IntroducingOris x Bamford ProPilot Altimeter ‘Mission Control’

In a release I certainly never saw coming, one of the community's most beloved brands—Oris—is teaming up with watchmaking's undisputed king of blacked out case collabs—George Bamford—for the new Oris x Bamford ProPilot Altimeter "Mission Control." A sizeable 47mm by 16.7mm carbon-fiber composite-cased watch with a built-in display for air pressure and altitude on a
scale of 0 to 19,700 feet, this 250-piece numbered limited edition is perhaps the most surprising release from Oris since their Kermit or Miss Piggy watches.

The watch features a black dial with yellow, lime, and red details, an altitude scale on the outer dial ring, and hands, indices, and numerals rendered in printed Super-LumiNova. The double-domed sapphire features an anti-reflective coating, while the caseback is crafted from grey PVD-plated titanium and screwed in. It includes a feet-to-meter conversion chart, allowing anyone to utilize the watch's altitude measuring functions (unless you prefer to measure in cubits or furlongs). The crowns are also made in PVD-plated titanium, with a screw-down time-setting crown at 2 o'clock and a screw-down altimeter crown at 4 o'clock.

The automatic Oris Caliber 793 shows hours, minutes, seconds (with stop-seconds), date (with quick setting), and has a 56-hour power reserve. Then there's the built-in altimeter function.

To operate it, you pull out the crown to the first position, and a red ring will appear, showing that the altimeter is active. Pulling out to position two allows you to rotate the display to show the current altitude (which you can find out in a variety of ways, including your closest air control tower, for instance). The watch will then show the altitude with the red indicator and the air pressure with the yellow indicator. When you push the crown back into position one, you'll still get those measurements, but it's not until you push the crown all the way in (and screw it down) that the watch returns to full 100 meters of water resistance.

This individually-numbered 250 piece limited edition is available now for CHF 6'700.

There's no doubt that the Propilot Altimeter models are certainly a bit large and thick for my taste, but I also can't seem to deny the siren song of a black-cased watch. We've covered the non-limited version of this watch before, and while I do find the more muted colors and green strap to be more wearable, there's no doubt that this version is highly visible and legible (to the point that it's got this kind of high-vis thing going on). 

The carbon-composite case does lighten up the watches a little bit, balancing out the 47mm size and 55mm lug-to-lug (which is frankly impressively long), so it's more wearable than the dimensions might suggest, while still being a huge watch. Plus, it just shows that George Bamford is still anything but subtle in his design qualities (or the size of watch he's willing to rock).

Brand: Oris x Bamford
Model: ProPilot Altimeter 'Mission Control'

Diameter: 47mm
Thickness: 16.7mm
Case Material: Single-piece carbon-fibre composite case, grey PVD-plated titanium bezel and case back
Dial Color: Black with yellow, lime, and red detailing, altitude scale on outer dial ring in feet
Indexes: Indices, numbers, and hands printed with Super-LumiNova
Lume: Super-Luminova
Water Resistance: 100m
Strap/Bracelet: Black textile strap with yellow and green leather lining, grey PVD-plated titanium folding clasp with a fine adjustment system

Caliber: Oris 793
Functions: Hours, minutes, and central sweep seconds hands, date with quick setting, stop second device, date window at 3 o'clock, mechanical altimeter
Power Reserve: 56 hours
Winding: Automatic winding
Frequency: 28,800 vph
Jewels: 25
Chronometer Certified:  No
Additional Details: Grey PVD-plated titanium case back, screwed, with feet-to-meter conversion chart engravings

Price: CHF 6,700
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: 250 pieces, numbers 001/250

For more, click here.