You know what Oris makes a lot of? Diver's watches. The brand just makes a ton of these things. So many models, lots of weird iterations on the theme, after a while I just sort of stopped paying attention to their new models. I mean they came out with a regulator style diving watch. Why? I mean you really need to like regulator watches to be into one of those. There are small seconds, GMTs, all sorts of chronographs, and just a number of other interesting models. In my mind, no one else has as big a variety of mechanical diving watches as Oris. So sifting through all of them I wanted to look for the basic diver that they made that was good ol' dive watch goodness. I came up with the simply named Oris Divers Date watch.
Oris watches are sometimes hit and miss for me. This one I really like though. It is really a tool that is OK to wear for any occasion. The Divers Date (I am not sure why there is no apostrophe in "divers") has a great looking curvy case that is 44mm wide in steel. Actually, there is an almost identical version in titanium called the Divers TT1 Titan watch. This version is different in the material, and the 4 o'clock placement of the crown. OK, I need to stay focused on the watch at hand, but really, there are many versions of these watches.
The Divers Date comes in a few color styles. With the black dial, blue dial, and black dial with the partially red bezel. There are also lume dial (that look greenish), in the titanium versions. They should glow like mofos. The standard lume on the watch is actually bluish, which is nice. If you look closely you will notice a wave pattern texture on the dial that also looks good (similar to what you'd find on a Omega Seamaster 300m). Oris is unique for having its arrow head (sort of) style hour markers and the similar looking baton hands. Oris segments the hour hand to make it stand out from the hour hand more. I admit that marketing images like this of the watch do not do it justice. Google "Oris Diver Date" for owner images and reviews. You'll be sure it is a nice watch then, and you can really see how curvy and chunky the case is. A real professional tool as so many watches wish they could be.
Unlike most dive watches the Oris Diver Date has a see-through caseback with a view into the automatic mechanical movement. Of course the watch still retains 300 meters of water resistance. I am pretty sure the movement is a Swiss ETA 2824-2. You can see Oris's signature mostly red automatic rotor. The watch comes with nicely polished steel strap, and either the rubber strap is included or comes separately. It is a nice way to mix up the style, as well as the weight of the watch that is likely heavy (which I like). I further enjoy how Oris decided to place the date window at the 6 o'clock position making it more symmetrical. There is even a dot of lume beneath it as to not tarnish darkness viewing of the watch. Of course you know that I like the dial matching colored disc that the date is on. The rotating diver's bezel is exactly what you would expect. Nothing fancy or sub-par, just your standard easy to operate diver's bezel (with a top of lume at the top.
Price for these watches is one of the biggest selling points. You get a well-made Swiss watch for somewhere in the $1,000 - $1,300 range. This makes them a pretty good deal and a solid option when looking for a good daily watch or "nice" rugged timepiece that isn't cheap feeling. Especially if you want to feel ready to jump into a pond at any moment. Add it to the list of watches to want.
[...] Oris Divers Date Watch — Solid Choice [...]