Oris lacks the distinguished history that some of the other
Swiss watch manufacturers have. However, over the past 100 years it has evolved into one of the more notable manufacturers in the
luxury watch market.
Oris was founded in 1904 by Paul Cattin and Georges Christian at Hlstein, Switzerland.
Oris produced no-nonsense time pieces which were both high quality and affordable. With the advent of quartz, as with many other
Swiss watch manufacturers,
Oris struggled to find its place in the
watch market.
However, Oris continued to focus on the manufacturing of mechanical
watches.
Oris has been able to hold its own creating
watches with unique mechanical features that distinguish from those with electronics and quartz. Since the mid-eighties,
Oris has progressively launched more mechanical
watches with features such as analogue date pointers, automatic movement, mechanical chronographs, and analogue world time display. Interestingly, despite the turbulent changes the
watch industry experienced,
Oris has found itself doing what it always has, producing great value quality mechanical watches.
In 2004, Oris celebrated 100 years of existence and is going stronger than ever.
Oris boasts many names wearing an Oris such as Sean Penn, Harrison Ford, Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicolas Cage, and Meg Ryan.
Oris is also a key sponsor of the BMW Williams Formula 1 team, helping them to grow their brand awareness, and expand internationally.
Oris Official Site