With its striking three-dimensional green dial, robust Aquis dive-watch architecture, and a compelling environmental mission, the new Oris Kelp Forest Limited Edition demonstrates how fine Swiss watchmaking can help bring attention to one of the ocean’s most endangered ecosystems.
There is something profoundly fascinating about the underwater world. Beneath the ocean’s surface lies an extraordinary landscape of shifting colors, mysterious creatures, and remarkable ecosystems that sustain life far beyond the water’s edge.
Among the most spectacular of these environments are kelp forests — vast underwater expanses of giant seaweed that sway with the currents, providing food, shelter, and protection for countless marine organisms.
Yet these magnificent underwater forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. For Swiss watchmaker Oris, this environmental crisis provides both the inspiration and the purpose behind its latest creation: the Oris Kelp Forest Limited Edition.
Limited to just 1,000 pieces worldwide, it is another example of Oris using its watchmaking expertise to draw attention to environmental issues that extend well beyond the world of horology.
An underwater forest on your wrist
The most captivating feature of the Kelp Forest Limited Edition is undoubtedly its dial.
Rather than simply applying a conventional green finish, Oris has developed a distinctive 3D-printed dial that recreates the organic appearance of kelp plants moving gently beneath the ocean’s surface.
The result is a watch face that evokes the depth, texture, and natural movement of an underwater forest. It’s an imaginative approach to dial design, transforming a functional component into a miniature representation of one of nature’s most extraordinary environments.
Green is an appropriate choice, of course. It immediately connects the watch to the marine vegetation that inspired it, while giving the familiar Aquis design a character that distinguishes it from more conventional diving watches.
Built on the proven Aquis platform
Beneath its distinctive appearance, the Kelp Forest Limited Edition retains the practical capabilities expected of an Oris Aquis dive watch. Its multi-piece stainless steel case measures 41.5mm in diameter, a size that balances the substantial presence of a professional diving instrument with the versatility of an everyday sports watch. A ceramic-topped bezel with a minutes scale reinforces its diving credentials, while a sapphire crystal, domed on both sides and treated with an internal anti-reflective coating, protects the dial.
The watch also features a screw-down caseback with sapphire glass and special engravings associated with the limited edition. Water resistance is rated at 30 bar, equivalent to approximately 300 meters, providing considerable capability for recreational diving and other aquatic activities. Completing the package is a stainless steel bracelet, giving the watch a cohesive appearance that is equally appropriate for underwater adventures and everyday wear.
Mechanical precision beneath the surface
Powering the watch is the Oris Calibre 733-1, a self-winding mechanical movement offering a power reserve of approximately 41 hours. Operating at 28,800 vibrations per hour, or 4Hz, the movement drives the central hours, minutes, and seconds hands, together with a date display. Additional functions include instantaneous date change, a date corrector, and a stop-seconds mechanism that allows the wearer to set the time precisely.
A photographer’s warning from beneath the waves
While the watch itself is undeniably attractive, the environmental story behind it is arguably even more compelling. The project draws attention to the observations of Oris ambassador Francis Pérez, an award-winning underwater photographer who has spent three decades documenting the marine environment.
Over those years, Pérez has witnessed the dramatic decline of kelp forests, a transformation that reflects the increasingly serious pressures facing the world’s oceans.
Kelp is far more important than its appearance might suggest.
This remarkable form of giant seaweed can grow as much as 60 centimeters in a single day. Kelp forests provide essential habitats for marine organisms, offer food and shelter, and create natural barriers that help protect coastlines from wave action. Oris also highlights kelp’s role in capturing carbon and its contribution to global oxygen production, which the company estimates at around two percent.
However, rising ocean temperatures and growing commercial demand are threatening these vital ecosystems. The loss has become so extensive that scientists have begun describing the phenomenon as underwater deforestation.
For Pérez, the urgency of the situation is unmistakable. “The time to highlight the threat is now,” he says. It’s a message that gives the Kelp Forest Limited Edition a significance beyond its mechanical specifications and visual design. The watch becomes a conversation starter, its unusual dial inviting questions that can lead to a much larger discussion about marine biodiversity and environmental protection.
Exclusivity with a message
Production of the Oris Kelp Forest Limited Edition is restricted to 1,000 individually limited pieces worldwide. For collectors, that scarcity adds another dimension to an already distinctive watch.
Ultimately, the Oris Kelp Forest Limited Edition succeeds in bringing together two seemingly different worlds: the precision of Swiss mechanical watchmaking and the fragile beauty of the marine environment.
After all, time is precisely what these remarkable ecosystems are running out of.
