Oris was founded in 1904 by Paul Cattin and Georges Christian in the small Swiss village of Hölstein, where the brand's headquarters remain to this day. Named after a nearby brook, the company grew through the 20th century into one of Switzerland's largest watch producers, at one point employing over 900 people and exporting across the world. The 1970s quartz crisis devastated the brand, and by the time management bought the company back from its American parent in 1982, Oris was a shell of its former self.
The modern Oris was reborn as a committedly mechanical-only watchmaker - one of the few Swiss brands to make that declaration and stick to it. Through the 1980s and 1990s, the company rebuilt on the foundation of affordable Sellita and ETA-based mechanical calibres in beautifully designed cases. The Big Crown Pointer Date became its signature pilot's watch, and the Divers Sixty-Five, launched in 2015, triggered the vintage-dive-watch renaissance that defined the second half of the 2010s.
The defining moment of Oris's modern era came in 2020 with the launch of Calibre 400 - a fully in-house automatic movement with a five-day power reserve, antimagnetic escapement, ten-year service interval, and a ten-year warranty. At its price point (starting in the Aquis under $4,000), the Calibre 400 is arguably the best value in-house Swiss mechanical movement available. Combined with the brand's strong environmental advocacy and partnerships with organisations like the Sylvia Earle Alliance and World Cleanup Day, modern Oris has built an identity that resonates well beyond its watches.
