Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The Oris Divers Sixty-Five 12H Calibre 400
A familiar yet monochromatic model adds the in-house calibre 400 for the first time in a non-limited piece.
The Oris Divers Sixty-Five is among the brand’s most iconic and recognised collections, going back to the original from 1965 (hence the name). There are a handful of distinctive and unique variations, such as this faithful reissue of a classic, but most follow the same general design language. The latest Divers Sixty-Five 12H Calibre 400 brings the in-house calibre 400 to the series in a non-limited edition, which is a first. We’ve already seen the new movement in Aquis divers, so it’s great to have in-house Divers Sixty-Five models in regular production.
The stainless steel case is 40mm in diameter, which is fairly standard for the series and a perfect contemporary size. The bidirectional rotating bezel has a black aluminium insert that’s familiar enough, but it now sports a 12-hour scale for a second time zone. This is another first for a Divers Sixty-Five in addition to the calibre 400. A double-domed sapphire crystal with an interior anti-reflective coating protects the dial, while a sapphire exhibition caseback displays the in-house automatic. The slightly oversized crown screws down and is easy to manipulate, and water-resistance is rated at 100 metres. There are two 20mm strap options – black leather with a steel pin buckle or a three-link steel bracelet with a folding clasp.
The dial continues the monochromatic theme with a matte black finish and applied silver indices with white Super-LumiNova inserts. The silver hour and minute hands have Super-LumiNova inserts as well, along with a lollipop seconds hand. A dial-matching black date window sits at 6 o’clock. I generally prefer Divers Sixty-Five models without the date, but this one is subtle enough to not only blend well but even be preferable. These models have colour to some degree, whether in the case, the dial or the lume, but we have a strictly black and white (and silver) piece here.
As mentioned earlier, the in-house calibre 400 automatic runs the show. It replaces the Sellita SW200-1 (calibre 733) and brings several improvements. For starters, it has 24 jewels and beats at 28,800vph, and goes from the Sellita’s 38-hour power reserve to 120 hours (5 days). It has more than 30 anti-magnetic components including a silicon escapement and exceeds the ISO 764 anti-magnetic standard. Accuracy is also within COSC specifications. In addition, the watch comes with a 10-year warranty and 10-year service intervals, which is standard for any piece carrying the calibre 400. Functions include central hours, minutes, hacking seconds and date. As seen from the exhibition caseback, it’s well finished yet undecorated, focusing on performance and value over additional handwork.
The Oris Divers Sixty-Five 12H Calibre 400 retails for CHF 3,100/USD 3,500 with the strap and CHF 3,300/USD 3,700 with the bracelet. Not bad for a historic, in-house Swiss diver with a second time zone bezel. For more information, please visit Oris’ website.
4 responses
I wish I could trade in my blue ProPilot X for this… keep the Calibre 400 while getting an overall better watch.
Oris is starting to really annoy me with their Calibre 400 strategy. Up until now the only Oris line that’s gotten upgraded to the 400 is the Aquis. Beyond that, we’ve only gotten either limited editions, which often come with love-it-or-hate-it design choices, or new designs that are completely devoid of the beautiful design and color Oris have gotten so good at.
This design is from the same playbook as the Calibre 400 Pointer Date where Oris decided to do away with any interesting colors or materials and produce something that looks like it was designed by a concrete salesman.
I really hope Oris doesn’t fall into the trap of feeling that it can only put it’s serious movement in only “serious looking” watches. Imagine the Sixty five with the deep blue dial and the bronze edge bezel upgraded to the 400… Or even the green dial bronze Big Crown Pointer Date getting the same treatment. I’m beginning to think we’ll continue to wait a very long time for this.
A really good looking diver/second timezone/everyday watch and a really good write up explaining exactly why this is is a great new watch and the added value of the in-house movement. It would help though if the ISO 764 anti-magnetic standard was explained to be equivalent to only 60 Gauss so a proper comparison could be made to watches like the Omega Seamaster 300 or Diver 300M that can resist 15000 Gauss. To put it into perspective, if the Oris was placed on a hifi speaker or near a microwave oven when it is switched on the magnetic field would be in excess of 100 Gauss and would overwhelm the watch’s magnetic resistance.
I’ve noticed that there is a fair bit of critisim around this watch.
“It’s not a diver” and “it’s dull” and so on. I beg to differ.
Good quality and reliability without bling, that is wearable without any showoff factor whatsoever is a great feature. A braclet that is rather anonymous is great too. I actually could wear this watch with a bracelet without attracting attention. I’m not a footballer in other words. Bling is not a feature, it’s what’s added to mask limitations of features/quality/design.
As diving concerned, 100m is more than enough for anyone that isn’t certified beyond PADI Advanced and doesn’t do complex wreck/cave diving using rebreathers and so on. Thus, shower, pool and office – it’s natural habitats – are well catered for.
2 things that I would have liked to be different is lumed numbers on the bezel (not for bling, but for legibility in darkness) and less pronounced lines between the numbers on the bezel as those lines are slightly disturbing visually. In my opinion.
As far as I’m aware, Oris have upgraded calibre 400 to calibre 400-2 and I understand this has cured the technical issues with the first edition.