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With the April sale of Breitling to CVC Capital Partners, and with most big Swiss watch brands currently owned by larger luxury groups, the population of truly independent Swiss watch brands is near non-existent. Yet Oris has been able to retain its independent, family-run status throughout almost all of its entire 113-year history of making mechanical tool watches. During that time, Oris has weathered the turbulent industry and found success producing only mechanical watches, aimed squarely at the everyman. It’s a remarkable achievement, which is why we spoke with Co-CEO Rolf Studer about how Oris’s independent status has helped it create unique, reasonably priced watches for the everyday watch enthusiast.
Q: Oris has spent decades continuing to maintain independence and is one of the few truly independent watchmakers today. Why is this important to Oris?
A: Because it gives us freedom. We are not only independent in an economic sense, but we also have mental and creative independence. We don’t spend our energy figuring out politics between ourselves and other parts of a group. It’s just us, so we take all of our energy and put it into the things we think make sense, and that helps us push the company further. And this independence gives us possibilities to think outside the box. And that’s what we’ve been doing for decades.
Q: How does that factor into the watches you make?
A: Look at our Depth Gauge, for example. On a dive watch, we offer a depth gauge that works through a very simple principle: The water sets pressure on the watch, and the air in the channel milled into the glass is compressed; this is how the depth is measured. This can’t break. We can offer it for a reasonable price, and we’re the only ones who do it this way. Other companies offer very complicated depth gauges.
Another example is the Altimeter watch. We are the only watch company around that offers a mechanical altimeter in an automatic watch. There used to be one other company that had a mechanical altimeter in a manual winding watch, and it was £100,000 ($130,000 USD). Ours comes for a reasonable price. We combine the diametric module with a standard movement, and that gives us an outstanding complication with a price that is within the reach of a lot of people.
