Welcome to Tic-Tok Review. Every week we will be doing a hands-on review of one of our watches. This week we are featuring the Oris Aquis UpCycle. Before we talk about the watch, it’s important to talk about Oris as a whole first. Four and a half years ago, at our old location, the only watches we carried were Shinola and Obaku. Great brands, but not exactly watches that get the collector community excited. Oris came into our store and immediately transformed our watch department. More than any other brand we carry, we owe Oris a tremendous debt of gratitude for believing in us.
So what makes Oris so special? The watches are a good start, but it’s also important to understand the spirit of the brand that comes from the people that are part of it. Oris is one of the last remaining independently owned Swiss watch companies. As such, they pride themselves on doing things their own way. “Go Your Own Way” is their main motto and you can see them live that through the watches they make. A dive watch with a dial made of ocean plastic? No problem. A titanium watch, with an in-house movement, and Kermit the Frog colored dial and Kermit himself on the date? Absolutely. We are so blessed to be part of the Oris family and to have the friendships we do with the guys like VJ, Josh, and Jason.
Watch of the week: Oris Aquis UpCycle
Arguably the most famous lineup from Oris is the Aquis. Their 300 meter dive watch, the Aquis is one of those watches that you can see a silhouette profile and instantly recognize. What Oris have been doing with the line is incredible. The dials come in an array of colors, all of them with this outstanding sunburst. Offered in 36.5mm, 39.5mm, 41.5mm, 43.5mm, and their new sub-seconds Aquis which is 45.5mm. There is truly an Aquis for every wrist.
The focus of this week is the UpCycle, first released in 2021. Each watch has a dial made entirely from recycled ocean plastic, making each and every watch a true 1/1. Those of you that follow Oris closely will remember the Clean Ocean Aquis limited edition that did this same idea first with the case back made from ocean plastic. This watch is not a limited edition piece, but since no two dials are exactly alike, you’re guaranteed a watch that is unlike anything anyone else has. For reference, Oris also offers the UpCycle in 36.5mm, but this review is specifically for the 41.5mm version.
The watch worn for this review is my personal (Peter here) watch that I have had since it first came out in 2021. The specific one we have in stock at the store as of this writing is pictured later in this review, you can also find live pictures on our product page here. The picture above shows the watch on a 7.25” wrist for reference, technical breakdowns as follows:
Diameter: 41.5mm
Lug-to-Lug*: 47.8mm
Thickness**: 12.9mm
Weight***: 152.5 grams
*Official publications have lug-to-lug listed at 48mm. We took our measurements with the exact watch we had in the case using a caliper gauge.
** Thickness measured from the case back to the crystal. Official publications have listed the thickness at 13mm.
*** Watch was weighed fully linked
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
The first thing that is often noticed about the Aquis when you hold it or try it on is how substantial and well-made it is. It is a heavier watch, but in all the right ways. I personally have owned and worn a Tudor Black Bay GMT and Tudor Black Bay 58 as my daily drivers and without question, the Aquis feels more quality in the hand.
The dial is obviously the first thing that is noticed about the watch. For the sake of the review, I’ll talk more about the one we have in the case as of this writing. Tons of dark blue with a little bit of purple. The white scattered throughout helps keep it from being overly dark in tone, there is a small hint of lavender by the Oris logo, as well as some soft hints of yellow in certain areas. Speaking from experience, after a year and a half with one, I still find myself noticing certain details in the dial I haven’t seen before.
The finishing on the bracelet is another standout. Brushed center links with polished edges, technically speaking not an easy thing to pull off on a watch. The amount of time that it takes to provide this level of finishing is huge, but it pays off with one of the nicest bracelets in the industry. The bracelet also has a nice taper to it, going from 24mm at the lugs, down to 16mm at the clasp. Oris does this with their Divers 65 line as well and it’s a great way to help keep the watch balanced on the wrist and not overly heavy. The integrated lugs also make for a sharp looking fit into the case.
Watch in action
Over the weekend I took the watch swimming, hiking, and golfing. I also wore it to the Worn & Wound Windup Fair and it is an immediate conversation starter. Again, I tried to be active with the watch, using the timing bezel to time my swim, walks, and golf round.
The bezel is outstanding. 120 clicks, easy to manipulate quickly without a lot of force. The edge is textured nicely, I had no problem using the bezel while fully submerged, or after leaving the pool while the watch was still wet. From a practical standpoint, Oris does a nice job with the numbering, allowing the user to gauge immediately how much time has gone by. With full markers at 20, 30, 40, and 50, and hashes all the way from 1-15, 25, 35, 45, and 55.
In the water the metal bracelet does not have the same natural feeling that the tropic strap on the Zodiac did, but it wasn’t a hinderance by any means. As you can probably guess, legibility is not as sharp as other dive watches, but one thing that Oris does with the Aquis is outline the hands and indices in polished steel that make for great legibility.
Outside on the trails is where I found this watch to be a cut above. As mentioned, the hour markers and hands are outlined in steel, and the natural angle the watch makes when your wrist is 80% turned just lights up in the sun. I didn’t have any luck photographing it, but if you’re outside checking the time or your bezel, the hands and hour markers make it easier than any other watch I’ve experienced. The lume is also a nice blue. Unfortunately I didn’t get a lot of direct sun exposure, but the lume glows a nice blue for a few minutes after coming back inside.
Performance
The Aquis UpCycle houses the Oris Calibre 733, their regulated and modified Sellita SW-200, which has a 38 hour power reserve. Not to be confused with the Oris Calibre 400, their entirely in-house movement with a 5 day power reserve. As of this writing, the UpCycle is not yet available with the Calibre 400 movement, but we can assure you that if it ever is, we will be writing a feature on that immediately.
I set my watch to the exact time at 20:00 on Sunday night, and as of this writing 46 hours later, it has only gained 2 seconds. With the exception of sleeping, in which case the watch was placed face up on my night stand, I wore this watch continuously during that period. Before setting the watch, I manually wound the crown 25 times to make sure it was powered up enough to achieve optimal performance. It is interesting that Oris choose not to get their base Aquis COSC certified, but that does keep with the overall brand ethos of packing as much value into their watches and not spending money on things that aren’t necessary.
Actual image of UpCycle in our showcase
Final thoughts
Overall an excellent offering from Oris. The quality and feel are hard to beat in this price range. At a current MSRP of $2,500, there are a ton of choices, but it’s hard to beat the appearance and build quality of an Aquis. As a collector, it’s also quite fun to have a watch that is truly yours, something nobody else has that’s exactly the same. You’re also getting a brand with a rich history, and a reputation for quality. More than most brands, Oris are making watches for the enthusiast, the collectors, the people that really love watches. They immerse themselves in watch culture by attending shows like the Worn & Wound Windup Fair, are frequent RedBar attendees, and they travel the country with an enormous bear and a customized Airstream. Truly a brand that captures the spirit of everything good about this hobby, it is such a pleasure to be partners with them.
You can find the watch for sale in our showroom, or on our site here: Oris Aquis UpCycle 41.5mm
What’s Next?
Next week we will be reviewing the new, limited edition Seiko Black Series SPB335 limited edition slim turtle. I will actually be taking this watch on a 20 mile canoe trip where we will be camping for a long weekend, so hoping to bring a real outdoor perspective.
