Oris celebrates 119th birthday with purple Hölstein Edition and a diving bear

Swiss watchmaker Oris is celebrating its 119th birthday, and to mark the occasion has announced a new limited-edition timepiece.

As has become a tradition for Oris, the company is celebrating its birthday with a new Hölstein Edition, based on the Aquis diving watch. For 2023, the watchmaker has gone big on purple, responded to customer demand for a no-date dial, and had some fun with the case back.

This fun comes in the form of the Oris Bear company mascot, complete with purple diving gear, flippers, and set against a bold purple background filling much of the case back.

Why has Oris done this? “Because why not,” it says, adding: “This is a design to bring joy and make people smile.” Given Oris recently partnered with Kermit the Frog for a collaboration, we're come to expect its watches to have a sense of humour.

Named after the Swiss municipality Oris calls home, the Hölstein Edition 2023 is the first Oris watch to have a purple dial. This colour, as well as the decision to offer the watch without a date complication, came in response to requests from Oris fans, the company says. These two details, as well as the diving bear on the back, are what set the Hölestein Edition 2023 apart from a regular Oris Aquis.

The watch features a 41.5mm stainless steel case with a unidirectional rotating bezel, a guarded crown at the three o’clock position and 300 metres of water resistance.

As well as stating the watch’s waterproofing, the dial also features an inscription of ‘5 days’ in reference to the Calibre 400 automatic movement’s huge 120 hours of power reserve. The in-house, 21-jewel movement also boasts a time accuracy greater than a regular chronometer, a high resistance to magnetism and a 10-year warranty. There’s a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal protecting that snazzy purple dial and a stainless steel, three-row bracelet strap.

Limited to 250 examples, the Oris Hölstein Edition 2023 is priced at £3,300 and is available now.