FeatureMultiple Colours, Multiple Ways: Oris’s Watch Faces Presenting Colourful Displays

Watch dials featuring multiple colours is not something new. We’ve seen watch faces that present different colours in different ways. With certain kinds of finishing on metallic dials, solid hues give off different shades when viewed from different angles. There are gradient dials that present multiple colours with an ombré effect. Then there are different materials that have multiple tones, such as stones like malachite. And, of course, there’s the ever-popular mother-of-pearl, which is known for its iridescence—lending an assortment of hues to dials made from it. Completely different from all of the above are two watch faces made by Oris, each using different techniques for a unique presentation of a multi-coloured dial in the brand’s diving and aviation collections, respectively.

A Multi-Coloured Dial For The Ocean

From the diving collection is this edition of the bestselling Aquis Date timepiece, with a multi-coloured dial taking the place of the Aquis’s standard sunray-finished dials. This marble pattern is unique to every piece created, as no two dial will be identical. Even the composition and proportion of hues on thisdial will not be the same for every piece. The reason for this is that the multi-coloured dial is basically compressed PET plastic or polyester, which is made from oceanic plastic waste. Yes, this is the Aquis Date Upcycle, which is one of Oris’s many sustainability-driven products. For this particular watch, Oris partnered with #Tide Ocean Material—a Swiss organisation that works towards reducing plastic garbage in our oceans, through recycling retrieved waste.

The Aquis Date Upcycle's multi-coloured dial is basically compressed PET plastic or polyester, which is made from oceanic plastic waste

₹2,35,000

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For this particular watch, Oris partnered with #Tide Ocean Material—a Swiss organisation that works towards reducing plastic garbage in our oceans, through recycling retrieved waste

₹2,35,000

Check Our Selling Price

They had released the watch in two sizes when it was first launched

₹2,35,000

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Enhancing The Multi-Coloured Dial

Surrounding the Upcycle’s multi-coloured dial made of recycled ocean plastic, the rest of the watch is rather monochromatic. Complementing the 41.5mm steel case and steel bracelet is the grey ceramic insert of the unidirectional-rotating, 60-minute dive-timer bezel. And standing out on the dial are the steel makers with white Super-LumiNova, which matches the white date disc seen through the aperture at six o’clock. The three-hand timekeeping and date run on the 38-hour automatic calibre 733.

Read more about #Tide Ocean’s collaborations with watch brands, most notably, Maurice Lacroix

The Brilliant Laser-Engraved Multi-Coloured Dial

A departure from the palette of colours made by literally combining of various colours of recycled plastic on the multi-coloured dial of the Aquis Date Upcycle are the myriad hues of the ProPilot X Laser. Unveiled just last year, the Laser Engraved literally does not have any pigments or colouring on its multi-coloured dial. Yet, the dial, which looks it’s composed of blue and purple hues, actually gives off a lot of colour, when viewed from different angles, depending on where light hits it from. This effect of a multi-coloured dial is created by subjecting the titanium watch face to multiple laser techniques, which results in an iridescent effect.

Unveiled just last year, the Laser Engraved literally does not have any pigments or colouring on its multi-coloured dial. Yet, the dial, which looks it’s composed of blue and purple hues, actually gives off a lot of colour, when viewed from different angles

The Laser-Created Myriad Hues 

Oris’s head engineer, Richard ‘Ipy’ Siegrist was behind the creation of this multi-coloured dial, which follows the concepts of biomimicry. This practice of emulating natural phenomena is generally used for finding solutions of various kinds, but here, it’s used to create art, with the multi-coloured dial almost mimicking the northern lights. As the optical interference created by the laser work destroys the surface’s ability to reflect red light waves, what we see then is a vast number of hues, ranging from green to aqua and turquoise to blue and violet.

This effect of a multi-coloured dial is created by subjecting the titanium watch face to multiple laser techniques, which results in an iridescent effect

Almost as though to limit the interference of markers and indications with the mesmerising multi-coloured dial, this ProPilot X—powered by the brand’s in-house five-day automatic calibre 400—does not have a date display. What’s left are the subtle grey elongated hour indexes and other markings, while the hands stand out for clear legibility as they complement the 39mm titanium case and titanium bracelet.

Like the Upcycle above, the monochromatic appearance of the Laser Engraved’s case and bracelet simply enhances the impact of the multi-coloured dial encased. These two watches excel in more ways than one, and are a sheer celebration of colour, visual brilliance, and the use of various hues on watch faces.