Oris Just Dropped a Killer Bronze Dive Watch for a Very Worthy Cause
Welcome to Dialed In, Esquire's weekly column bringing you horological happenings and the most essential news from the watch world since March 2020.
Oris has had a particularly meaty history when it comes to dive watches ever since it released its iconic divers of the mid 1960s, and the company has focused ever harder on this popular niche for watch lovers over the past 20 years. One of the highlights for us at Esquire is the series of Carl Brashear-inspired watches first launched in 2015 to celebrate the achievements of the first Black person to be certified as a U.S. Navy master diver. The third Carl Brashear Diver was launched this week, and it’s a beaut.
Made in bronze in a limited-but-not-too-limited run of 2,000 pieces, the 40mm case makes for an attractive contrast with the blue dial and matching elasticated navy nylon webbing strap. (Tip from me, elastic straps are a thing on dive watches right now.) The bronze bezel has the markings carved out of it, so as not to interrupt the utterly simple display. The in-house automatic 401 caliber movement brings with it an impressive five-day power reserve. And creamy-looking indices add to the vintage feel, something that will only increase as the bronze develops a unique patina.
Carl Brashear triumphed over more than any man’s fair share of adversity, from his humble beginnings in rural Kentucky to the racism in the newly desegregated U.S. Navy when he trained as a diver in Bayonne, New Jersey, in the late 1940’s. Undeterred by outside forces, in a 31-year Navy career Brashear rose to the elite rank of master diver despite losing a leg in the mid-1960s during a mission to retrieve a missing nuclear bomb from the seabed off Spain.
The Carl Brashear Foundation was set up in his memory by his family after his death in 2006 to promote his indefatigable determination to beat the odds stacked against him, and to support injured servicemen and others. Oris donates funds from sales of the Brashear series to the Foundation that bears his name, which means that the new Carl Brashear Calibre 401 Limited Edition isn't just a good watch, it also supports a very good cause.
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