In the Flesh: Oris Divers Sixty-Five 42mm

If you’ve been paying any attention to us since Baselworld 2016, you’ll have probably noticed we really liked the new Oris Divers Sixty-Five 42mm. I really couldn’t wait to get my hands on it, and so I bugged the hell out of Oris to give me one as soon as possible. Fortunately, the timing was right, and they managed to get one over to me just in time for a quick trip to the west coast of Ireland.

Divers Sixty-Five on the Cliffs of Moher

Last year’s Divers Sixty-Five was a big hit across the blogosphere, and when I heard they were doing another version in a bigger case size, I was a little skeptical. Along with many other fans of vintage watches, when I hear the words, “bigger case size,” I audibly gasp. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the increased case size. What really keeps it from wearing too big is the thickness, which I believe is under 13mm, and a lot of that is attributed to a beautifully domed sapphire crystal. The problem, I find, with so many of the vintage re-issues is that the brands seem to get everything right except for the thickness. That’s where the “65” excels – it wears like a vintage watch. I loved my Omega SM300 Master Co-Axial, but despite the awesome vintage looks, I never forgot I was wearing a heavy, modern timepiece. That might be okay for some folks, but it’s not for me.

The one thing that will most definitely stand out with the new 65 is the dial. It’s a stunner, truly. I couldn’t get enough of it during the week on my wrist. In darker light, it looks almost black, but with natural light, you get to see the beautiful lacquered blue dial shine. Vintage lume seems to be everywhere these days. It didn’t bother me when it started popping up here and there, and it doesn’t bother me now. I honestly don’t think I’d like this watch nearly as much with white markers; the “aged” look softens the appearance of the markers and allows you to focus more on the star of the show, which is the dial color and finish. Oh, and did I mention the crystal? I couldn’t think of a better crystal through which to view this dial. In my opinion, it’s unquestionably the best looking sapphire crystal on the market anywhere near its price range.

I was really hoping to get a chance to wear the new rivet bracelet for the review, but the NATO was the next best option. Reason being, I wanted to get some time with a combination I’ve never seen before, which is a deployant clasp on a NATO. Looking at it now, it baffles me that a small, lower-budget brand (if multi-thousand dollar watches can be budget items) was the first to come up with this idea. In short, I like the NATO on a deployant; it works. My only complaint with it was that I found the strap coming loose from the buckle here and there while taking the watch on and off. It didn’t happen every time, but it does unhook itself from the clasp rather easily. To me, one of the major benefits of the deployant buckle is that once it’s set for your wrist size, you don’t really have to worry about it going forward. I will say, I think the NATO looses some of its casual feel with a deployant buckle, but I don’t know if that’s necessarily a bad thing for an OEM strap. Lastly, after a couple days of wear, I ended up flipping the strap around such that it closed towards me, much like how you’d wear a fold-over clasp on a steel bracelet. I found that it was a bit more comfortable, and the case of the watch landed more flatly on my wrist.

Frankly, I don’t have much bad to say about the watch aside from the minor quibble about the strap coming loose on occasion when donning and doffing the watch. Sure, the crown and stem doesn’t feel as solid as that of a Submariner, and the bezel isn’t made of ceramic, liquidmetal, or sapphire. However, the Divers Sixty-Five is not a high-end dive watch, and it’s not trying to be. It’s less than $2,000 on the NATO, for crying out loud. And I’ll tell you what, I could easily see myself reaching for this watch despite it lying next to a couple other much more expensive options. It wears like a dream, I wouldn’t be afraid to knock it around, and it’s damn good looking. I was a little worried Oris might weaken last year’s homerun of a watch by over-expanding the Divers Sixty-Five line, but I’m happily eating my words now.

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