The joy of mechanics comes to the fore in the new Oris ProPilot X Calibre 400, a titanium-cased watch inspired by more than a century of aviation heritage and powered by our five-day automatic.
How does it work?
The joy of mechanics is knowing how things work. This is what drives us – and our watches
More than 1.5 billion smartwatches were sold around the world last year. Sleek, beautiful – unknowable. How do they actually work?
Modern technology is so smart that few of us really understand how things work. The rapid shift to AI will only increase the distance between our devices and our appreciation of how they do what they do.
This is one of the many reasons people still love mechanical watches. They’re an antidote to technology’s blinding light. When you see an escapement wheel oscillating or a chronograph’s pushers initiating the steady advance of a central seconds hand, it’s reassuringly knowable. Poetic. Joyful even.
And it’s also what motivates us to continue our policy of only making mechanicals – we’re 100 per cent mechanical at Oris. Not a single quartz. And certainly no smartwatches.
And because we’re still an independent Swiss watch company, we’re free to keep making that choice, and go our own way. We love knowing how things work. It’s only human.
Joy machine
It’s the heir to a pilot’s watch legacy going back more than 100 years, but before all that, the Oris ProPilot X Calibre 400 has been designed to celebrate the joy of mechanics
When you love mechanical watches, do you begin your critique of a new piece looking at the case front or back? The new Oris ProPilot X Calibre 400 is designed to inspire joy no matter what angle you come at it from.
The dial-side is defined first by its 39mm titanium case. The taut, angular lines of the aviation-inspired form are satin and sandblasted, giving the watch its raw, technical look, and complemented by the familiar ProPilot bezel and a muscular, sculpted titanium bracelet. The oversized crown is also titanium, and flanked by protectors.
Beyond, the launch collection offers a choice of three dial colours: grey, blue and salmon. This is a fresh, expressive palette, chosen to augment the case’s dynamic proportions – and to bring life and colour to your wrist.
And then there’s the view from the other side. The watch’s titanium case back and open sapphire crystal frame Oris Calibre 400, our in-house five-day automatic.
As with all Calibre 400 Series movements, it’s accurate to -3 to +5 seconds a day, within chronometer certification standards, even after it’s been exposed to the sort of magnetic fields we’re surrounded by every day. This base calibre version has a sweep central seconds hand and a date at 6 o’clock.
All Calibre 400 Series watches carry 10-year warranties and 10-year recommended service intervals, and that applies to the ProPilot X Calibre 400, too. Calibre 400 Series movements have more than 30 non-ferrous and anti-magnetic parts, and were developed to minimise friction and wear-and-tear – the winding rotor uses a slide bearing system, for example – so that we can confidently give the watches their class-leading warranties.
The ProPilot X Calibre 400 follows in a long line of Oris pilot’s watches going back to the early 1900s, but its power lies beyond its associations: it’s a mechanical joy machine.
Mechanical Wonder Calibre 400
Inside the ProPilot X Calibre 400 is one of our new generation of high-performance automatics. Conceived entirely in-house by our skilled engineers, Calibre 400 Series movements all feature elevated levels of anti-magnetism, a five-day power reserve and a 10-year warranty. We call this The New Standard. Here, we’ll take you inside Calibre 400 and explain how it works.
Five-day power reserve
When a standard mechanical watch is laid down for a day or two, it will stop as the power reserve runs down. Calibre 400 has a five day power reserve, so it’ll still be running if it’s not been worn between, say, Thursday and Tuesday. It delivers this longer period of use via twin barrels, both of which house an extended mainspring, each long enough to store two and a half days of power.
A more stable rotor system
One of Oris’s fundamental ambitions with Calibre 400 was to eliminate problems before they occur. Oris’s engineers identified that one of the most frequent issues with automatic mechanical movements concerns the ball bearing system that allows the free spinning oscillating weight or rotor) to rotate. This is a critical element of an automatic watch as the rotor spins, it generates power that’s stored in the mainspring, which is housed in the barrel. So we removed the ball bearing altogether and replaced it with a low friction slide bearing system, in which a metal stud runs through a lubricated sleeve. This is much less complex, highly efficient, and involves far less wear and tear, making it less prone to breakdowns.
10-year warranty and recommended service intervals
Oris is so confident in the performance of the advanced technologies integrated into Calibre 400 that we are offering a 10-year warranty on all Oris watches powered by the new movement once registered with MyOris. In addition, Oris is also proposing 10 year recommended service intervals on Calibre 400 watches. This means that barring accidental damage or water resistance checks, a Calibre 400 watch won’t need servicing until 2030 at the earliest. This is The New Standard.
Elevated resistance to magnetic fields
Most Swiss watch movements will be magnetised if exposed to strong magnetic forces. When this happens, they become less accurate, and can stop altogether. To make it highly anti-magnetic, Oris engineered Calibre 400 using more than 30 non-ferrous and anti-magnetic components, including a silicon escape wheel and a silicon anchor. In testing by the renowned Laboratoire Dubois, Calibre 400 deviated by less than 10 seconds a day after exposure to 2,250 gauss. For context, the latest version of the ISO 764 standard for anti-magnetic watches requires that to qualify as anti-magnetic, a watch must be accurate to within 30 seconds a day after exposure to 200 gauss. Calibre 400 recorded one-third of the deviation allowed after exposure to more than 11 times the force permitted, making it a highly anti-magnetic movement.
Oris ProPilot X Calibre 400 Technical Specifications
Inspired by our rich aviation heritage, and the joy of mechanics: meet the ProPilot X Calibre 400. Inside its 39mm titanium case is our highly anti-magnetic, five-day, in-house automatic. It comes with a 10-year warranty. A new icon.
Reference
- 400 7778 7153 – 7 20 01TLC
- 400 7778 7155 – 7 20 01 TLC
- 400 7778 7158 – 7 20 01 TLC
In detail
Case Multi-piece titanium case with satin and sandblasted finishes
Size 39.00 mm (1.535 inches)
Dial Grey, blue or salmon
Luminous material Indices and hour and minute hands with Super-LumiNova®
Top glass Sapphire, domed on both sides, double-sided anti-reflective coating
Case back Titanium with satin and sandblasted finishes, screwed, see-through sapphire glass
Operating devices Titanium screw-in security crown with protection
Bracelet Titanium with folding clasp with Oris-patented ‘LIFT’ system
Water-resistance 10 bar (100 m)
Movement
Number Oris Calibre 400
Functions Centre hands for hours, minutes and seconds, date window at 6 o’clock, date corrector, fine timing device and stop-second
Accuracy -3/+5 seconds a day (within COSC tolerances)
Extra features Highly anti-magnetic
Winding Automatic
Power reserve 120 hours
Warranty* Extended to 10 years with MyOris sign-up. Applies to watch and movement.
10-year recommended service intervals. Five-year recommended water-resistance check
Swiss retail price CHF 3,900
Available April 2022
*Extended warranties Oris also offers extended five-year warranties on all Oris watches with Oris Calibre 100 Series movements when owners register with MyOris. In addition, we offer an extended three-year warranty on all Oris watches with movements produced by our Swiss partners with MyOris registration.
