
Case Multi-piece carbon fibre case with grey-PVD-plated titanium fixed bezel
Size 41.00 mm (1.614 inches)
Dial Orange
Luminous material Applied numerals and printed indices with Super-LumiNova®, hands filled with Super-LumiNova®
Top glass Sapphire, domed on both sides, anti-reflective coating inside
Case back Titanium, screwed, see-through sapphire glass, special engravings
Operating devices Grey-PVD-plated titanium screw-in security crown
Strap Black textile strap with grey-PVD- plated folding clasp
Water resistance 10 bar (100 metres)
Movement
Number Oris Calibre 400
Functions Centre hands for hours, minutes and seconds, date window at 6 o’clock, date corrector, fine timing device and stop-second Accuracy -3/+5 seconds a day (within COSC tolerances)
Extra features Highly anti-magnetic
Winding Automatic
Power reserve 120 hours
Warranty Extended to 10 years with MyOris sign-up. Applies to watch and movement. 10-year recommended service intervals. Five- year recommended water-resistance check
Swiss retail price CHF 4,200
Available November 2022