ORIS Aquis Depth GAUGE 2.0

The next time you lose your rubber ducky in the bathtub or have to dive to the bottom of your pond to unclog the water pump you’ll be able to know just how deep you went. 

In fact you’ll be able to know exactly how deep all your dives are from now on thanks to Oris’s new and improved Aquis Depth Gauge - the second-generation of which has just been launched.

Introducing the new Aquis Depth Gauge, arguably one of the world’s most innovative depth-meter watches, it works from the scientific principles of the Boyle-Mariotte Law to create a gauge that clearly measures depth during a dive.

Ori’s patented system works by allowing water to pass through a hole cut into the watch’s sapphire crystal at 12 o’clock and into a channel milled around the outer edge of the crystal. 

This creates a watermark that corresponds to a gauge clearly indicated in yellow on the dial.

While the new model still works off of the very same science as the gen. one it has and refined the functionality of the original thus delivering even higher level performance thanks to three key improvements. 

So what are these three key improvements that have been implemented into the latest generation of the Aquis Depth Gauge?

Firstly there’s the Depth gauge system itself – with the new watch, the process used to mill the channel into the outer edge of the crystal has been refined so that accuracy and legibility of the gauge has an increased.

Then there’s a Meters to Feet conversion chart – this can be found of the watch’s case-back which has been re-engineered so the meters to feet conversion chart is always set at 90 degrees to the 12 o’clock position. 

For divers relying on the chart on a regular basis, this should greatly enhance their experience of the watch.

Finally Oris has equipped the new Aquis Depth Gauge with the new patented Quick Strap Change system allowing you to switch from stainless steel bracelet and rubber diver’s strap quickly, safely and securely without the necessity of a tool.

In addition to the above – Oris has also scaled down the case size from 48mm (old model) to 45.8mmm. 

The dial text btw now is all in white and yellow whereas before I believe their was a line of red text.

Powering the new Aquis Depth Gauge is an Oris 733 Cal. automatic movement with hours, minutes, and seconds plus a date window at 6 o’clock with an instantaneous date, date corrector, stop-second functions and a power reserve of approx. 38 hours. 

The watch is available as of May 2021. It has a Swiss retail price 3’700CHF (steel) or 3’600 CHF (rubber) and is presented in a waterproof Pelicase dry-box.

Thoughts? It’s good to know that at least someone is still offering a mechanical depth gauge in their current lineup. 

This one isn’t quite as technical as say an IWC Deep Three or JLC Diving Geographic but it’s actually available to buy and it’s priced realistically. 

Meanwhile if you have 30K or more knocking about, you could get yourself as used Blancpain X-Fathoms.