Oris launches the Aquis Date Kelp Forest edition at CHF 2,450, limited to 1,000

Oris has launched the Aquis Date Kelp Forest Limited Edition, a 41.5mm dive watch capped at 1,000 pieces and available from October 2026. The Swiss retail price is CHF 2,450, and the US price is $2,950. It joins a run of conservation-themed editions from the independent Hölstein brand.

The project began in conversation with Francis Pérez, an award-winning underwater photographer and long-time Oris ambassador. Pérez has spent more than 25 years documenting marine life, and in that time he has watched kelp forests shrink under rising ocean temperatures and commercial harvesting. His observations gave the watch its theme.

The dial is the edition's centerpiece. Oris applies a 3D-printed surface treatment that produces variations of green and gold, the effect meant to recall kelp swaying in a current. A lime-green minute track and golden outlines around the hands and applied indices carry the color scheme outward toward the bezel.

The lime hue also appears in the words Pressure Resistant printed across the lower dial, a formulation Oris chose over the more familiar Water Resistance. Collectors have debated the wording online, but the brand has not explained the choice. Green ceramic fills the unidirectional bezel, which carries a 60-minute scale.

Oris grounds the design in research it cites: coverage of kelp forests off northwestern Spain has fallen by 58% across the last quarter century. These temperate and cold-water habitats shelter fish, invertebrates and marine mammals, absorb carbon and contribute to global oxygen production. The edition is a conversation starter rather than a fundraiser.

Unlike some Oris specials, no portion of proceeds is earmarked for a specific organization. The Kelp Forest edition is in the line of designs such as the Bracenet Aquis, whose dial is made from melted recycled fishing nets, and this spring's Yangtze Jiangtun, which carried mother-of-pearl waves.

Case, bracelet and movement

The case keeps the established Aquis Date architecture. Stainless steel measures 41.5mm across, 12.9mm thick and 49mm lug-to-lug. A slightly domed sapphire crystal with internal antireflective coating protects the dial, and both crown and case back screw down to seal the watch to 300 meters.

The bracelet is a three-row steel design mixing brushed and polished surfaces, with a folding clasp that offers quick-adjust and quick-change systems. On the solid case back, a kelp engraving and the individual piece number mark the limited run. Lume is Super-LumiNova.

Inside is the automatic Oris Calibre 733, a Sellita-based movement running at 28,800 vibrations per hour with a 41-hour power reserve. It drives central hour, minute and hacking seconds hands, along with a date that changes instantaneously through an aperture at six o'clock.

The reference number is 733 7787 4187-Set. The dial color is listed as green and gold, with applied indices and a gold handset. Oris has not disclosed allocations by market.

How the dial looks in person

In person, the dial is slightly iridescent, with a faint metallic sheen from the 3D printing. Oris says each dial carries a slightly different mix of brighter gold-green swoops, so no two pieces in the run are exactly alike.

The light patches tracing kelp shapes are part of the base coloring rather than products of reflection. That makes the pattern permanent, and some will find it more literal than they would like. It is still a lighthearted take on a dive watch, and it looks built for the ocean.

We have followed Oris across its conservation specials, and the textured green dial sets this one apart from the regular Aquis run. The gold accents add a contrast the standard sunray-brushed emerald reference lacks, and the effect reads as light filtering down through water.

At CHF 2,450 the Kelp Forest edition is a limited, textured-dial diver with a steel bracelet, an engraved case back with individual numbering, and a 300-meter rating that keeps it a working dive tool. Its conservation message is personal: Pérez documented kelp decline for a quarter century before this project.

Oris ties that message to a cause most buyers will have thought less about than overfishing or sea temperature. The watch arrives at retailers from October 2026, and the brand has not said how the 1,000 pieces will be split between markets.