The Aquis Small Second Date Diver by Oris is a new diving watch, with a small seconds subdial at 9 o’clock and a water resistance of 50 atm, 500 metres. The concept is that the seconds hand isn’t so important in a diver’s watch, because the fundamental hand is the minute hand, used with the rotating bezel to time a dive. Oris say that they developed the idea through their contacts with the diving community. Below, Oris Aquis Small Second Date Diver, reference 01 743 7733 4135 RS.

It’s a large watch at 45.5 mm diameter, with stainless steel case. The rotating bezel is slightly wider than the case for easy operation, and it has an insert in scratch-resistant ceramic. There are two versions of the watch, with black or dark blue dial. In both cases, hour markers are applied, with SuperLuminova inserts. There are two strap options, black rubber strap with sliding buckle for rapid extension, or a stainless steel bracelet with a comfort extension mechanism that can be operated while the watch is on the wrist.

It’s a wholly functional diver’s watch, but it is also intended as an everyday watch. The bezel can be used for timing events approximately, but this bezel is of the type with minutes marked for just the first 15 minutes, and thereafter, five-minute markings. This is part of the diving watch iconography but a watch with a bezel marked with minutes all the way around is more practical (an example is the Helm Vanuatu).

Sellita movement

The Aquis Small Second Date is powered by the self-winding Oris calibre 743, which is the Sellita SW 220-1, with date window at 3 o’clock. It runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour, 4 Hertz, and has a power reserve of 38 hours.

Prices and references

The Oris Aquis Small Second, Date is available at retailers from July 2017. Its price is €2,000, 2,200 Swiss francs, with rubber strap, and €2,200, 2,400 Swiss francs, with stainless steel bracelet. More information from the Oris website.