Oris Divers Sixty-Five | Hands On Watch Review

Oris Divers Sixty-Five

I’ve been a fan of Oris Watches for a long time. I’ve owned quite a few over the years as well. The Oris Big Crown Timer, the TT1 Diver and my personal favorite, the Aquis. Within the past few years, Oris has been bringing back some of their vintage designs from the 60’s (as many brands have been doing lately). One of them is the Oris Divers Sixty-Five line. This one that I have in hand is my favorite of the lineup, the blue dial 42mm. This model comes in a few dial colors and there are leather strap versions, (as shown here), metal bracelet, tropic style rubber and a NATO strap. They have all the bases covered! This watch was sent to me from Timeless Luxury Watches, out of Frisco, Texas. They are an authorized dealer for Oris, Omega, IWC, Tudor, Seiko and many more. They also pre-owned watches. I will give the link to their site below, along with a special discount for those of you that may be interested in the Oris Divers Sixty-Five. 

Oris Divers Sixty-Five Specifications:

42mm Stainless Steel Case

11mm Thick

50mm Lug to Lug

21mm Lug Width

Oris 733, base SW 200-1 automatic winding, bi-directional rotating red rotor with a 38-hour power reserve

Box domed Sapphire Crystal

100 Meters Water Resistant

Leather Strap ( As reviewed)

Retail Price $1,990

*Timeless Luxury Watches and Watchreport have come together to offer a special 15% discount, good for one month from the date of this publication. That would bring this leather strap version, as well as the rubber and Nato strap models down to $1,691.50. If you want any versions of the Oris 42mm Sixty Five, you can inquire about ordering it through the Timless Luxury Website and mention Watchreport when they email you back, order over the phone and mention Watchreport or if you are in Texas, walk in and do the same. Again, the 15% off will be good for only one month from the date of this publication.*

https://timelessluxwatches.com/product/oris-divers-sixty-five-01-733-7720-4055-07-5-21-02/

For those not familiar, the Oris Divers Sixty-Five is a tribute to the Oris Star Dive watch from 1965. If you google those words, you will see that this version is pretty close in design to the original, even down to the funky date window. The size of course, has been bumped up, as the original was 37mm, and of course a sapphire crystal is now used, and a few other upgrades as well. This new version has an aluminum bezel insert and is rated at 100 Meters Water Resistant. The original was also a compressor case and because of modern technology, as with most dive watches, the new version has a standard screw down case back and crown.

The case design of the Oris Divers Sixty-Five is similar to its vintage counterpart, though the lugs are definitely longer and not as beveled, at least from what I can see from pictures on the web. Similar to many diver watches like this, the top of the case is brushed steel, with a high polished sides, crown and bezel teeth. The case back is highly polished as well. One aspect I really love is the large crown. Some dive watch enthusiasts may not like the fact that this watch is missing crown guards, but as I have said before, I do not actually dive. So crown guards are not really something I get worked up about. What I do like is how easy it is to use the crown while it is on the wrist. This is due to how large it is and the thin case, along with where the crown is situated. This is a detail many brands overlook, but it is something I find important. I can unscrew, set time or date, and even wind it if I wanted to, all while on my wrist, and with EASE. The 120 click bezel does have some play to it though, a little more than I would like on a watch of this price tag, but this is a sample, and it could be isolated to just my example.

The deep blue dial of the Oris Divers Sixty-Five is just flat out awesome. Not every brand gets blue dials right in my opinion, at least darker blue dials like this. This dial has a nice gloss to it and because of the box style sapphire crystal and how light hits it, will be a nice royal blue or almost a deep sea black. When looking at the original vintage version, one thing that is noticeable, is that while they kept the design of the date cutout very similar, it is smaller in size. The original took up the whole 3 o’clock spot, and there was no room left for any indices. Oris chose to make the date cutout on this modern version smaller, and put a small portion of the marker to the right of it. It is a little off looking, and I feel you notice it even more in the dark when the lume is glowing. As for the rest of the dial, no complaints here. The faux patina lume paint is subtle, and not as yellow or orange as some brands do and the hands and large markers make it easy to read at a glance.

On the wrist, the Oris Divers Sixty-Five is an absolute joy to wear. At 42X50mm, it is a perfect size for me and with the case being only 11mm thick, it is a nice change from the chunky dive watches most of us are used to. Even with the thick crystal, this watch does not look or wear thick at all. I have not seen the rivet bracelet in person, nor the tropic style rubber, so I can only comment on the leather strap that I was sent with the Sixty-Five. I have heard good things about the bracelet and rubber and I can say first hand that the leather is great. It is a distressed brown leather that has that vintage appeal and just works with this watch. I probably would never wear the bracelet on this watch, it would be rubber or leather, but that is just me. Topping off this minimal stitch strap is a signed thumbnail style buckle. For reference, my wrist is 7 1/2 inches.

For the most part, I have been singing the praises of the Sixty-Five, and unfortunately, that ends here. On the example I have in hand, the lume is not what I expected. It is nice and bright on the hour, minute and second hand, and the lume pip as well, but it seems the lume plots on the dial did not get the same treatment. I tried taking many lume shots of this watch, and charged it up with a high powered flashlight to try and get the best shot possible. That is the first picture below.

You can see that the hands almost look nuclear in that shot. That was hit with the flashlight for about 45 seconds. The photo below shows what it looks like after being out in the sunlight and coming inside. This is more what to expect in the lume department, at least in my experience with the Sixty-Five.

Oris has been using the Sellita movements for a long time now, and I have never had an issue with them. They are basically a clone of the ETA movements as most of you know. Oris labels it as their own caliber, but really they are just adding their custom red rotor to it, which unfortunately you can’t see here with this model. Now, I know that sounds odd coming from me, because I am always saying how much I prefer a solid case back on a dive watch. I usually do. But I have always loved the Oris red rotor-it has become iconic for the brand. It does not help that the case back of the Sixty-Five is kind of plain. Nothing wrong with it, I think I was just expecting more.

I like many aspects of the Oris Divers Sixty Five. The size is right where I want it, the blue dial is gorgeous, and the overall aesthetic is a watch that I am just attracted to. This is an every day wearer for me. Now, when it comes to lume, yes, it is a little disappointing to me. Lume, does not make or break a watch for me, and it is not like it is terrible, but if lume is a huge deal for you, I can understand. On paper, it may seem like the Sixty-Five is a little pricey. I wont lie, I thought the same. In person, it really is a beatiful watch and when taking a look at the forums, Instagram and Facebook groups, I can see many others agree. There is an “it” factor here. It may be more expensive  than it should be-yet somehow it is worth it. I put this into the win column. It is a great watch from Oris.

If you agree, please do check out the link and info in the specifications above and give Timeless Luxury Watches a chance. Remember, I never try and “Sell” you a watch here, but if you are in the market, they are a legit authorized dealer, no grey market here.

Please check out the gallery of photos below, and leave your comments as well.