Deconstructed watch: Oris Calibre 473

Oris was one of many Swiss watch brands that were hit badly by the so-called quartz crisis of the 1970s. But marketing man Ulrich Herzog was sufficiently confident in the future of mechanical horology to co-lead a management buyout of the company and gradually put it back on its feet.

He did so by abandoning the use of quartz movements, pledging more than 40 years ago that every Oris that left the factory in Hölstein, 25km south-east of Basel, would from then on be powered by clockwork.

In 2014, Herzog, the company’s longstanding chair, took his vow a step further by introducing the Movement Creation Programme, which promised to add to the tally of 270 different calibres that Oris had created before its nadir in 1980.

The first movements to emerge from the programme were called the Calibre 100 series and were hand-wound with 10 days of power reserve provided by one giant spring barrel. Variations on the theme included models with power reserve indicators, business calendars or second time zones.

The Calibre 400 series followed in 2020 as the first automatic movements Oris had developed in 40 years and introduced features such as a five-day power reserve, exceptional magnetic resistance and impressive 10-year warranties and 10-year service intervals.

The new Calibre 473 seen here in its “deconstructed” state is said to have taken four years to develop and combines the hand-wound aspect of the Calibre 100 series with the features and performance of the Calibre 400 automatics — plus a beautifully executed power reserve indicator that can be seen through the exhibition case back.

As well as marking the 10th year of Movement Creation Programme manufacturing, the 473 is intended to celebrate the glory of pure clockwork, both because it offers wearers the tactile connection that is special to hand-wound mechanisms and because the lack of an automatic winding rotor allows the works to be fully visible.

Oris has chosen to debut the movement in one of its signature models, the Big Crown Pointer Date pilot watch, which first became available in 1938 and has remained in the collection ever since.

Not for decades, however, has a hand-wound version been available — and the new arrival has delighted purists with its fusion of vintage design and cutting-edge clockwork.

Something else that delights them is that, despite being rather special, the watch continues the Oris ethos of affordable luxury: it costs a reasonable £3,700.