Our story starts back in 2014 on the year of Oris’ milestone 110th anniversary. For the occasion, the brand unveiled its first proprietary in-house movement in 35 years, featuring a manual-wind 10-day power reserve and a non-linear power reserve indicator. This movement was aptly named the Caliber 110.
A year later, Oris presented the next evolution with the Caliber 111 in the Big Crown ProPilot lineup. The new movement added a dedicated date window at 9 o’clock alongside the signature airplane fuel gauge-style non-linear power reserve indicator at 3 o’clock. The model’s technical prowess caught the attention of the industry and went on to receive a coveted GPHG nomination that year.
Over the past decade, we have seen only a select few iterations on the original, namely new dial colorways. Now, we get a brand new redesign with the latest incarnation. This follows in the footsteps of the brand’s redesign of the ProPilot Date, which brought a series of design updates including an organic dial texture inspired by nature, subtle evolutions to the applied numerals and lume-tipped hands to enhance legibility, and improvements to the ergonomics of the folding ‘LIFT’ clasp (one of the ProPilot’s signature elements). It also introduced an inventive seamless fit strap adjustment system. Let’s get into the specific upgrades that translate to the new ProPilot Caliber 111.
Front and center we have a new dial application with fresh finishes. The details are more visible in the green “pine” version with the main dial showcasing vertical brushing for a smooth and pleasing surface while the small seconds register at 9 o’clock receives a rougher textured treatment that provides the perfect contrast. While the brushed background of the true deep black variation is harder to discern, the small seconds subdial’s coarse finish appears more charcoal grey and is nicely offset from the main dial.
Still in place are the angled bezel fluting and oversized crown, maintaining the collection’s historic links to aviation. In addition, the signature fuel gauge-style power reserve indicator sits opposite the small seconds register at 3 o’clock. There’s also a welcome change to the date placement, now at 6 o’clock as opposed to being offset and slightly intersecting with the small seconds subdial as we saw in previous versions.
The beating heart of the model remains the same with the landmark Caliber 111 offering 10 days or 240 hours of autonomy, displayed in the aforementioned power reserve indicator that shows remaining power with even greater accuracy as the time to wind the watch approaches. Both colorways of the oversized 43mm stainless steel model come with the option of a multi-piece stainless steel metal bracelet with folding ‘LIFT’ clasp or dark brown Cordovan leather strap with seamless fit adjustment system and stainless steel folding ‘LIFT’ clasp.
Here, the bracelet version is priced at CHF 6,100 (approximately $7,300 at the time of publication) while the leather strap version is slightly less expensive at CHF 5,900 (approximately $7,000 at the time of publication). For more information, head over directly to Oris.
