Oris Williams F1

The Swiss watch manufacturer Oris has been working with one of the most successful Formula 1 teams – the British motorsport team Williams F1 – since 2003. In its Oris Williams F1 collection, the independent watch company offers mechanical sports watches inspired by racecar technology. Top models are made of extremely light carbon and can measure time periods using their chronograph functions. Reliable automatic calibers from ébauche suppliers ETA and Sellita are used in these watches. The Oris Williams Engine Date is a real eye-catcher with its skeletonized dial that offers a view of the movement. With windows at 3 o'clock for the date and day, the Williams Day Date is especially simple and tidy.

Made with collectors in mind, the Oris Williams Valtteri Bottas Limited Edition had a limited run of 770 pieces. It is dedicated to the eponymous Finnish Formula 1 driver, who drove for Williams from 2013 to 2016. This chronograph with a carbon fiber case was the first Oris watch to feature this high-tech material. The Formula 1 Williams-Mercedes FW38 racecar, which is made of thousands of carbon parts, served as the watch's inspiration. The advantage of this material is its extreme lightness, which is why carbon fiber watches only weigh a fraction of what stainless steel or gold watches do.

You can buy a mint-condition Oris Williams Day Date with three hands, displays for the day and date, and a rubber strap for around 1,200 euros. On the other hand, a new Oris Williams Valtteri Bottas Limited Edition with a chronograph function costs about 3,400 euros. If you don't care for black carbon fiber cases and prefer classic stainless steel ones, perhaps the Oris Williams Chronograph is the right watch for you. You can get a new one of these watches for 2,200 euros. The Williams Engine Date skeleton watch with three hands and a date display costs 1,000 euros less at around 1,100 euros.

Any watch collection truly inspired by motorsport has to include chronographs. The Oris Williams F1 series features multiple made of either stainless steel or carbon. Rubber is often used for the straps of these 44-mm timekeepers. Some even resemble the tread from the tire of a Formula 1 racecar. There are also stainless steel bracelets available. Both types of band come with a fold-over clasp.

While the dials are predominately black, you have the choice between a slightly shimmery version or one made of carbon. The three subdials for the small seconds and the stopwatch function sit at 12, 9, and 6 o'clock. You can measure periods of time of up to 12 hours in increments of a quarter of a second with these Oris chronographs. With the help of the tachymeter scale on the bezel, you can also calculate speeds. The date display is located within the hour counter at 6 o'clock. Rod-shaped hands covered with luminous material allow you to tell the time in the dark.

The caliber Oris 774, based on the Sellita SW 500, or the Oris 674, based on the ETA/Valjoux 7750, power the Oris Williams chronographs. Technically speaking, these two basic movements are essentially identical: They include a 48-hour power reserve; their balances have a frequency of 28,800 half-oscillations per hour (A/H); they have 25 jewels, a date display, a stop-seconds mechanism, are wound automatically, and they are both 30 mm in diameter. Oris equips each of their automatic movements with their own winding rotor . A trademark of the company, the rotor is mostly red and is inscribed with the words "HIGH MECH".

There are also simple three-hand watches in the Oris Williams F1 collection. The Day Date model is particularly tidy so you can tell the time quickly and easily. The dial comes in shimmering black or blue. The central second hand is a striking red in the blue version and blue in the black version. All the hands and indices glow in the dark, ensuring great readability even when the light is low. The day/date display sits at 3 o'clock, and the band comes in rubber or stainless steel. This 42-mm watch is run by the Oris caliber 735, based on the Sellita SW 200-1, and has a 38-hour power reserve. It also ticks with a frequency of 28,800 A/h, is 25.6 mm in diameter, and contains 26 rubies. For all intents and purposes, the Sellita SW 200-1 is identical to the ETA 2824.

You can observe the Sellita SW 200-1-based Oris caliber 733 through the front of the Oris Williams Engine Date thanks to its skeletonized dial. All other Williams F1 models have see-through case backs with unobscured views of the movement. The skeletonized watches have hands and indices that also glow in the dark, and you once again have the choice of either a rubber or stainless steel band. Due to its skeletonization, the Oris Williams Engine Date doesn't come across as simple or tidy as the Day Date. The date, in particular, can be difficult to read on some models since you can nearly see the entire date disc and the current date is only indicated by a small rectangle at 6 o'clock.