Oris introduced its Big Crown Pointer Date in 1938, and the distinctive model has been in constant production for more than 80 years. Now firmly established as one of the Swiss watchmaker’s most emblematic timepieces, the latest version of the Big Crown Pointer Date brings it closer in look and spirit to the original model, while also giving it a decidedly modern technical upgrade with the installation of Oris’s in-house Caliber 403.

Caliber 403 is the most recent addition to Oris’s 400 Series of in-house movements, all of which spring from the base Caliber 400 that the brand rolled out to great acclaim in 2020. Its descendants have thus far included Caliber 401, which replaces the base’s central seconds display with a small seconds subdial, and Caliber 403, which combines the small seconds with the central date-pointer hand that Oris introduced on the original Big Crown watch more than eight decades ago. The new Big Crown Pointer Date Calibre 403, which made its debut at Dubai Watch Week, is not the first Oris watch to be equipped with that movement ? that would be the Big Crown Holstein Edition, released earlier this year and limited to 250 pieces ? but it is notably the first one to be added to Oris’s regular collection.
The watch’s multi-part case is made of stainless steel and measures a relatively modest 38 mm in diameter ? downsized from the 40 mm of recent models to more closely approximate the dimensions of the 1938...