Oris watches
The luxury Swiss company ORIS was founded in 1904 by Paul Cattin and Georges Christian in the Swiss town of Hölstein. ORIS takes its name from a nearby river.
The company flourishes and in 1937 ORIS opens an independent factory in Biel specialising in the manufacture of dials, which has been in business for forty-two years.Thanks to its high-quality production, ORIS soon grows from a few employees to several hundred. In the 1960s, ORIS was one of the largest watch brands in Switzerland with more than eight hundred employees. In the next step, it introduces its legendary self-winding calibre 645, which was certified as a chronometer by the Observatoire Astronomique et Chronométrique a few years later. The quartz crisis that followed affected most of the traditional Swiss watchmakers, but the strong ORIS maintained its position without much trouble. Since 1982, ORIS has been under the leadership of Ulrich W. Herzog, who made a clear, albeit dangerous at the time, but as it later turned out, correct move - to produce exclusively mechanical watches. "You know I was worried. Where, who said mechanics, that's for Patek Philippe and Rolex, but you? Well, you see today!", smiles the then president of U. W. Herzog.
ORIS watches are renowned for their excellent quality, innovative technology and, above all, precision craftsmanship. Thanks to their Swiss craftsmanship, they bear the trademark Swiss made. The hallmark is the red rotor of the exclusively mechanical watch and the sapphire crystal. The brand's philosophy is "Real watches for real people". To celebrate its 110th anniversary, Oris launched the Calibre 110 with a 10-day power reserve provided by 1 movement. Newly added is the calibre 111.
The ORIS brand is also familiar to motorsport fans for its long-standing partnership with the BMW Williams F1 team, as well as its association with individual drivers (Ralf Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Allan McNish, Nico Hülkenberg, Kazuki Nakajima). ORIS is also involved in the world of diving and aviation or in the cultural spheres represented by art and music. The market offers ORIS watches for divers and pilots or special editions bearing the names of exceptional artists such as Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra and Bob Dylan. Interestingly, ORIS watches are often chosen by Hollywood for their prestige (Nicolas Cage/8MM, Keanu Reeves/Constantine, Meg Ryan/Kate and Leopold and many others).