Oris brought two pieces of great news in October of last year. The release of the Aquis Date collection of dive watches featured the brand’s latest movement, Oris Caliber 400. When a watch brand decides to produce an in-house movement or in-house caliber, it can always attract attention en masse. In-house caliber refers to the making of the inner workings, the engines of movement, of a watch solely by the manufacturing watch company. This move empowers Oris to design a watch according to the brand’s vision and creativity.
An in-house caliber is such a remarkable innovative upgrade for a watch brand. For most watch enthusiasts, the in-house caliber can build trust in a certain brand. The name is attractive and exclusive. After all, it requires years to develop which shows the brand’s endeavor to create a better quality of mechanical timepieces. That’s exactly the main concern of Oris Caliber 400.
Through five years of development, this latest caliber improves the Aquis Date accuracy, power reserve, and service. Oris is one of the many watch brands that produce only mechanical timepieces. According to Oris, the new caliber expresses new standards for automatic mechanical movements. The new standards, or improvements, are the anti-magnetic silicon escapement, five-day power reserve, and a ten-year warranty with ten-year service intervals.
This is the second of a three-part series addressing some highlight moments throughout the development of watches:
- Seiko Spring Drive Movement: The Advanced Art of Horology
- Oris Caliber 400: The Refinement for Mechanical Timepieces (this article)
- Ball Railroad Watches: The Origin of Railway Standard Time
Oris Caliber 400: New Standards
The three innovations of Oris Caliber 400, without a doubt, lead to a greater performance of the watches. First, let’s discuss the anti-magnetic silicon escapement of the movement. A watch with a low resistance to magnetism and temperature will gradually lose its accuracy. In extreme cases, the watch may stop ticking completely. Due to this reason, many watch brands have started to produce a caliber with silicon material.
It’s no longer a secret that a silicon material is highly resistant to magnetic fields and thermal fluctuations. Oris Caliber 400 consists of 30 non-ferrous and anti-magnetic elements. That includes a silicon escape wheel and a silicon anchor. The silicon material can erase the need for lubrication because of the minimal frictions. It’s durable and lightweight. This lightness enables the watch to have excellent stability and accuracy.
The second is the five-day power reserve when the watch is fully wound. For 120 hours, it stands above most automatic mechanical timepieces on the market which is around 35 to 48 hours. The Oris Caliber 400 has twin barrels in which each barrel stores the half-power reserve for five days. This is a great deal for a dive watch.
Even though it ends up as a desk diver, it’s clearly convenient as long as you move your wrist. Even if you constantly change your go-to watch for daily wear, it still has the advantage to keep the accurate time. From Sunday to Friday, it may deviate to -3/+5 seconds a day. In short, it’s a movement that saves your time. Whenever you find a technical issue with the watch, you can directly contact the watch company for it has a ten-year warranty. In accordance with Oris’ recommendation, unless the damage is severe, you only need to service the watch once in ten years.
A Peek into Oris Aquis Date
Oris puts the caliber 400 with Aquis Date together, hence the name Aquis Date Caliber 400. The dive watches come in three monochromatic color schemes: anthracite, blue, and green. With a clean look, they appear simple and functional. Also, the watches are durable. Each is made of sapphire for the crystal, ceramic for the bezel, and stainless steel for the case and bracelet. These durable materials keep the watch in good condition against scratches and bumps. The latest Aquis Date dive watches present the first Oris’ watches with a 43.5mm case diameter. The size is right and universal for the average 7 inches of men’s wrist size.
With Oris Caliber 400, the watch runs for 120 hours with a frequency of 28,800 A/h, 4 Hz. Several high-end timepieces have the exact beats which are enough for a watch to deliver accurate timekeeping. To manually wind the watch, it might take a while for a complete turn of the crown. Well, it’s no wonder as the watch has a longer power reserve. So, no biggie. The watches have resistance to pressure of 30 bars or 300m. The pressure means you can take the watch for deep water diving. It’s made as a dive watch for professionals. The crown guards will give extra protection to the watch’s water resistance.
The Aquis Date dive watches with Oris Caliber 400, indeed, brings new standards for mechanical timepieces. The antimagnetic silicon escapement, five-day power reserve, and a ten-year warranty are quite tempting offers. We can’t forget the watches’ high performance from these wonderful upgrades. What’s more, Oris sets the price under $4000. Looking at other fine mechanical timepieces, it won’t be a surprise to see the price above thousands of dollars, or more, with such improvements. Altogether, you won’t regret the decision to get one of these on your wrist.
