Oris Big Crown 1917. An Amazing Pilot Watch With a Hundred Years of History.
Still after my many years of painting watches I am not well versed in the colloquialisms. What I do know is when a watch strikes suddenly and with force. And when a watch has a 100 years to build momentum the force is strong.
The people of Oris are simply amazing. They are kind, passionate and ready to make things happen. When I arrived we immediately began discussing how a live painting would work in the booth. An empty space in the lobby was eyed and suddenly filled.
First with a boxy leather chair, then with a table which I covered up with my myriad supplies. The first watch I saw was the Chronoris and I knew it was the one I had to paint. And then I saw the Big Crown and the discussion was over.
Kindly, I was allowed to wear the Chronoris while I painted Big Crown 1917. In the short moments of choosing which watch to paint, my little set up had become a full blown stage. There was studio lighting in front and behind and cameras were capturing every moment.
View the Oris Big Crown 1917 live painting time lapse video below.
As an ode to the archives, Oris pulled out this pilot watch design to bring back in 2017. 100 years after its initial release, the Big Crown remains true to the Oris heritage of handsome, effective pilot watches and Swiss watchmaking.
Big Crown 1917
-Stainless Steel
-40mm
-Limited to 1917 Pieces
-$2600
In 45 minutes we were able to capture the heart and the emotion of the Oris Big Crown 1917.
Maurice Lacroix. The Bronze Age is Here
Continuing the Aikon series, Maurice Lacroix has brought the Bronze back from the past with the all bronze Aikon gent watch. Limited to 388 pieces.
Your time is now.
Maurice Lacroix, AIKON Bronze
I stole the Masterpiece Gravity watch for the painting.
Longines: Military COSD
Longines Watercolour Watch Project.
The Longines Heritage Military COSD watch was launched at Baselworld 2015, but didn't get rolled out until this month, October 2015. It's been some time since Baselworld, since I painted this piece for the Watercolour Watch Project in collaboration with Time+Tide Watches. I now present to you, Longinges Military Heritage, 2015.
Based on a piece of equipment used by the British Special Forces during the 1940s, and marked with the COSD label to identify it as produced for the Combined Operations Command. Longines has once again reached back into its history to produce beautiful works of art for the wrist.
From the utilitarian design, the luminova hands to the green khaki nato strap the watch exists as a tribute to it's original design as a useful tool for the soldier. I imagine that if the date window existed back in the 40's it might have been included on the watch. No one wanted to advance from the trenches a day early, or a day late.
The case sits neatly at 40mm. The Caliber is an L619, Self winding mechanical movement beating at 28'800 vibrations per hours and providing 42 hours of power reserve.
