Swiss watch brand Oris unveils Audi Sport Limited Edition III, the third watch in a series created to celebrate the partnership between the company and the iconic endurance racing team. Like the two watches that preceded it, the new watch features an innovative Oris developed complication – a vertical countdown.
This standout feature appears on a subdial at 9 o’clock. At the 12 o’clock position there’s a vertical aperture that fills with red every 15 seconds over a five-second period before returning to black again, just like the gantry lights on a race start line.
In keeping with Oris’s philosophy, this engineering behind this mysterious complication is reassuringly simple. Under the subdial at 9 o’clock is a disc decorated with four red ‘staircases’. This disc makes a full rotation once every 60 seconds so that one of these staircases passes through the aperture on 0, 15, 30 and 45 seconds. The aperture has five squares, which fill at a rate of one square per second, until on five seconds the aperture is entirely filled. Then the aperture returns to black as if to signify the start of a race and the process starts again.
But that’s not the subdial’s only secret. Oris’s engineers wanted the watch to indicate running seconds, too. That comes in the form of a red square that makes a full tour of a channel milled into the outer edge of the subdial. Again, the system behind this is ingeniously simple. The same disc under the dial has a single red line that runs to its outer edge. The tip of this line reaches the channel and is constantly visible while the watch is running.
These Oris-developed features are wrapped in a 44mm black DLC-coated titanium case. Oris’s designers wanted a rigid but lightweight case to mirror the high-performance chassis of Audi Sport’s R18 race car, qualities they found in titanium. The dial design is reminiscent of dashboard instruments and the chronograph hour and minute counters bring back memories of classic speedometers and rev counters.
The Audi Sport Limited Edition III is based on the Oris Artix GT, and shares the revamped sport watch collection’s new bi-rotating bezel design. While it retains the rubber ‘good grip’ (developed by Oris for the original Artix GT) that sits around the outside of the bezel and aids quick and accurate adjustments, it now has a matt black scratch-resistant ceramic insert with polished numerals. The new design is easier to read off at a glance than in previous models. The Audi Sport logo completes the look.
The watch is fitted with a perforated black rubber racing strap that has a black DLC-coated titanium folding clasp to match the case. The case back is engraved with a silhouette of Audi Sport’s R18 race car and the limited edition number.
The new Oris Audi Sport Limited Edition III is a fitting tribute to the innovation and pioneering spirit of the Audi Sport team and demonstrates Oris’s creative approach to watchmaking. It will be available from August 2016 and only 500 will be made, each priced CHF 3,950. The Oris Audi Sport Limited Edition III is presented in a special Alcantara-like box.
Technical details
Model: Oris Audi Sport Limited Edition III
Ref. No. 01 774 7661 7784 RS, Ø 44.00mm
Limited to 500 pieces
Movement
Automatic movement Oris Cal.774, based on Sellita SW 500, with chronograph function, date at 6 o’clock and vertical aperture countdown function at 9 o’clock
Case
Multi-piece titanium case, screw-in stainless steel crown and pushers, all with black DLC coating
Water-resistant to 10 bar/100m
Bi-rotating black ceramic bezel with minute scale and rubber coated ‘good grip’ insert on the outside edge
Sapphire crystal domed on both sides with anti-reflective coating inside
Black DLC-coated titanium case back engraved with silhouette of Audi Sport R18 race car and limited edition number
Dial
Two piece matt black dial
Dial ring with tachymeter scale directly assembled to the case
Applied indices filled with black Super-LumiNova®
Black hour and minute hands filled with Super-LumiNova®
Red central stop seconds hand, polished nickel counter hands and special Oris-developed small seconds disc
Strap
Black perforated rubber strap with black DLC-coated titanium folding clasp
Price
Swiss retail price: CHF 3,950
