Oris — fauxtina to future (Part 2)

I remember being at an El Corte Ingles in Barcelona about 4 years ago when I first held a few Diver 65 in the metal. This is the kind of department store that has a lot of watches spread over many tables on a large floor. They basically have all brands minus the higher end luxury watches. It is a sterile and confusing environment.
Right there, in my too-warm-for-south travel blazer, the watch really stood out. It felt refreshing compared to the chunkier and uninspired designs around it. Slim, interesting dial details and a lovely tropical strap it was the kind of watches that felt like a cold beer.
Read Part 1: Oris — independent explorer brand
NB: this is a part of a series of watch brand analysis pieces I am writing. If you haven’t read my analysis of Rolex yet. Do it now.

That is when I understood that Oris was on to something.
Recognising that there was a global internet wave of vintage watch talk and trade rising, Oris was clever in matching that with the needs of retailers. Oris was fast and efficient in putting their design right on a surfboard and ride that first wave. In stores, it was different. Online, it was a killer value proposition.
Waves do end — some by crashing on the rocks
Since then, the brand have knocked out multiple variations of that same watch. They have also put more of the iconic Big Crown Pointer Date into the world, having two watch families that are clearly vintage inspired.
Given that a lot of people have moved from the noob-status to geek the last few years, driven by YouTube-channels and Facebook-groups (FB groups have that advantage over online forums that they swell over into the real world through network effect) — Oris now have a lot of buyers of the fauxtina watches that not have the immediate history on board.
A lot of the more hard core Oris fans, those that came to love it before 2016 or just don’t care about smaller, vintage inspired watches, sense that Oris is in danger of being the fauxtina brand, emblematic with a fashion wave, not telling the story of quality and value they love so much.
We still don’t know how the wave will stop — either on rocky shores with fatal injuries or on soft dunes of sand. Or it will diffuse and the design language diluted into something new.
What we do know, is that we need to reflect on what to dump and what to keep in this trend-pool of design cues.
Fauxtina design breakdown — faketina might just kill it
As a personal courtesy to you, here is a list of where I stand on the subject:
- Sub-42mm case size — yes, this is a keeper. Watch design need to work and most people don’t have wrists like logs.
- Cream coloured markers — maybe… sometimes it works in a modern context too, since it creates a warmer look (like on the Tudor Pelagos LHD). And I think it will just end up as a “colour” — not really referencing anything after some time.
- Painted markers (as opposed to applied) — in general, I feel that applied markers always look more solid and worked through. Painted markers immediately makes a watch more cheap-looking especially when they are not executed to a more sophisticated standard (as I feel the were in the first Diver 65 execution, those were funky AF)
- Slimmer bracelets — yes, this is a keeper. Makes watches more wearable.
- Fake patinated dials — this should just die.
- Fake patinated bezels — die, die, die (and f*** you Hodinkee for the Diver 65 collaboration — out-fauxtina the fauxtina watches — it’s faketina)
- Brushed look (not polished) — ironically, most watches was polished, but age have numbed the shinyness. In the land of fauxtina, this have lead the brands to making less shiny watches. So, I’d say that this fits better with a modern, sober wardrobe — but brands should not skimp on quality in finishing.
Moving forward — the ProPilot X is exploration at the core
A September this year, Oris flew out a bunch of influencers to Shanghai to present its new watch: the Oris BigCrown Pro Pilot X, aka the PPX.

With 10 days power reserve packed in a big, titanium case and a more or less avant-garde design, this is really something different. Rather than joining the club of blue-dial-integrated-bracelet watch a la Bell & Ross, Chopard or Lange, the brand choses another path. Good for them!
Brand strategy wise I find the PPX very motivating. It proves the brands independence and it illustrate how it is taking on the deeper meaning of exploration. It truly is about freedom. It is about finding your own way.
It it a bold move with a bold watch, but I do not expect to see this watch on a lot wrists. Even though the brand have pieces that gets closer to this price point, it is definitely touching into the area of a destination watch. It is something to aspire to, not something you buy while you build up courage and budget to buy a Rolex or an Omega.
Exploration is everyones game
The watch world is saturated with brands that feed of the same explorer gene pool. Rolex have a natural place there, actually making the explorer watch and owns the Explorer name.
In fact, the watch world is circulating their own marketing-and-reference-points as no other industry. Here are some of the most obvious ones that also reflect on exploration and adventure and freedom:
- Planes and aviation — Breitling, Bell & Ross, Bremont, IWC, Oris
- Diving — EVERY-DAMN-ONE
In fact, Bremont (a brand I need to analyse at a later stage) are going for the summit on exploration, literally: their Project Possible with “Nims” has gotten immense coverage.
However, both Bremont and Rolex, seem to not really focus on the deeper meaning of the Explorer archetype. In fact, they both focus a lot more on the achievement of exploration, rather than the exploration it self. It is always a mountain to conquer. “Winning over the mountain” and all of that macho BS vocabulary is a cliche in terms of exploration. And it is not for real people. And it is actually not about exploring. It is about proving oneself.
My point is not that climbing mountains or other direct metaphorical understandings of exploration is irrelevant for brands in general. It is just that it is a game that Oris can’t win. And it is actually outdated and, arguably, selfish.
Being unique in a meaningful way (not just in messaging, but also in product) is also about being focused and consistent, and that is a challenge for any global brand.
Everyday exploration is needed and desirable
In my view, Oris have an opportunity in taking an even stronger stand on independence and what that means for people. They should focus, as I feel they are to a large extent, on peoples individual journeys. And maybe even on those journeys we do every day, being optimistic and encouraging in doing things that we might not know what leads us to.
Oris can be about everyday exploration. This is what the internet used to be about and that is also an opportunity for Oris marketing department. While all new watches are stuffed in peoples faces through the online intellegentia´s Instagram and YouTube-channels, why not release LE-collaborations that are actually hard to find? Thereby rewarding the explorer with a unique experience.
Modern people also need right tools to explore. My social feed is packed with new brands that create gear for modern life that is useful, optimised practicality that looks cool. The whole techwear trend is based on the need to have good-looking stuff that works. And a lot of the aesthetics of the world of watches is actually completely useless in modern life.
We need things do be just right for the shit we need to do and the things we want to do. And we need to commute every day in packed public transport and we need to look cool at the pub afterwards.
At the end of the day, exploration is about enjoying life and being open and curious to the new and unfamiliar. That is something a lot of us want to have every day.
That is where Oris can fit in for the long run. Not as a gateway drug, but as the trusted companion through life’s big and small adventures.
