An oldie but goodie. The Oris TT1 series of watches are some of the best bang-for-buck Swiss Automatic Divers on the market – and yes, that includes all those boutique divers out there that everyone gets all giddy about too. Oris watches are bonafide, reliable and reputable Swiss Timepieces, and they’re much better made than brands like Hamilton.
Got this great shot of the dial, which really does the watch justice. It captures all the detail and colors just right, except I left some fingerprints on the edge of the bezel between 10 and 11 o’clock. Great dual-crown look, with the offset small seconds at 10 o’clock and the actual crown at 4 o’clock with the manually operated helium escape valve at 2 o’clock. The dial is a beautiful slate blue, with waves on it as you can see, with the date located at 6 o’clock.
An angle shot, so you can appreciate the shape of the stainless steel case, and see the signed crown and blue dot on the helium escape valve. The case has the familiar Oris ProDiver “bubble” shape, which makes the 47mm case wear more like 44mm. It is nice and thick, however, and feels substantial on the wrist.
A nice close-up of the dial, showing off the fine-printing and gel-applied waves of the dial in detail. The crystal is double-AR coated, and gives off a blue tinge. Lume is excellent, and works well when charged, though the luminous markers are not especially big.
Another better shot showing the “bubble” cushion shape of the case, with the screwed-in end links that hold the stainless steel bracelet on. Those screws can be hard to remove and require two screwdrivers and a vise to remove! I prefer this stainless version of the Oris TT1 ProDiver over the Titanium one that I had owned before, because I found that the finish looks nicer and its a better weight.
The nice, substantial button-lock deployant clasp is shown above, and its pretty darn good looking for a watch in this price range. They’re almost as nice as the Omega Seamaster buckles – almost. I can’t tell for sure if they are thick stamped buckles or machined, but my guess would be stamped.
The caseback is a solid stainless steel affair, with the general watch features on it such as the 1000m water resistance, stainless steel case, sapphire crystal and Swiss Made designation. It also has the model and serial number on it.
As you can see, the 47mm diameter doesn’t look imposing at all on my 6.75″ wrist. In fact, its no bigger looking that my Chronomat 44, though it is a bit thicker. I really like this watch, and for the amount you can snag these on the secondary market, they are a bargain. With the new Sapphire bezel Oris models now available, these can be picked up for a song. If they’re in your wheelhouse, I think they’re well worth considering.
Oris TT1 ProDiver 1000m Watch Specs:
-Scratch Resistant Sapphire Crystal
-1000 Meters / 3281 Feet Water Resistant
-47mm case diameter
-Stainless Bracelet with Deployment Buckle
-Luminescent Hands & Markers
-Screw Down Crown & Back Case
-Helium Escape Valve
