Hands-On With the Oris x Collective Horology C.04 Divers Seventy-Five

We love a good riff on an existing concept around here, and there’s one candidate in particular that’s ripe for experimentation. The Oris Divers 65 (or Divers Sixty-Five if you’re not into the whole brevity thing) has proven rather malleable in recent years, hosting a variety of colorways, material combinations, dial designs, and even movements. And to its credit, all of them seem to work pretty well. Enter Collective Horology, who are using this watch as a base to their latest collaboration, the C.04, in a shaggy ‘70s inspired take on the watch dubbed, naturally, the Divers Seventy-Five. 

The Divers Seventy-Five brings back the dateless dial with the retro Arabic numerals marking the cardinal hours. The design feels right at home in the new color scheme, which consists of brown and orange tones throughout the steel case and bracelet. The result is a look that certainly won’t be for everyone, but offers one of the more inventive takes on the watch we’ve seen yet. The color scheme at work here takes inspiration from ‘70s California design according to Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly of the Collective, and when set into that context, takes on a slightly different character than your typical brown dial or two-tone watch.

The Divers Seventy-Five is built into a 40mm steel case that’s accented by Oris’ bronze bezel and affixed to their bi-metal steel and bronze bracelet, leaning fully into the funky vibes that start at the dial. This is a case we’re fond of around here thanks to its 12.8mm thickness and more importantly, curved case profile. This is a very comfortable watch on the wrist and doesn’t seem to make any compromises to that shape even with the addition of an exhibition caseback. That said, if you’re not crazy about the dial here there’s likely no level of wearability that will win you over. 

The star of the show here is undoubtedly the dial, which is rendered in three tones. The hour track is a warm yet deep brown, into which the old-school Arabic numerals are placed to represent 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock in a light cream lume. The center portion of the dial lands in mahogany or sand territory, and brings a delightfully soft presence that balances out the darker tones at the perimeter. To be frank, I’m not particularly fond of brown dials, but I found this particular execution rather charming in person. Collective has a thing for dials that have a certain magic in the metal, a skill most apparent in their collaboration with Czapek.

Inside, things remain interesting with the use of Oris’ own caliber 400 movement, rocking 5 days of power reserve and high resistance to magnetism thanks to the use of non-ferrous materials including a silicon escape wheel and anchor. Because of this movement, the limited edition C.04 Divers Seventy-Five is priced at $4,500 with a $4,100 pre-order price. 

This is the fourth watch in Collective Horology’s …well, Collective Series of watches. Oris joins good company as other collaborative brands in the series include the likes of Zenith, H. Moser, and IWC. These watches sit alongside the Portfolio Series watches, which are collaborations meant to showcase independent watchmaking. This Oris represents the most accessibly priced collaboration yet to be released within the Collective Series, and we hope represents a step toward working with more small independent brands in the future. More from Collective Horology.