Oris Big Crown Pointer Date Calibre 473

The story of the Big Crown Pointer Date is the stuff of Oris legend. Its genesis began in the 1930s when Oris was a fast-growing independent company, known around the world for its precision wristwatches. The brief was to produce a watch that would serve a new clientele with very specific needs. For pilots, a watch would need to be as precise and reliable as any, but it would also need to be easy to use and read. Cockpits were uncomfortable places: cramped, hard, often cold, and always unforgiving. Oris’ solution was to produce a simple round watch in a stainless steel case, with a black dial and large Arabic numerals at 12, 3, and 9, and an oversized crown that could be gripped by a gloved aviator. It would also feature a date complication, indicated by a central hand with a red arrow tip. This way, it would be functional and legible, a toolwatch for one of the most demanding jobs imaginable. Little would its creators have known, but their practical, high-functioning watch of 1938 would become a design staple, one of the most recognizable watches in all of watchmaking. Today, almost 90 years since that first release, the Big Crown Pointer Date – as it’s become known – is our signature design and a Swiss watchmaking icon.