Blast from the Past: Meet Oris Big Crown Calibre 473

Known for creating pocket-friendly, reliable timepieces, Oris has carved a niche for itself since its inception in 1904. The brand was founded by Paul Cattin and Georges Christian in the Swiss town of Hölstein. Oris introduced the Big Crown Pointer Date in 1938 and took four years to develop Calibre 473; it is similar to Calibre 400 that came into existence in 2020 with a 10-year warranty and a five-day power reserve. Oris has incorporated this movement, popular among collectors, in the latest Big Crown timepiece.

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The Big Crown is the signature timepiece that has been in constant production. Last year, Oris collaborated with Waldenburgerbahn railway to create the 1,000-piece Big Crown Waldenburgerbahn Limited Edition with an Oris 754 that had a 38-hour power reserve. What made this watch unique was the engraving of the Waldenburgerbahn train on the caseback.

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The new, hand-wound Oris Big Crown Calibre 473 (Ref. 01 473 7786 4065-07 5 19 22FC) brings back the classic timepiece from 1938. The timepiece, a non-limited edition variant, comes with a 38 mm stainless steel case with a blue dial. On the outer periphery, there is a railway track-style pattern with Arabic numerals along with a small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock. The watch gets sword-shaped hour, minute hands, a red-arrowed pointer date hand with Super-LumiNova® and Arabic hour markers. There is the iconic ‘Big Crown’ at 3 o’clock from where the timepiece gets its name. 

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Turning the watch reveals the iconic Calibre 473 with 120-hour power reserve on a sapphire caseback without the oscillating weight. The watch is finished on an olive brown strap, crafted from sustainably sourced deer leather, produced  by Oris’s Swiss partner Cervo Volante, complete with a  stainless steel butterfly clasp with a fine adjustment system. 

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Oris Big Crown Calibre 473 will be available to buyers from this month. The Maison also offers 10-year extended warranty with MyOris sign-up, which is applicable to the watch and its movement, and 10-year recommended service intervals with five-year recommended water resistance check. The watch offers 50-metre water resistance.

To be sure, the watch does have a masculine tone in terms of size and colour contrast. It can be worn for all occasions.

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