Luxury Swiss watchmaker Oris presents the ultimate diver’s tool, the innovative ProDiver Chronograph. This watch has it all – water-resistance, legibility and a unidirectional rotating bezel for timing dives. Ever since its 2009 launch, the Oris ProDiver Chronograph has set the standard for professional diver’s watches by taking all of these factors into account, and more. This year it returns, redesigned and upgraded to reinforce its impeccable diving credentials.
As with the original, Oris has worked with ambassador and professional diver Roman Frischknecht on the new watch, which bears the hallmarks of a device that’s been designed to both look and function like a real-world diving tool. It has a lightweight 51mm titanium case that’s water-resistant to 100 bar/1,000 meters, and a bezel that, like the original, incorporates the Oris-patented Rotating Safety System. This ingenious system locks a bezel in place once set so that it can’t be moved in either direction during a dive, eliminating the chance of accidental – and potentially fatal – adjustments.
The updated ProDiver Chronograph design is more utilitarian, with angular lugs and a slimmer profile. It’s more practical, too. The screw-down crown and push pieces have deeper grooves for better grip. The same is true of the ridged bezel, which is made of durable, shock-resistant vulcanized black rubber. The bracelet and rubber strap (the watch comes with both) have also been redesigned so that the edges are flatter, and the centre links of the bracelet and the central section of the strap are more rounded, giving the watch a simpler but more technical look.
Some elements remain from the original model. The bezel insert is still in black ceramic, a scratch and fade-resistant material that has become hugely popular in diver’s watches since Oris first introduced it. Oris’s designers have also retained the game-changing Oris-developed sliding sledge clasp and its quick-adjust system that means the rubber strap can be adjusted for length without taking the watch off. The only difference is that now the clasp is made of brushed rather than polished stainless steel.
The new ProDiver Chronograph also carries over a built-in automatic helium valve, an essential device in a watch worn during saturation dives, when divers – like Roman – live in sealed compression chambers filled with helium-enriched air to offset the need for decompression. Helium particles are small enough to infiltrate a watch case and as they expand on decompression they can cause damage. The automatic helium valve overcomes this problem.
Under the ProDiver Chronograph’s robust, avant-garde titanium shell is a traditional mechanical automatic movement, Oris Calibre 774. It gives the watch time, date and chronograph functions. The new Oris ProDiver Chronograph comes in a fully water-resistant case that stores the alternate strap and a strap-changing tool.
