Oris do many things very well, pilots’ watches, unusual complications and fantastic value for money among them. Diving watches however have always been the heart of what Oris do and I don’t mean the cool, everyday pieces they’ve excelled at recently – the Sixty-Five Bronze comes to mind. I mean serious tool watches, watches like their new Dive Control Limited Edition.

This isn’t the kind of watch you can wear to a business meeting or for an evening of overindulgence at a cocktail bar. It is however what you would want on your wrist when you actually take to the water. It’s a diving chronograph with a depth resistance of 1,000m.

There are other watches able to survive the crushing depths that far down of course, but the key word here is ‘chronograph’. Because they need buttons on the outside to operate – holes to all intents and purposes – a chronograph generally has far less depth resistance than other watches. Oris has apparently solved that issue.

The secret in the Dive Control is in its locking pushers which screw down to make the buttons watertight. There’s also a locking device on the bezel, which makes it far safer than the default of the unidirectional rotating kind. Instead of only being able to get knocked one way, it stays precisely where it needs to be. Between the two of them, the Dive Control is a safer professional watch than nearly any of its contemporaries.

That of course means it has the usual array of diving features too: the big, rugged 51mm case, the lume-covered indexes and hands for low-light visibility and a helium escape valve. It doesn’t just adhere to professional standards, it exceeds them. It also happens to look the part too.

That huge case is liveried in the tell-tale black of a DLC coating, and the overall design is monolithic. A few flashes of yellow brighten things up, lending a sportier feel to the dial and the engraved waves might have Seamaster fans taking note. It’s a cool look but definitely, definitively a tool watch.

The watch is available on either a black or yellow strap (rubber, of course), and limited to 500 pieces worldwide. Priced at a respectable CHF 4,850 (just under £3,900), it’s a little more expensive than many an Oris but, with a spec sheet like that, it also happens to be one of the most impressive professional divers in recent years.

Price & Specs:

Model name: Oris Dive Control Limited Edition

Ref: 01 774 7727 7784-Set Dial/Case: 51mm diameter, Grade 2 titanium case Movement: Oris Cal. 774, automatic Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph

Frequency: 4Hz Power reserve: 48 hours

Water restistance: 1000m Price & availability: CHF 4,850, limited to 500 pieces



Discover more at Oris Watches’ website.