ORIS Divers Sixty-Five OnSTEEL

ORIS has created a new bracelet version of their hugely popular (Oris literally can’t make enough of them) Divers Sixty-Five that was first launched in 2015, on black rubber.

The Divers Sixty-Five is a based on a vintage Oris dive watch that dates back to (you guessed it) 1965. In those days, its case was actually made of chromium-plated brass, today it’s high-grade Stainless steel.



Personally I’m not one of those who’ve been (how to put this delicately) wetting their pants over the Divers Sixty-Five (that wasn’t delicately put). I can certainly see the appeal looks-wise, it’s a pretty good looking watch –

But it ain’t no diver, and that isn’t because it’s only rated to 100 meters. Okay, yes it is. The only reason I ever hate on a dive watch is when it’s called ‘diver’ and has a water-resistance that suggests otherwise.



I know Oris has a stable of proper divers such as those in its Aquis family, but there’s always room for one more, right? The Divers Sixty-Five is 95% there – it boasts a scratch-resistant Sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating its inside –

this replaces the Plexiglas crystal the original model had; while its plastic rotating bezel makes way for a steel bezel with a lightweight black aluminum insert. This is a unidirectional rotational divers bezel with a 60-minute timer and a 12hr marker filled with SuperLumiNova.



Further divers (let’s pretend it is one for a minute) include: a screwdown crown and caseback. This has been engraved with Oris’ historic shield emblem, as seen on the 1965 original and on the heritage box that the 2015/16 watches are presented in.



There are two dial versions: a BLACK and two-tone grey/light “Deauville” BLUE version. The dials have a slight curve to them. They are with printed SuperLumiNova numerals and markers. The hour, minute and seconds hands are in nickel and have been filled with SuperLumiNova.

Powering the Divers Sixty-Five is an automatic movement, the Oris Cal. 733, based on the Sellita SW 200-1, with a date at 6 o’clock.



And finally the reason why we’re even looking at the Divers SixtyFive again – its new brushed Stainless steel bracelet that is based on the original’s from the 1960s. This has been subtly updated to reflect modern tastes and built using the latest Swiss manufacturing techniques.

The bracelet has four links on either side, which are connected via round-headed pins that evoke the design of the original.



I can’t argue with the popularity of this watch – but I’ll never understand the whole 100m thing. Case in point – Tudor’s heritage collection, the Black Bay has 200m while their contemporary divers model, the Pelagos gets 500m.

The two new bracelet versions retail for 2000CHF which is 200CHF more than the strap versions of the watch. Too small for you? Check out the new ORIS Divers Sixty-Five 42MM.