Oris Big Crown Caliber 473 mechanical blue dial leather strap 38 mm

Born from a Big Crown

This new model takes the design of the famous Big Crown. It is an iconic model of the Oris Manufacture! This watch for pilots first appeared in 1938. Its oversized crown (hence the name "Big Crown"), allows a good grip, even when wearing thick gloves, to allow winding with gloves. It was also appreciated for its great readability, allowed by its large cathedral-type hands and good-sized Arabic numerals.

But this new reference breaks quite a few codes, and is characterized by its very great simplicity. First of all, we find a very nice and readable blue dial with luminescent Arabic numerals, which reminds us of old watches from the sixties. The dial benefits from a nice opening within this steel case of 38 mm diameter. Precisely, the latter has very nice brushed on the lugs, which come a little "break" the whole polished. The Big Crown DNA is still present, thanks to its large crown, but the latter is modernized as well as the hands which are now sword hands. Finally, goodbye to the fluted bezel replaced by a smooth and polished bezel! Details at first glance more contemporary, but ultimately bringing the Big Crown closer to its origins.

The finishing touch? It comes on a dark brown leather strap from partner Cervo Volante. It's made from red deer leather, free of chemical treatments and allergens with non-toxic vegetable tanning done in one of the last two tanneries in Switzerland. The result is an earthy, warm and durable leather that perfectly suits the vintage spirit of this Big Crown! In addition, Oris has developed a sophisticated stainless steel butterfly folding clasp with a fine adjustment system. It allows you to adjust the strap according to the expansion and contraction of your wrist, which happens when environmental conditions change.

The Oris Caliber 473

At the heart of this Oris Big Crown is Oris' tenth in-house movement, Caliber 473. Designed entirely in-house by Oris watchmakers, it is based on the revolutionary Caliber 400 launched in October 2020. More accurate than a chronometer (-3 to +5 seconds per day), this Oris movement solves many of the problems of today's mechanical movements: high level of anti-magnetism, 120 hour (five day) power reserve and 10 year extended warranty. This Oris 473 caliber differs from the Oris 400 caliber in that it is hand-wound. It offers a small seconds at 6 o'clock, a central date as well as a 120-hour power reserve indicator on the back of the caliber, a useful feature that indicates precisely when to wind the movement.

Such is Oris' confidence in the advanced technologies built into the Caliber 473 that the brand offers a 10-year warranty on all its watches equipped with this movement. In addition, Oris recommends a 10-year service interval for watches in the Caliber 400 series, which means that barring accidental damage or gasket checks, you shouldn't need to bring your Big Crown Cal. 401 in for service until 2031 at the earliest. That's the new standard!