Oris boasts one of the coolest diver’s watches collections on the market. If you’re looking for a robust diver’s watch and you’re crazy about military inspired timepieces, this is a brand to take into serious consideration. Strong of its decades-long experience, I was a teenager when the first timepiece realized in cooperation with Carlos Coste came out, at Baselworld 2015 the Swiss brand released a new diver, the Oris Force Recon GMT.
Starting from a pillar of its product portfolio, the Diver Pro, Oris created a special collection (not limited I believe) in partnership with the Force Recon, one of the most prestigious military corps of the US Navy.
The Oris Force Recon GMT is a Diver Pro, featuring the unmistakable bezel rotation locking device, the Rotation Safety System, a brand’s patent that allows the wearer to lock the bezel in an assigned position, a function especially useful for professional diving, when an accidental bezel rotation could be fatal.
The case is made of titanium, a necessary choice on a watch that is 49mm wide and is also quite thick, two features that make it a sort of small cylinder block on your wrist. The case is DLC treated and the graduated rotating bezel has a matte black ceramic inlay, two features that enhance the “heavy duty” factor of the watch, making it virtually scratch-proof.
The NATO strap is clearly military inspired (each Diver Pro is always sold in a big box, with a replacement strap), and is perfect for an everyday use but a bit less for diving, where you can count on the traditional rubber strap with folding buckle and Oris-patented extension system.
The Oris Force Recon GMT is a watch with a second timezone. The brand has equipped caliber 747 with this complication, a movement derived from the Sellita SW 220-1, that adds a complication that is certainly useful, but of which I do not really understand the need, on such a technical timepiece.
Water resistance up to 1000m and the helium escape valve complete the tech features list of a nice diver’s watch, second in my personal wish list, only to the Col Moschin, that I consider the coolest Oris Diver Pro ever made, and one of the most successful so far.
It is an original diver, with a strong personality and the appeal of the partnership with a prestigious military corp (the Recon logo is reproduced on the dial and the case back), well finished, it retails at 3800 CHF; not too expensive but still pricey if you think, and this is valid for Oris as for several other Swiss brands, that for a lower price one might opt for an ISO compliant watch with an in-house movement (I’m talking about Japanese diver’s watches), to which the Recon GMT answers with an esthetical appeal and a globetrotting function that the first sometimes lack. The choice is yours then.
(Photo credit: Oris; Horbiter®)
Gaetano C. @Horbiter®
