Oris ‘Source of Life’ Limited Edition – Based on a new Aquis Circular Date

Oris is a frequent contributor to the limited editions. The Clipperton Limited Edition, the Movember Edition, the Royal Flying Doctor Service Edition… Yet, many of these special watches are linked to a good cause or a mission to bring “change for the better”. Oris continues its mission with a new limited edition of the praised Aquis, the ‘Source of Life’ Edition, a watch that celebrates water (the source of life…) – and good news is that it is based on a new version of this cool dive watch, now with circular date feature.

This new Oris ‘Source of Life’ Limited Edition is inspired by the River Rhine – which runs close to the village of Hölstein where Oris has been based since 1904. The idea behind this watch, as explained by the brand “Despite growing awareness and the efforts of government and international non- profit organisations, the world’s water continues to come under threat because of carelessness, neglect and waste. Pollution levels are rising – and something must be done. Oris is proud to introduce the Source of Life Limited Edition, a philosophical watch inspired by the River Rhine that highlights the plight of the world’s water sources and marks a new chapter in Oris’s mission to bring change for the better.”

Picking up on that theme, the back of the Oris ‘Source of Life’ Limited Edition is embossed with a map of the River Rhine, which runs 1,233km (766 miles) through six countries from its source at the Lai da Tuma, or Tomasee, a lake 2,343 metres up in the Swiss Alps. This is not the only reference to be seen here, as the entire colour code is based on this River too.

For its new edition, Oris takes the Aquis as a base – a robust and well conceived dive watch, well-protected, resistant to 300m, with 43.5mm steel case and recently facelifted. It uses a combination of grey and blue tones, echoing the colours of the River Rhine. The uni-directional diving bezel features a grey tungsten insert with a 60-minute timer scale. The rubber strap also uses the same colour – even though the watch can be ordered with a metallic bracelet.

The dial of the Oris ‘Source of Life’ Limited Edition uses a cold blue tone, with sunburst pattern – bringing a nice contrats with the grey bezel as well as with the polished applied indexes and hands. The main novelty here concerns the date indication. Instead of a traditional window at 3 o’clock (as seen on the standard Aquis), it relies on a circular date indicator shown by a scale running from 1 to 31 around the centre of the watch’s dial. Inside is a channel with a white indicator that aligns with the scale and makes a full tour of the dial once a month to show the date. The watch is powered by an automatic movement, based on the well-known Seliita SW 200 architecture.

The Oris ‘Source of Life’ Limited Edition will be produced in 2,343 pieces (a reference to the height above sea level of the Lai da Tuma), priced at CHF 2,100 on rubber strap and CHF 2,300 on steel bracelet. More details on oris.ch.