Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition Watch

Oris announces a new limited edition diver’s watch and its first solid gold piece, produced in support of Coral Restoration Foundation.

It's time again to talk about ORIS. You'd think I'd be on the ORIS payroll by now right? Nope, just a fan of the brand and especially what they're doing with regards to bringing awareness to climate change. 

Let's talk about the watch first for a moment. 

It's called the Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition and is the first watch to be produced in solid 18-carat gold. There's only 50 pieces available so I won't be pestering the PR team asking for freebies this tie round. (Although actually I might do). 

The name Carysfort is taken from the Carysfort Reef, a coral reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

The Florida Keys is just a sublime place to visit. If you're into your roadtrips then get a flight to Miami, hire a convertible and take the infamous Seven Mile Bridge down to Key West. The drinking town with a fishing problem. 

Oris has been working with Coral Restoration Foundation since 2014 as part of its mission to bring Change for the Better and have donated three pieces to the foundation for auction. The funds raised by sales of the remaining limited edition pieces will also help support its work.

It's deeply heart-breaking seeing the slow irreversible damage that climate change is doing to the Corals, all over the world. To think that man's legacy could be the degradation of all natural corals, globally. A horrible statistic from the press release (which I'll happily forward on if you wish to message me direct) is that coral populations in the Keys have declined by around 98 per cent.

However, Oris are the flag-bearers for bringing awareness to the frightful deletion of natural corals. The Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition has the potential to make a huge difference to the Foundation’s work. Auctions of the three pieces donated by Oris to the foundation will be held in February, March and April at a series of events in the USA, the last of which is the foundation’s own Raise the Reef gala. Funds raised by sales of the remaining limited edition pieces will also help support its work.

ABOUT THE WATCH

The Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition is based on Oris’s high-performance Aquis diver's watch and features the same standard specifications, including water resistance to 300 metres. But it is the first Oris diver’s watch produced in solid 18-carat yellow gold – the case, bezel, crown and crown protectors are all made of the precious material. Its hands are yellow-gold-plated and filled with luminescent Super-LumiNova®, including the ‘lollipop’ central seconds hand.

The automatic mechanical watch has a GMT, or second time zone function, indicated by a central hand that makes a full tour of the dial once every 24 hours. A second time zone can be read off against a 24-hour chapter ring on the dial, while a laser-engraved 24-hour scale on the bi-directional rotating bezel can be used to indicate a third time zone. The bezel insert is made of scratch- and fade-resistant black and blue ceramic, designed to indicate day and night time for an additional time zone.

The watch has a sapphire crystal over a gradient blue dial that darkens towards the edge, and a date window at 3 o’clock. The solid gold case back has a sapphire crystal inlay decorated with the limited edition number and a special motif celebrating Coral Restoration Foundation’s milestone of 30,000 corals planted. It’s set on a blue leather strap with a rubber coating, and each of the 50 pieces made will be presented in a special wooden box.

FOR more information contact the Oris team through their website. They have a boutique on South Moulton Street in London if you are local.