Oris Hölstein Edition 2025

The story of Oris begins in 1904 when two visionary watchmakers left the watchmaking town of Le Locle in the French-speaking part of Switzerland and ventured north and east towards Basel in the country’s Swiss German-speaking region.

On 1 June that year, they registered their independent new watchmaking concern and named it after a nearby brook: Oris. More than 120 years later, the name lives on, known around the world.

This is a story we’ve told many times before. So why tell it again? In short, because we’re proud of it and because it brings us great joy to serve as custodians of this great company. Many generations have passed through the doors of the famous peach rose factory in the heart of Hölstein, a calm, beautiful village in the Waldenburg Valley. It’s a privilege to come here every day and continue their legacy.

Their legacy? One of the reasons our founders came here was to build a company with a fresh new ethos. In the early 1900s, ideas travelled much more slowly, but they had clocked that by pairing the advanced industrial techniques of the east with the traditional craftsmanship of the west, they could produce beautiful, highquality watches at prices that would make their creations accessible to a greater number of people.

This mantra informed every decision they made: and people liked it. The company grew fast and would become one of the world’s largest watch and clock makers.

Today, the same philosophy of fairness continues to guide us. We still create beautiful, timeless, Swiss Made watches, and all our watches still run on mechanical movements. More than 120 years of consistency.

Each year for the past five years, we’ve celebrated this spirit and the place that breathed life into it with a special birthday watch. Something different that we wouldn’t otherwise do. A watch for people who deeply, truly love what an Oris watch represents. Now, the sixth Hölstein Edition. Made with love.

Introducing the Hölstein Edition 2025, a special no-date ProPilot plated in black DLC with a full-lume dial that plays hide and seek

It’s our great joy to introduce the Hölstein Edition 2025, the sixth in a series of watches released every 1 June to mark and celebrate Oris’s founding date in 1904.

As with previous editions, the new watch is limited to 250 pieces and offers a unique, one-time-only expression of an existing model in the Oris collection, bringing ideas to bear that might otherwise never make it off the drawing board.

The base model this time is the adventurous ProPilot, configured in a monochromatic black and white palette that gives it a brooding look.

The 41.00 mm stainless steel case, fluted bezel, screw-down crown and case back are plated in hard-wearing matt black DLC, or diamond-like carbon, as is the Orisdeveloped ‘LIFT’ clasp, a playful design inspired by the function and aesthetic of a passenger airline seatbelt buckle. The watch is set on a black fabric weave strap.

The story of the watch truly emerges in the dial. For the first time in the ProPilot family, we’ve given it a full-lume dial, which appears in white Super-LumiNova® and then glows green in the dark to reveal the Oris Bear in silhouette between 3 and 4 o’clock.

Also in silhouette, no matter the conditions, are the bespoke matt black applied numerals, and the hour, minute, seconds hands and minutes scale. As in past Hölstein Editions, there is no date window, adding to the watch’s collectibility.

A transparent sapphire case back (see page 12) is circled by a Super-LumiNova® ring that’s inscribed ‘Hölstein Edition 2025’.

The dial also carries the tell-tale words ‘5 Days’. These point to Oris Calibre 400, the in-house developed automatic movement that powers the watch. As with all Calibre 400 Series movements, this delivers a five-days power reserve, elevated everyday levels of anti-magnetism, and the promise of a 10-year warranty and 10-year recommended service intervals.

Each watch is numbered 001/250, highlighting its importance to the passionate Oris community.

Oris Co-CEO Rolf Studer explains what the sixth Hölstein Edition celebrates and how the Oris Bear helps him see in the dark

Interview: Rolf Studer

Rolf, Oris is now more than 120 years in the making. These days, you talk a lot about the company’s spirit. Has it changed much over the years?

I want to say that it hasn’t, but honestly, as I wasn’t here in 1904, I can’t hand on heart be sure of it. But I do know that in the early 20th century when our founders came here, the local community would have lived a very traditional Swiss valley life. Suddenly, here was a company that was making a product that was distributed all over the world. That opened this place up and brought an international perspective, giving the people here a sense of possibility, of freedom and ambition. As an independent company today, we still have that. Hölstein remains a quiet place, a traditional village. And yet in the middle of it is Oris, a global symbol of quality mechanical watchmaking. That creates a lot of pride, felt both inside the walls of our factory and around the village. That’s why our new branding leads with the line, ‘Welcome to Hölstein’.

