Oris introduces a technological beauty, a version of the ProPilot X Calibre 400 with a shimmering dial produced using an innovative lasering technique never applied in watchmaking before.
Going our own way
Independence is a gift. We use it to be more sustainable and more innovative, and to seek out technological beauty.
At Oris, we’ve got a strong independent streak. We’re not publicly listed, which means we’re free to make our own choices and pursue ideas that make sense to us – and to our customers. That’s hard-wired into our psyche, and it’s what drives our sustainability, movement creation and design programmes.
In recent years, it’s led us to new collaborations. Often, that’s with highly visible partners in conservation or community action. Other times, it’s behind-the-scenes. We’re proud to work with some of Switzerland’s most pioneering ideas labs and engineering firms, pushing high-quality Swiss Made mechanical watches into the future.
This approach was behind the ProPilot Altimeter’s unique carbon-fibre case and the game-changing Calibre 400 Series of five-day automatic, anti-magnetic movements.
Always, these ideas are conceived and developed in-house by our teams of designers and engineers, who then oversee them right through to delivery. The partnerships we’ve developed have involved incredible knowledge sharing, and the watches we’ve been able to create because of them are loaded with innovation, useful functions and huge added value.
Now comes the ProPilot X Calibre 400 Laser, produced with a research lab affiliated to the prestigious ETH Zürich university. Our partnership gives some of the world’s brightest and most entrepreneurial students the opportunity to develop their ideas into real-world products.
The lasering process applied to the dial of the new watch elevates the benefits of this approach further still, bringing levels of technological beauty never seen in watchmaking before, as we’ll explain over the coming pages.
This unique way of working is only possible because of our independence. It’s who we are.
A dial like no other
The ProPilot X Calibre 400 Laser’s dial is produced using an innovative technique never seen before in Swiss mechanical watchmaking.
It’s a pity we’re only working in two dimensions here. The titanium dial of the new ProPilot X Calibre 400 Laser has to be seen to be appreciated. As it moves, it changes colour, from blue to green to violet, like the colouration in iridescent beetles.
Indeed, it’s based on the principles of biomimicry, specifically a phenomenon found in nature called optical interference. This means that red light waves are destroyed, while blue and green waves are reflected. It’s barely believable, but there is not one drop of colour pigment in this watch’s dial.
This inventive treatment is a surface manipulation that splits the light into its components, creating a stunning rainbow effect that changes depending on your viewing angle.
Everything on the dial has been created using laser technology. For the logo, indices, minutes track and dial text, we used another laser process that creates a three-dimensional effect, so that it almost looks as if these elements have been applied in the conventional style. The view through a loupe is spectacular.
The laser technique we used to create the dial’s unique colour is a watchmaking first. It was developed in partnership with a research lab affiliated to ETH Zürich and applied to the titanium dial under the guidance of our engineering department, led by Richard ‘Ipy’ Siegrist (see next page). It’s a fine example of technological beauty, harnessing state-of-the-art tech to create striking, memorable watches.
Beyond the dial, the watch carries the familiar, challenging form of the forward-looking ProPilot X Calibre 400, first introduced in 2022. It has a titanium 39 mm case, bezel and crown, and a three-link titanium bracelet.
Inside it is the mechanical Oris Calibre 400, our game-changing five-day automatic. It offers better-than-chronometer accuracy and class-leading levels of anti-magnetism and reliability, backed by a 10-year warranty and 10-year recommended service intervals. However, for the first time, we’ve removed the date, leaving the dial to tell its remarkable story.
Laser eye for detail
Richard ‘Ipy’ Siegrist oversaw the development of the Laser’s unique dial. Here, he explains how it works and what it says about Oris watchmaking.
Richard – or should we call you Ipy? – tell us a bit about yourself…
My name is Richard Siegrist, but I’m known as Ipy from the name Ipyana, which I got in Tanzania where I was born and lived until I was seven years old. I’m 35 now, married to a beautiful Italian woman (hence the belly) and I live in Basel. By education, I’m a timber engineer. At home, I have a small woodshop where I make furniture or refurbish flea market findings. In the autumn and winter, we go truffle hunting with our dog, which is a nice way to connect with nature.
And what’s your Oris story?
I joined Oris four years ago as a product development engineer. My job is to look for and develop innovative materials and new production processes that can be incorporated into watches. I’m also working on new functions that are not powered by watch movements, which are taken care of by a separate division.
Which projects have your fingerprint on them?
The developments I work on take years to come to light, so a lot of my work to date is only starting to appear now. The most notable is the 3D-printed carbon fibre composite that we developed together with 9T labs you’ve seen in the Coulson Limited Edition and the new ProPilot Altimeter. It was one of my first projects and took three years to get to launch. You have to have a lot of patience in this game! But I love solving problems. And it helps doing it for Oris: I like the company’s independence. It goes its own way.
