Oris and Disney’s The Muppets Kermit the Frog get together for a bit of fun and to create “Kermit Day” with a very special edition of the ProPilot X Calibre 400, the Oris ProPilot X Kermit Edition.
This time it’s (not so) serious
Mechanical watchmaking is a serious business and we’re really quite serious about it. But with the ProPilot X Kermit Edition, part of the Oris x Disney’s The Muppets collaboration, we’re inviting the world to take a minute…
No doubt, we have started a lot of press releases down the years with detail about how long we’ve been making mechanical watches (119 years), how many calibres we’ve originated in that time (more than 280), how our current Movement Creation Programme is going (10 new calibres in 10 years) and how many Change for the Better collaborations we’ve done (lots).
These things are all important. And also quite serious. Along the way, we’ve tried to make a good deal of noise, too, about why we do things, why we make the watches we make.
The answer is always the same: we’re inspired by what we call the Joy of Mechanics. The first function of every Oris watch, in the purest emotional, feel-it-in-your-bones sense, is to bring joy, to make people smile. That’s it. If an Oris watch can make someone’s day better, we’ve done our job.
For some time, we’ve been trying to find the ultimate expression of this and to make a watch that’s pure joy. And then it hit us. A collaboration with the easiest guy on the planet: Kermit the Frog from The Muppet Show. Kermit’s role is to entertain, to put a smile on our faces. He’s been doing it for generations. Could we do a watch with him?
It turns out we could. And we’re delighted, grinning from ear to ear, and so proud to introduce you to the ProPilot X Kermit Edition.
Green screen
Oris’s Ken Laurent went to Hollywood to meet Kermit the Frog and make a TV ad with him.
Ken, before we talk Kermit the Frog, tell us how you approach a project like this…
As Oris’s creative director, my job is always to think about how we communicate a new product. So what’s its core value? How does it tie into our philosophy? Sometimes that value is really clearly defined: a diver’s watch with a depth gauge, or a bronze watch that will patinate over time. Others, it’s more implicit. That can be more of a challenge, but I think we’re doing a good job of being consistent and coherent in how we’re telling the Oris story and the story of our watches.
Where do you find your inspiration?
I’m originally from Schaffhausen in northern Switzerland, which, like Hölstein, is a very beautiful place, with lots of nature. I’m very drawn to nature and spend as much time as I can in it – I love downhill mountainbiking, for example. That refreshes me. It’s where I cannot think about anything, like meditation. It sets chemicals free and makes me feel good for days afterwards. I’m always creating, which makes the boundary between my life inside and outside of work a bit fluid.
You’ve been at Oris for five years. What makes it such a good fit?
It can be hard to explain things that are intuitive. Oris just works for me. Sometimes with companies there’s an aura you can’t get past, but with Oris the aura is very human. We’re really interested in the cause and we don’t have to think about target groups: we can do the things we want to do. It’s a gift.
So, Oris and Kermit the Frog?
Let me ask you this: what is a mechanical watch for? We talk a lot about functions in a literal sense, but really, the purpose of an Oris watch is to make people smile. That’s it. And with the ProPilot X Kermit Edition, there’s nothing else to it. Ok, yes, it’s powered by a brilliant movement and the case design is spectacular, but the function of this watch is really simple: to bring joy.
The execution is interesting. Perhaps bar “Kermit Day”, the link is hidden.
Why? It’s beautiful the way it’s been done. We could have put a big Kermit the Frog emoji on the dial. Some might have done that because they want their most important collaborations to be in-your-face, to scream. But we didn’t want that. We wanted something more humble that would respect the product.
And what is it about Kermit the Frog that Oris was so drawn to in the first place?
We don’t want ambassadors where we take their emotion and put it on top of ours. We always want someone who becomes part of the Oris family. Kermit is that. We have a lot in common. He’s the “everyfrog”, like the everyman. He’s down to earth. I mean, he comes from a swamp. And he’s never trying to be the centrepiece, but he always has an important role to play. The main goal of The Muppets is to entertain people, to have fun, to make people laugh and have a good time. At the same time they’re always trying to solve something, but in a fun way. Snap!
You went to Hollywood to film an Oris TV ad with Kermit the Frog. How was that?
It was so much fun. On set you have to be so careful because all you want to do is laugh, but of course that would ruin a take. Everyone feeds off Kermit’s energy. Anything he does or touches, it just becomes funny. I didn’t want the day to end.
In the ad, Kermit the Frog performs Gotta Make Time For Me – who wrote it?
We spent a lot of time thinking about what kind of brief we should give The Muppets. We could have written a script or something, but Kermit and The Muppets know how to entertain better than anyone. So we left them to it. In a couple of days, they came back to us with a song – the lyrics, the music and the idea that Kermit would sing it while playinghis banjo. It was perfect. And so catchy…
More to come with Disney’s The Muppets?
Maybe. You’ll have to wait and see…
Oris ProPilot X Kermit Edition Technical Specifications
Reference 01 400 7778 7157-Set
This special edition of the ProPilot X Calibre 400 has a green dial inspired by Kermit the Frog. On the first of the month, Kermit appears in the date window – “Kermit Day”
In detail
Case Multi-piece titanium case with satin and sandblasted finishes
Size 39.00 mm (1.535 inches)
Dial Green
Luminous material Indices and hour and minute hands with Super-LumiNova®
Top glass Sapphire, domed on both sides, anti-reflective coating inside
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. Fiveyear recommended water-resistance check
Swiss retail price CHF 4,400
Available April 2023
*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.
