Oris adds an oxblood-red dial to the Big Crown Pointer Date at CHF 2,000

Oris has added a rich oxblood-red dial to the Big Crown Pointer Date, its aviator's watch that dates back to 1938. The new color joins the brand's more contemporary line of Big Crown models and enters the permanent collection immediately at CHF 2,000.

The watch arrives in a 40mm stainless steel case, 12mm thick with a 47.5mm lug-to-lug span and a 50m water-resistance rating. It comes on a stainless steel H-link bracelet with a push-button butterfly clasp, and Oris also offers Cervo Volante deer-hide straps.

The oxblood tone stands apart from the pastel shades elsewhere in the modern collection. The darker red suits the approach of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and it gives strong contrast against the white Arabic numerals marking the date and hours.

Power comes from the Oris 754, an automatic caliber built on the Sellita SW 200-1 base. It runs at 28,800vph, holds a 41-hour power reserve, and carries the brand's signature red oscillating weight, visible through the mineral glass caseback.

Oris is a Swiss watchmaker founded in Hölstein, known for mechanical watches at accessible prices, and we keep the full Oris catalogue with recommended retail prices in our reference. The oxblood model is priced in the same range as its other Sellita-based Big Crown models.

The Big Crown Pointer Date is organized into tiers by movement. The classic vintage-inspired version keeps the coin-edge bezel and cathedral hands, while the newer line swaps in a smooth polished bezel and pencil handset. The family hallmark remains the oversized fluted crown.

What changed on the refreshed case

The modern design dropped several elements of the classic. A smooth polished bezel replaces the coin-edge one, cathedral hands give way to a cleaner pencil handset, and the pointer-date hand ends in an arrow tip rather than a crescent moon.

That arrow tip is red, matching the dial, and it contrasts with the white central seconds hand. Twelve raised Arabic numerals are filled with white Super-LumiNova, as are the five-minute triangles on the railway-style minutes track.

The hour and minute hands are pencil-shaped with luminous interiors, and the minute hand reaches precisely to the railroad track for cleaner balance. Low-light legibility is noticeably stronger thanks to the lume-filled applied numerals.

The dial is under a domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating inside, and the brushed case flanks are matched by the polished oversized crown. One reviewer prefers the older crescent-moon pointer, since the arrow resembles a GMT hand and can overlap the minute track while setting the time.

A five-year-old design with roots in 1938

This contemporary interpretation is now five years old. It debuted as Oris's 2021 Hölstein Edition, designed by Head of Design Lukas Bühlmann, and quickly established a fresh direction alongside the classic Big Crown Pointer Date.

The Hölstein Edition became a whole collection. Oris's 2022 Full Steel Worldtimer Hölstein Edition, by contrast, never advanced past its original release and later earned a cult following among collectors after an initially mixed reception.

The newer style also accommodates Oris's proprietary 400-series calibers. The flagship caliber 403 offers a 120-hour power reserve, but that movement almost doubles the price, which is why the Sellita-based 754 suits this watch.

The bracelet pairs brushed surfaces with polished connecting links. A reader comment on the launch regrets the 50m rating and the continued use of the SW 200-1 when the SW 200-2 is available.

The watch retails for €2,000, US$2,400 and £1,750, and is available now. Oris gives the Swiss price as CHF 2,000, and further details are on its website, oris.ch.

The classic Big Crown Pointer Date remains in production, most recently extended through the Cervo Volante collaboration. The two design languages now coexist within the wider collection rather than one replacing the other.