Let’s get to the Laser’s dial – how is it made?
We’re looking at a phenomenon called optical interference. You can see a dial that has beautiful colours ranging from blue to green to violet. But there is not a single pigment of colour on it. Everything is achieved via a laser treatment that changes the watch’s titanium dial in such a way that the light waves that get reflected back to your eyes only contain a certain spectrum of the visible light, and therefore give you an impression of colour. Normal light contains all the colours of the visible spectrum (and more that are not visible). If a certain range – the longer red waves, for example – gets destroyed, only the medium green and shorter blue waves get reflected. It’s colour creation by addition. We’ve also added a second layer that splits the visible light into its components and creates a shimmering rainbow effect. How you see this depends on your viewing angle.
Wow. And is this a watchmaking first?
Yes, thanks to the process: we were able to combine the colourisation with the shimmering effect. This took years of research and an extensive trial-and-error phase. We are the only ones in the industry that have done this. It’s technological beauty at its most captivating.
Technological beauty – what’s that?
Simply, it’s creating beautiful things with highly technological processes. We’re using state-of-the-art technology to bring out a phenomenon in nature, almost like biomimicry. There are many animals that create their colours with the same effect, a butterfly for example. Harnessing this effect to create such a unique dial is awesome.
Did you work with a partner to deliver it?
Yes. We take great pride in collaborating with cutting-edge Swiss companies that share our innovative, envelope-pushing spirit. We have a long-term and hugely successful partnership with ETH Zürich, one of the world’s most prestigious technical universities, and some of its affiliated research institutions. That gives us access to highly specialised and motivated people working on state-of-the-art technology. We’re involved in every step, though. To develop the lasering technique behind this watch and achieve this surface and finish, you have to own the entire production process.
What was the project development time, and what challenges did you have to get past?
About two years. The big challenge was (as always) to go into serial production. Making a sample is “easy” but being able to scale it up to hundreds and thousands of similar looking dials was a real challenge. Note the dials have variations in them. This is due to the incredibly tight tolerances that change the effect immediately if you are only 1 or 2 microns off in the thickness of the dial due to the repositioning of the focal point of the laser. We had to do quite some testing to develop the dial holder during the lasering process. It was a lot of fun.
To use layman’s terms, is it like a lenticular?
It has a similar effect, but technically it’s not the same at all. The colourisation is made by manipulating the surface in such a way that light with a certain wavelength is destroyed and others reflected. By playing with these parameters and adding the shimmering effect you get the different colours. In the end, you have a rainbow on your wrist, depending on the viewing angle.
Could it be applied to other watch parts?
It could, but it’s soft and quite supple, so in our view it’s best to use it for components that are protected – such as the dial.
And what does this watch say about Oris?
My brief is to come up with solutions that are sustainable and innovative, and that demonstrate Oris’s independence. This watch answers it by bringing in technology that’s never been used in this industry before. The link with ETH is important, too. We’re passionate about working with young people and giving them opportunities to showcase their talents and ideas. And put all this together with the ProPilot X Calibre 400, and you get an incredible watch that will bring its owner many years of joy – and make them smile.
ProPilot X Calibre 400 Laser
A forward-thinking, laser-treated dial for a forward-thinking watch: meet the latest cutting-edge innovation in the ProPilot X Calibre 400 line.
In detail
Case: Multi-piece titanium case
Size: 39.00 mm (1.535 inches)
Dial: Light-reflecting lasered titanium
Luminous material: Hands filled with black Super-LumiNova®
Top glass: Sapphire, domed on both sides, anti-reflective coating inside
Case back: Titanium, screwed, transparent sapphire glass
Operating devices: Titanium screw-in security crown with crown protection
Bracelet: Multi-piece titanium metal bracelet with folding clasp
Water resistance: 10 bar (100 m)
Movement
Number: Oris Calibre 400
Functions: Centre hands for hours, minutes and seconds, fine timing device and stop-second
Accuracy: -3/+5 seconds a day (within COSC tolerances)
Extra features: Highly anti-magnetic
Winding: Automatic
Power: reserve 120 hours
Warranty*: Extended to 10 years with MyOris sign-up. Applies to watch and movement. 10-year recommended service intervals. Five-year recommended water-resistance check.
Swiss retail price: CHF 4,800
Available: November 2023
*Extended warranties Oris also offers extended five-year warranties on all Oris watches with Oris Calibre 100 Series movements when owners register with MyOris. In addition, we offer an extended three-year warranty on all Oris watches with movements produced by our Swiss partners with MyOris registration.
