Building the Foundation, Part 1: The In-House Movements of Oris Watch Co.

Between the year of its founding and 1981, the year in which the company's management decided to cease producing its own movements in favor of outsourcing ébauches from ETA and later Sellita, Oris developed 229 in-house calibers, including historically significant examples like Caliber 652 in 1968, the first pin-lever escapement movement to be chronometer-certified by the Neuchatel Observatory, and 1970's Caliber 725, the company's first chronograph From 1982 onward, Oris would place its focus on the less-intensive, and less costly, process of producing in-house modules for the base movements it acquired from its Swiss suppliers As Oris marked its centennial its current ownership and management - headed by executive chairman Ulrich W.

Herzog, one of two Oris employees who'd orchestrated the buyout from the nascent Swatch Group back in 1982 that made Oris an independent company - decided it was high time to plunge back into developing movements in-house from the ground up The latter required a special gearing system and an extra-long mainspring - nearly 1.8 meters, according to Oris Co-CEO Rolf Studer, who was heavily involved with the project "When we resolved to make our own movement, we wanted to create something special, something that you don't usually see, something for the watch enthusiast and aficionado but still within the Oris philosophy of complications: It must make sense, it has to serve a purpose, and it should be within a price range that's realistic" Oris has followed up Caliber 110 with added complications in the years since, each new variation adding a level of complexity and each thus far introducing a new combination of functions.

Caliber 111 debuted in 2015, with a 9 o'clock date display balancing out the patented power-reserve indicator at 3 o'clock; For 2016's debutante, the Artelier Calibre 112, Oris added a GMT with day-night indication, another combination never before seen in watchmaking. . Source