SpotlightHappy And High: Oris Present Two New Updates In Their ProPilot Series For Watches And Wonders, Geneva 2023

As part of Oris’s latest collaboration with Disney’s The Muppets, the Hölstein-based brand have released the ProPilot X Kermit Edition at Watches and Wonders 2023, the trade fair being held in Geneva this week. This titanium timepiece with a green dial is their new ‘happy’ watch, designed to make the wearer smile. And if the colour of the dial isn’t happy enough, on the first of every month, a Kermit the Frog emoji with a wide, ear-to-ear grin appears on the date window to mark ‘Kermit Day’, which is ‘all about not taking life too seriously’. 

ProPilot X Kermit Edition: It’s All About ‘Joy’

“We talk a lot about functions in a literal sense, but really, the purpose of an Oris watch is to make people smile. That’s it. And with the ProPilot X Kermit Edition, there’s nothing else to it,” states Ken Laurent, Oris’s creative director. “Okay, yes, it’s powered by a brilliant movement and the case design is spectacular, but the function of this watch is really simple: to bring joy.”

The green dial features applied line indexes and the date window at six o’clock. It comes housed in a 39mm titanium case with satin and sandblasted finishes, featuring a knurled bezel and integrated strap with sharp lines—instant identifiers of the brand’s ProPilot X series.

Oris’ Big Crown ProPilot X Calibre 400 released last year celebrated what the brand called the ‘joy of mechanics’. The same calibre 400 powers the 2023 ‘ProPilot X Kermit’ Edition, continuing the ‘joy of mechanics’ theme for the brand. The movement features enhanced anti-magnetism and a power reserve of 120 hours, and is visible through a sapphire crystal window on the titanium caseback.

On the first of every month, a Kermit the Frog emoji with a wide, ear-to-ear grin appears on the date window to mark ‘Kermit Day’

Oris collaborate with the 'easiest guy on the planet', The Muppet's Kermit the Frog. Photo credit © Disney

It comes housed in a 39mm titanium case with satin and sandblasted finishes

The timepiece features a knurled bezel and integrated strap with sharp lines—instant identifiers of the brand’s ProPilot X series

The timepiece is driven by the calibre 400, which features enhanced anti-magnetism and a power reserve of 120 hours, and is visible through a sapphire crystal window on the titanium caseback

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As part of the new normal after the pandemic, humour in any form is now welcome. And when a brand that takes mechanical watchmaking as seriously as Oris makes the effort, it elicits honest joy.

ProPilot Altimeter: Reaching A New High

In 2014, Oris released the world’s first automatic mechanical timepiece with a mechanical altimeter built into the movement, and over the next few years, followed up with limited edition altimeter watches. However, previously, their altimeter scales were limited to 15,000ft or 4,500m, but their 2023 ProPilot Altimeter timepiece has an improved altimeter module that indicates altitude up to 19,700ft or 6,000m.

Oris' previous altimeter scales were limited to 15,000ft or 4,500m, but their 2023 ProPilot Altimeter timepiece has an improved altimeter module that indicates altitude up to 19,700ft or 6,000m

The 47mm case of the 2023 ProPilot Altimeter is made from a lightweight carbon-fibre composite that’s lighter than plastic and can be stronger than metals

The time and date are set using the grey PVD-plated titanium crown at two, while the grey PVD-plated titanium big crown at four o’clock—labelled 'Alt Set'—is used to set the altimeter

The conversion from metres to feet is also given—engraved on the PVD-plated titanium caseback

This carbon-fibre composite, created by high-tech Swiss firm 9T Labs, is used to make 'parts for airplanes, satellites, cars, motorbikes, bikes and instruments used in surgery'. It was previously used to make the case of the Oris Coulson Limited Edition

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Interestingly, the case of the ProPilot Altimeter is made from a lightweight carbon-fibre composite that’s lighter than plastic and can be stronger than metals. Made from a single-piece of carbon fibre composite, the 47mm-wide case is not just lighter but also slimmer than previous model’s thickness of 18mm. “The carbon composite is two-thirds lighter than titanium. The result is a watch with improved performance that’s also 1mm slimmer than the previous model, and 70g lighter,” explains Oris product development engineer Richard Siegrist.

This material, created by high-tech Swiss firm 9T Labs, is used to make “parts for airplanes, satellites, cars, motorbikes, bikes and instruments used in surgery,” according to Giovanni Cavolina, co-founder and chief commercial officer at 9T Labs. This isn’t the first time we’re seeing this carbon fibre composite. It was previously used to make the case of the Oris Coulson Limited Edition.

The movement within the 2023 ProPilot Altimeter is the automatic calibre Oris 793, with a power reserve of 56 hours, and timekeeping functions, a central sweep-seconds hand, and a date window at three o’clock. The time and date are set using the grey PVD-plated titanium crown at two, while the grey PVD-plated titanium big crown at four o’clock is used to set the altimeter by aligning the reference air pressure with the red triangle at six o’clock on the dial. Changes in altitude are then highlighted by the yellow indicator on the scale from zero to 19,700ft or 6,000m. The conversion from metres to feet is also given—engraved on the PVD-plated titanium caseback.