Oris introduces the Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition III, a diver’s watch created in partnership with the pioneering Reef Restoration Foundation.
As the name suggests, this is the third watch Oris has linked to the world’s largest and most diverse reef system. The Great Barrier Reef is around 8,000 years old and home to 1,500 species of fish, more than 400 types of hard coral, a third of the world’s soft corals, and six of the world’s seven species of threatened marine turtles.
The independent Swiss watch company has partnered with a non-profit social enterprise set up in 2016, the Reef Restoration Foundation. Using knowledge shared by the Oris-backed Coral Restoration Foundation, the foundation has begun a coral planting project off Fitzroy Island near Cairns.
The programme is in its infancy, but with support from individuals and companies such as Oris – which installed its first coral tree off Fitzroy Island in 2018, a milestone for the company in its mission to bring change for the better – it has the potential to make a significant positive difference to some affected areas of the Great Barrier Reef.
In partnership with the foundation, Oris has created the Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition III, a diver’s watch based on the legendary Oris Aquis.
The new model, limited to 2,000 pieces, has a gradient blue dial and an aqua blue ceramic insert in its unidirectional rotating diver’s bezel, recalling the colours of the reef waters. Inside its 43.50 mm stainless steel case is an automatic movement that provides it with a small seconds and a circular date window. It’s water-resistant to 30 bar (300 metres).
Oris is on a mission to bring change for the better to the world’s oceans. This year, the independent Swiss watch company is proud to launch The Oceans Project, a series of watches and activities that take the company’s mission to the next level.
Oris has been working with a number of non-profit organisations over the last decade, supporting conservation projects and raising awareness of the plight of the world’s water. It also recently adopted the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and is now implementing a series of changes that will see it behave in a more ecologically responsible, sustainable way.
The Oceans Project also heralds the beginning of a series of new partnerships. The Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition III has been created in partnership with the Reef Restoration Foundation, a non-profit social enterprise founded in 2016.
The pioneering organisation has launched a programme that will help regenerate high value areas of the reef that have suffered from coral bleaching (an event caused by rising water temperatures) during recent Australian summers. Effective coral planting initiatives are under way, with plans to expand.
The Oris Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition III is the first watch in The Oceans Project.
Technical details
Model: Oris Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition III
Case
Multi-piece stainless steel case, unidirectional rotating bezel with ceramic insert
Size: 43.50 mm (1.713 inches)
Top glass: Sapphire, domed on both sides, anti-reflective coating inside
Case back: Stainless steel, screwed, special engravings of corals and the Southern Cross, a star constellation also found on the Australian Flag and only visible in the Southern Hemisphere
Operating devices: Stainless steel screw-in security crown
Water resistance: 30 bar (300 m)
Dial
Aqua blue
Luminous material: Hands and indices printed with Super-LumiNova®
Movement
Number Oris 743
Winding: Automatic
Power reserve: 38 hours
Functions
Centre hands for hours and minutes, continuous seconds at 9 o’clock, circular date window with yellow indicator, date corrector, fine timing device and stop-second
Bracelet
Multi-piece stainless steel bracelet with stainless steel security folding clasp with extension
Edition
Limited edition 2,000 pieces, each presented in a special box made of environmentally friendly algae
Swiss retail price
CHF 2,450
Available
From June 2019
