Bronze watches are everywhere, and few brands have worked as much to capitalize upon the trend than Hölstein-based Oris. This week, Oris continues its place at the vanguard of the bronze wave while revisiting again one of its classic designs with the introduction of the updated Big Crown Pointer Date Bronze. The new watch – which includes four different dial colorways in green, brown, Bordeaux (red), and blue — is especially notable for offering all four with a new seven-link bronze bracelet in addition to their predecessors’ leather straps.
The familiar Big Crown Pointer Date Bronze design is evident in all the new models; you can read more about that venerable design in our last hands-on review of the model here. These hallmark elements include a 40-mm diameter for the bronze case, which takes direct inspiration from a vintage pilots’ watch produced by Oris back in the late 1930s, complete with a signature “big crown,” sans any guards; a coin-edged bezel; and sharp facets finished primarily with satin brushing.
As mentioned, the most notable update to the watch is its use of a new, all-bronze seven-link bracelet. This represents the second use of an all-bronze bracelet by Oris in one of its production series, following up on the 2021 introduction of the Divers Sixty-Five “Cotton Candy” Editions and the limited Hölstein Edition 2020 from the year prior, both of which used a three-link bronze bracelet. The use of a seven-link here points once more to the evolution of the bronze trend, with the brand now using the warm-toned metal in a larger way — not only for its divers’ models, but also within other product families as well, including the slightly more formal-wearing Big Crown Pointer Date collection.
On the dial, we find a familiar design hearkening back to both previous Big Crown Pointer Date editions, and by extension their 1938 historical source model. It features an outer analog date ring indicated by a red-tipped pointer, and a pre-war configuration in all its other details, incorporating printed hour markers and lume-filled, cathedral hands. The choice of four different color options allows a wide range of choices for fans of the style; the blue and red dials are the first to appear in Big Crown Pointer Date series, and the green dial is the first use of that color to in the regular production of it. Both the subtler browns and reds and striking blues and greens remind one of familiar Oris color palettes, but they all add a very cool contrast to the all-bronze tones of the cases and bracelets.
Inside the updated watches is the same caliber used in previous iterations, Oris Caliber 754, based upon the Sellita SW200-1 and finished in-house by Oris, equipped with a signature red rotor. The automatic movement stores a power reserve of 38 hours, and is equipped with a stop-seconds function for easy time synchronization. The use of the caliber allows for a clean dial aesthetic, but differs from the historical use of the “Pointer” Caliber 373 from 1938, with its signature 6 o’clock seconds counter (above), which Oris has revived in other modern models, including 2021’s Big Crown Pointer Date Calibre 403.
The bronze-clad series as we now know it was first introduced in 2019, with a vintage-inspired Big Crown Pointer Date version. The success of that launch solidified the use of bronze cases as a fixture in the brand’s catalog — following up a previous 2018 special edition of the Big Crown Pointer Date launched in celebration of Oris’s 80th anniversary. These new models continue to showcase the company’s interest in bronze, which it has amply demonstrated in recent years with timepieces like the Big Crown ProPilot Big Date Bronze, Carl Brashear Cal. 401 Limited Edition, and various two-tone Divers Sixty-Five models.
The Oris Big Crown Pointer Date Bronze, in all four of its color options, is available now, directly from the brand as well as its authorized retailers. Pricing begins at $2,100 on a standard leather strap, and rises to $2,500 on the new seven-link bronze bracelet.
To learn more, visit Oris, here.