Known for its love for music (among others, its limited editions include homages to Frank Sinatra, John Coltrane, and Chet Baker) the Swiss watchmaker has recently introduced its limited-edition Oris Thelonious Monk 733 7712 4085.
Oris Thelonious Monk 733 7712 4085: The Overall Impression
In certain aspects, this new model may look unfamiliar to those who usually associate the brand with gorgeous chronographs and bulky divers. Yet, in fact, it’s deeply rooted in the Manufacture’s philosophy of industrial design.
As the legendary sculptor of the past, they take a piece of metal and remove everything that doesn’t belong. Leaving only the essential elements, they turn an ordinary accessory into a masterpiece.
Mr. Monk played complex music with many of his pieces almost instantly becoming jazz standards, yet this new watch is deliberately simple.
There are only two thin hands to display time, a simple setting crown, and, well, nothing more besides a slightly oversized stainless steel case.
The only thing that betrays its true identity is the way minutes are marked on its (virtual) chapter ring.
Look closely at the part between 10 and 12 hours. There are eleven (five at 10-11 plus six at 11-12) minute marks instead of the usual ten. This feels like the best way to pay homage to Thelonious Monk’s approach to playing the instrument. It was so brilliantly unpredictable that even some first-class stars of jazz found it difficult to improvise over his accompaniment.
Some consider Oris sa second-tier brand (at least, when it comes to pricing.) However, they definitely know a thing or two about industrial design. Personal preferences aside, their watches are always (or, at least, when they want to) easily readable, highly ergonomic, and elaborately sculpted.
The Dial
This new model, for example, features their signature “smoke blue” color of the dial. It looks beautiful (and expensive) even though the sunray finish is nothing new. It also provides an almost perfect background for the polished hands and dot-shaped hour markers.
Their earlier limited-edition Oris Chet Baker 733 7591 4084 featured more details than an average connoisseur would care for. This one is very different. Like Thelonious Monk expertly mastered the art of using silence to make music, Oris, too, understood that sometimes less is more.
It now knows that sometimes it is better to remove an element to make the final product look more complete.
The 40mm Case
At 40 millimeters in diameter, the ref. 733 7712 4085 is not particularly large. Still, as is often the case with dress watches, it may look too big on a smaller wrist. Just keep that in mind.
One of these promotional images gives you a false impression that the timekeeper’s solid back features a satin finish, but it isn’t so.
In real life, the back is as mirror-polished as the rest of the case. This sort of finish looks cool when the device sits in a display box or is gently handled with gloved hands. In real life, it would immediately attract all the oil on your skin as soon as you put this beauty on your wrist.
So, make sure that you are ready to wipe this piece with a soft rag before going to bed.
The Sellita SW200-based Mechanism
As far as the technical stuff goes, this new timepiece rocks the same automatic Caliber 733 that also animated several of their other models. Besides the delicate the Chet Baker model, it also powered the monstrous Oris ProDiver Kittiwake.
It is based a Sellita SW200 blank caliber, that we have seen so many times that I actually lost count. The 2013 Raymond Weil Maestro Automatic is the first that comes to mind, and the Edox Skydiver Aged Steel is probably the second.
The reason of the popularity is simple. The movement proved many times its robustness, reliability, and relatively low cost of ownership.
Here, the Swiss-based brand, too, decided to keep things simple and removed the stock calendar wheel. Not sure about how it affected the power reserve, but, without the date aperture, the dial just looks better.
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The Price & Availability
The model was revealed at
Oris plans to limit the device’s total production run to just a thousand individually numbered units. All things considered, the MSRP of CHF 1800 at the time of writing this review doesn’t seem too high.
The first batch will arrive in stores in May 2015.
Photos: Oris
WWR’s preliminary verdict
Originality 5/5
Build quality: 5/5
Usability: 5/5
Legibility: 5/5
Value for money: 5/5Overall Rating: 5/5
Oris Thelonious Monk Limited Edition 733 7712 4085 specification
Price: CHF 1800 (MSRP)
Movement: Automatic, Oris caliber 733 (base Sellita SW 200), Swiss Made
Number of jewels: 26
Movement frequency: 28,800 vph
Power reserve: 38 hours
Functions: Hours, minutes
Case: Stainless steel
Shape: Round
Size: 40.00 mm
Dial: Smoke Blue, sunray finish
Hour markers: Applied rhodium-plated and polished dots
Hands: Polished, rhodium-plated
Water resistance: 30 meters
Strap: Black leather strap with stainless steel folding clasp
Crystal: Sapphire, antireflective on both sides, domed
Back: Mirror polished, solid, engraved with “MONK ALWAYS KNOW” motto.