At the same time, the reason to make and own a mechanical watch has changed: we now have myriad alternative ways to tell time.

Of course, and so while our basic obligation is still to make beautiful, high-functioning, reliable watches, we have to do it in such a way that those watches remain relevant. We make a product you might want but that you don’t need. It’s a luxury. So what is it we’re offering? The answer is simple: joy. We’re here to put smiles on faces.

How is that idea reflected in the Hölstein Edition 2025?

Actually, this series of watches is perhaps the ultimate example of our approach to watchmaking. Sure, these watches are mechanical objects that tell time, but the idea behind them is to do something we wouldn’t normally do, a special watch for people who love Oris and who will just look at the watch and be amused and warmed by it. They’ll just get it. We want that to happen with every Oris watch, but the idea is distilled in the Hölstein Editions, which are defined by creative ideas that aren’t limited by commercial constraints and that might not otherwise find a place in our collection.

You’ve said before Hölstein Editions are like Oris’s gift to Oris fans...

Absolutely. They are our gift, a token of our appreciation for the Oris community. Every edition is a bit quirky and more extraordinary than our standard editions, and we only make 250 of them. Honestly, the amount of time we spend on these watches internally isn’t at all congruent with the business case. But that’s ok. While each Hölstein Edition is somehow a bit of fun, and certainly joyful, it’s also a clear indication of how seriously we take watchmaking and how seriously we value our customers.

The application of the Oris Bear, particularly this year, is a pure expression of that sentiment, right?

I think so. Initially, anyone can appreciate a bear and what he stands for. But to understand the Oris Bear, you have to have been around the brand and to have spent time with us and our products to really get it. He’s the warm, relaxed, approachable, easy-going figure that tells our story at a deeply emotional level. This year we decided to put him on the dial for the first time, but only to make him visible when the lights go out and the lume around him reveals his silhouette. That’s playful, but like Plato said, we need to see the light to understand. I’m sure passionate Oris fans will appreciate this.

Once again, this year’s Hölstein Edition is powered by Calibre 400. Has that movement now come to define Oris as a watchmaker?

In part, yes. Every Hölstein Edition has carried Calibre 400 since we introduced it. It’s a movement we created as a vessel for our vision of what a contemporary automatic mechanical movement should be. It gives consumers access to a five-day power reserve, anti-magnetism and 10 years of warranty and 10-year service intervals. It’s a fantastic movement, class-leading, at least. But we continue to offer more accessible watches with Sellita-based movements, too. That choice is also part of what defines us.

And finally, how will you celebrate Oris’s birthday on 1 June?

In the Oris style. We’ll get together with our team here in Hölstein with a few beers and a barbecue, surrounded by the beautiful Waldenburg Valley. It’s magical here in the summer months.

Technical specifications

Oris Hölstein Edition 2025

Reference: 400 7803 4781-Set

Limited edition of 250 pieces

Case

• Material: Stainless steel case with black DLC plating
• Diameter: 41.00 mm (1.614 inches)
• Thickness: 11.90 mm
• Lug to lug: 49.00 mm
• Top glass: Sapphire, domed on both sides, anti-reflective coating inside
• Case back: Stainless steel, screwed, see-through sapphire glass, black DLC plating, special engravings, printed ring filled with Super-LumiNova®
• Operating devices: Stainless steel screw-in security crown with black DLC plating

Dial and hands

• White Super-LumiNova®, glows green, reveals Oris Bear between 3 and 4 o’clock when illuminated
• Luminous material Dial and special case back ring finished with Super-LumiNova®

Movement

• Oris Calibre 400
• Automatic movement
• Accuracy -3/+5 seconds a day (within COSC tolerances)
• Extra features Highly antimagnetic
• Power reserve of 120 hours

Functions/Indications

• Centre hands for hours and minutes, fine timing device and stop-second

Strap and buckle

• Textile with Oris-developed folding ‘LIFT’ clasp with black DLC plating, leather-lined

MSRP: CHF 4'150

For more information, please visit oris.ch