Another outstanding creation from the house of Oris, renowned for their innovative watches designed for everyday life, is the new chronograph version of its iconic diver's watch, the Aquis Depth Gauge Chronograph. This functional diver's watch follows in the footsteps of the acclaimed Aquis Depth Gauge, which was widely regarded as one of the most innovative diving watches ever made when it was launched in 2013. It solved the problem of how to incorporate a depth gauge into a mechanical watch – without compromising Oris' belief in producing sensibly priced ‘real watches for real people'.
That solution was a hole. Oris equipped the Aquis Depth Gauge with an inlet in the crystal at 12 o'clock, leading to a channel milled into the outside edge of the crystal covering the dial. As the diver descends, air inside the channel compresses, allowing water through the inlet and into the channel. This creates a watermark that corresponds to yellow depth gauge indications marked on the dial, giving the diver a clear reading of the depth. The watch is water-resistant to 50 bar (500 meters).
The Aquis Depth Gauge Chronograph houses Oris' automatic caliber 774, which powers a chronograph function and a date window at 6 o'clock. The heavy-duty watch has a multi-piece 48mm stainless steel case. Its screw-in crown is protected from accidental knocks by a crown-protection system, and its tough sapphire crystal glass is 4mm thick – twice as thick as an average top glass. The watch has a black dial with applied indices and nickel hands filled with white Super-LumiNova to boost underwater legibility.
The watch comes with a black rubber strap fitted with Oris's clever quick adjustment sliding-sledge folding clasp system, enabling the wearer to adjust the strap or bracelet without taking the watch off, and the Oris-developed safety anchor, which prevents the watch from falling off even when it comes undone. — SG
