As its conservation mission continues, Oris announces a new partnership and a new watch in support of the Changjiang Conservation Foundation and the Yangtze finless porpoise
Back in the 2000s, Oris joined forces with pioneering agents of change in ocean conservation. These partnerships inspired the Swiss watchmaker to create special timepieces in their honor.
The story now continues with the critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise, also known as the “jiangtun” in Mandarin Chinese. This species of toothed whale is endemic to the Yangtze River, the third longest river in the world and the longest in China. Today, it’s the last remaining freshwater cetacean in the country, and its future is under threat. In 2022, a survey estimated a mere 1,249 of the finless porpoise remain.
Conservation efforts have already helped reverse population decline, and ongoing work continues to ensure its survival.
Oris has been working with the Changjiang Conservation Foundation (CCF) and has created a watch for them, the Yangtze Jiangtun Limited Edition. Together, their goal is to raise awareness of the threat posed to the Yangtze finless porpoise, as well as funds to support the CCF’s conservation projects.
The Yangtze Jiangtun Limited Edition is a performance watch with a real purpose. It tells the story of their partnership through a number of special details found in the watch. Most prominent is the dial, which is crafted from a blue-green mother-of-pearl, a material chosen because of the way it captures and reflects light like the surface of the Yangtze River. Mother-of-pearl is a delicate, brittle material prone to cracking, but using a precise printing process, Oris added a wave pattern to it, inspired by the echo soundwaves of the Yangtze finless porpoise’s high-frequency, narrow-band ultrasonic clicks, which it relies on for communication and navigation in the river’s cloudy waters.
The story continues on the case back, with engravings of a Yangtze finless porpoise and the limited-edition number, from 1 to 1,249, representing the number of the aquatic mammal thought to be left in existence.
Behind these is the Aquis Date 43.50 mm, Oris’ high-performance, highly versatile contemporary dive watch. It has a stainless steel case and tapered three-link metal bracelet, lumed hands and hour markers, a unidirectional rotating bezel with a tungsten insert and minutes scale, and a screw-down crown with protection. It’s water-resistant to 30 bar (300 metres) and runs on an automatic Swiss-made mechanical movement.
INTERVIEW: DR ZHENGYI QIAN, CCF
Why collaborate with Oris?
We found that Oris has long been committed to nature conservation, developing product lines such as the
Great Barrier Reef. We share a goal to raise public awareness and encourage participation in environmental protection through our product. We’re very grateful to Oris for the attention to the protection of the Yangtze River ecosystem, especially the Yangtze finless porpoise.
What do you think of the watch?
This Yangtze finless porpoise watch is fantastic! I believe people in China will love it. This coming 21 March, we will mark the 10th anniversary of the CCF. At the celebration event, we will auction eight watches donated by Oris to CCF. The proceeds will be used to carry out public welfare projects for the protection of finless porpoises.
And how will general funds raised from sales of the watch be used? These will be used for public education and awareness campaigns on Yangtze finless porpoise conservation and to support conservation workers.
And how confident are you of your mission’s success?
Full of confidence. Although the process may be challenging, we believe we will succeed.
Case: Multi-piece stainless steel case and uni-directional rotating bezel with tungsten insert and minutes scale
Size: 43.50 mm
Thickness: 13.10 mm
Lug to lug: 51.00 mm
Dial: Blue-green mother-of-pearl with echo-sound-wave motif
Luminous material: Hands and indices filled with Super-LumiNova
Top glass: Sapphire, domed on both sides, anti-reflective coating inside
Case back Stainless steel, screwed, special engravings
Operating devices Stainless steel screw-in security crown
Bracelet Multi-piece stainless steel metal bracelet with folding clasp
Water resistance 30 bar (300 m)
MOVEMENT
Number: Oris Calibre 733
Functions: Centre hands for hours, minutes, and seconds, date window, instantaneous date, date corrector, fine timing device, and stop-second
Winding: Automatic
Power reserve: 41 hours
Limited edition 1,249 pieces
Swiss retail price CHF 2’550
Availability January
