Swiss watch brand Oris presents a limited edition watch made to honour the crew of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, the French Navy’s flagship. The PA Charles de Gaulle Oris watch is based on one of the company’s most emblematic models, the Big Crown.
Oris worked closely with the ship’s officers to create the watch. The PA Charles de Gaulle’s insignia is printed on the dial, the curved central seconds hand is tipped with the blue, white and red of the French Tricolore, and the case back is engraved with the PA Charles de Gaulle.
The crown is embossed with ‘R91’, the aircraft carrier’s identification number. The watch is a fitting tribute to one of the world’s finest navy ships.
When it was admitted into active service in 2001, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, or porte-avions in French (hence PA), became the French Navy’s (la Marine Nationale) first nuclear powered surface vessel and France’s eighth aircraft carrier. Today, she remains the only nuclear-powered carrier completed outside the US Navy, and the largest Western European warship currently in commission.
The PA Charles de Gaulle is based on the Oris Big Crown, and becomes the company’s latest military watch. Oris has been making watches designed for challenging environments for over a century and is today recognised by navigators, pilots and divers all over the world as an innovator and creator of robust, reliable, high-functioning watches.
The new watch shares many features with the core collection Big Crown models. It has a 40mm stainless steel case with a fluted bezel and a steel oversized winding crown (a design harking back to the original Oris Big Crown of 1938), and a black dial with highly legible printed Super-LumiNova® numerals and hour markers.
Inside it is an automatic mechanical movement that powers Oris’s signature complication, a pointer date, indicated by a central hand with a red crescent tip that points to a scale running around the outside of the dial.
This timepiece will be limited to 1,890 pieces, a figure inspired by the year the iconic French general and founder of France’s Fifth Republic Charles de Gaulle was born.
The PA Charles de Gaulle Oris Limited Edition comes in a luxury presentation box, inside which is the ship’s insignia.
Technical details
Model: PA Charles de Gaulle Oris Limited Edition, Reference 01 754 7679 4084-Set LS
Movement
Oris Calibre 754, base SW 200-1
Automatic winding movement with pointer date
Developed by Oris
Dimensions: Ø 25.60 mm, 11 1/2’’’
Centre hands for hours, minutes and seconds, date centre hand, instantaneous date, date corrector, fine timing device and stop-second
Power reserve: 38 hrs
Vibrations: 28’800 A/h, 4 Hz
Jewels: 26
Case
Multi-piece stainless steel case
Diameter: 40mm
Lug width: 20mm
Water-resistant to 10 bar/100 metres
screw in security crown with marking R91 on the top, referring to the PA Charles de Gaulle’s identification number
Sapphire crystal domed on both sides with anti-reflective coating inside
Screwed stainless steel case back, embossed with the PA Charles de Gaulle and the limited edition number
Dial
Black dial featuring the PA Charles de Gaulle’s insignia, with applied Arabic numerals printed on top with Super-LumiNova®
Nickel hour and minute hands filled with Super-LumiNova®
Central seconds hand with special shape and printed with blue, white and red tip
Strap
Dark brown leather strap with stainless steel folding clasp
Box
Special presentation box with the PA Charles de Gaulle’s insignia on the inside
Edition
Limited to 1,890 pieces
Swiss Retail Price
CHF 1,600
