ORIS

Oris' tale began in the Swiss village of Hölstein in 1904. Paul Cattin and Georges Christian created the firm after purchasing the recently shuttered Lohner and Co watch manufacture. After a local creek, they christened the firm 'Oris.' The brand expanded slowly and steadily in its early years, with an assembly facility and second factory establishing in the adjacent town of Holderbank in 1906. Oris became the main employer in Hölstein with 300 people as the firm grew. In order to lure additional watchmakers to the neighborhood, the business began developing residences and flats.

Oris had expanded significantly by 1929, with factories in Hölstein, Holderbank, Como, Courgenay, Herbetswil, and Ziefen. The firm had begun adding bracelet buckles to its pocket watches a few years prior in order to manufacture its first wristwatches. This change in fashion has a big influence on the brand's performance.

Unfortunately, Georges Christian died in 1927, and Jacques-David LeCoultre took over as President of the Board of Directors. Following that, Oscar Herzog was named General Manager, a post he would hold for the next 43 years, overseeing Oris through many significant changes and accomplishments.

Oris began constructing its own escapements in 1938, right before the onset of World War II. This was a significant step forward for the company, allowing it to be more autonomous in its watchmaking. Oris became one of the first watchmaking businesses to give equal job chances to men and women when it began recruiting additional watchmakers to guarantee that there was enough labor to build the escapements. In 1938, the Big Crown was born as well. The crown of this watch was meticulously crafted to allow pilots to move it while wearing gloves.

As the market for high-quality mechanical timepieces dropped during WWII, Oris turned to making alarm clocks. This shift in product helped the company to stay afloat throughout the war years, when many other businesses faltered. Oris received the prize for accuracy from the Bureau Officiel de Contrôle de la Marhe des Montres at Le Locle as the war came to an end.

Oris introduced their first automatic watch in 1952. It was powered by Oris' Calibre 601 movement and included a power reserve indication. This was a notable improvement because power reserve indications were uncommon in timepieces at the time. With the introduction of a cutting-edge diver's watch in 1965, Oris continued to thrive. This watch was unique in that it had a one-way rotating bezel, illuminated numerals, and was water resistant to 100 meters (10 bar).

When the Oris Calibre 652 was launched in 1967, the brand received a significant honor. After Dr. Rolf Portmann finally emancipated the firm from the 'Watch Statute,' Oris was able to deploy lever escapements once more. The Observatoire Astronomique et Chronométrique gave this movement complete chronometer certification.

Oris was one of the top ten watch makers in the world by 1969, with 1.2 million watches and clocks produced per year. The next year, the Chronoris was released. This watch was the brand's first chronograph, and it is today a well-known and admired timepiece.

Oris launched watch after watch in the 1980s and 1990s, each with a unique function or design to appeal to new audiences. Despite the fact that the company struggled during the Quartz Crisis, it swore to solely create mechanical clocks in order to maintain its credibility.

Oris adopted the tagline 'High-Mech' in 1990 to emphasize the quality and consistency of the Swiss-made mechanical movements utilized in each watch. With the introduction of the Calibre 581 in 1991, the brand created its most difficult movement to date. A moonphase module created by an in-house team was highlighted in this movement.

In 1997, Oris released the world's first worldtimer. It was a proprietary feature that allowed the wearer to advance or reverse local time in one-hour increments. This watch was ideal for persons who frequently traveled between time zones.

Oris turned its attention to manufacturing bigger timepieces in line with prevailing styles around the turn of the millennium. The Oris XXL was born, and it quickly became one of the brand's most recognizable models. In 2002, the famed Red Rotor became the brand's registered trademark. It was chosen because it represents Oris' concept of providing high-quality Swiss mechanical clocks at affordable rates.

The Oris Centennial Set was released in 2004 to commemorate the company's 100th anniversary. After struggling as a mechanical watch maker throughout the Quartz Crisis, this was a tremendous accomplishment for the company. Oris worked with professionals like the Williams Formula One Team, Carlos Coste, and Roman Frischknecht to design a series of specialised timepieces for various sports and activities in the 2000s. The ProDiver with the Rotation Safety System, which allows the unidirectional rotating bezel to be secured into place, was developed in partnership with Frischknecht.

The brand's sliding sledge clasp, which prevents a watch from falling off the wrist, was introduced in 2010. This was a useful addition to Oris watch straps, as the brand's premium profile makes collectors prize the watches. The revolutionary Oris Aquis Depth Gauge watch, which has a hole in the glass to let water into the watch, was introduced in 2013. This function allows the watch to track a diver's depth while swimming.

Oris introduced a number of new movements during the course of the decade in order to modernize and improve its timepieces. In 2014, the company celebrated its 110th birthday with its first in-house movement in 35 years. The Calibre 110 is a ten-day power reserve hand-wound movement with a non-linear power reserve indication. In 2015, the Calibre 111 was released, and it was extremely identical to the 110 except for the date complication. A GMT feature was added to the Calibre 112 when it was released in 2016.

Oris has never ceased developing and launching new goods, which has allowed the company to thrive and flourish. In 2020, the Calibre 400 was released. This antimagnetic movement comes with a five-day power reserve. This movement was utilized in the legendary Oris Aquis Date model with a new smaller size casing in the brand's most recent introduction in 2021. Oris' new releases are more successful than the previous ones, and his fan base continues to increase year after year. Oris's history, with all of its twists and turns, has led to the brand's current level of success.