Oris celebrates Okavango Air Rescue's 10th anniversary with a limited edition watch.
Features include a safari-green dial and a 100m water-resistant case.
Limited to 2,011 pieces, priced at 2,300 CHF (~$2500).
Pilot watches and Oris go hand in hand. The latest Big Crown ProPilot model is dedicated to the air medical rescue organization from Botswana, known as Okavango Air Rescue. Following in the footsteps of limited editions like Rega Fleet and Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, Oris aims to draw attention to this exemplary humanitarian organization, celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. The 41mm Big Crown ProPilot Okavango Air Rescue, designed in safari colors, combines an attractive safari-green dial with the utilitarian attributes of pilot watches.
Imagine the following scenario. You are on a safari in Botswana, sitting in the tall grass, waiting to capture the perfect wildlife photo of an impala drinking from a stream, when you hear an approaching herd of elephants. Instead of following the guide's advice to stay calm, your instincts take over, and you dash to the jeep but trip and break your ankle. It's much worse than you thought, with the bone protruding from the skin. You're miles from the nearest village and even further from proper hospital care. Fortunately, before the safari, you heard about the Okavango Air Rescue - a highly specialized air medical service equipped with medical equipment and an emergency doctor on board. In the distance, the whirring of helicopter blades can be heard... Help is on the way!
OKAVANGO AIR RESCUE
The Okavango Air Rescue (O.A.R.) service was founded in 2011 by Swiss entrepreneur Christian Gross and Dr. Misha Kruk, a German doctor with experience at the International Red Cross and Rega, the Swiss air rescue service. Together, they moved to Botswana and established a private service with helicopters and airplanes to provide medical assistance to locals and tourists in remote, hard-to-reach areas.
One of the most impressive places for wildlife tourism is the Okavango Delta - a vast plain the size of Switzerland, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With its meadows, swamps, and lagoons, the delta attracts one of Africa's largest concentrations of wildlife, including the “big five”: lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant, and rhino. Before O.A.R. flights began, there was no air medical evacuation service in the area, and those in need of medical help had to wait for a plane from South Africa. Operating two PC-12 airplanes and two Bell Jetranger 206 III helicopters with medical equipment and an emergency doctor on board, O.A.R. survives on donations. Visitors to Botswana are encouraged to become patrons - a system developed by the Swiss air rescue service Rega. The minimum contribution for patron status is $15 per month, guaranteeing evacuation from the bush at no additional cost. Over ten years of operation, headquartered in Maun, O.A.R. has rescued more than 1,500 critically ill patients and served over 20,000 patients in its clinic.
BEYOND AFRICA
Earlier this year, we reviewed the Big Crown ProPilot Rega Fleet model, dedicated to the Swiss air rescue service, with which Dr. Kruk worked before her African adventure. The Okavango Air Rescue Limited Edition is much simpler and, in my opinion, more attractive. With its robust 100-meter water-resistant steel case and appealing yet uncluttered dial, this watch reminds me of scenes from the film “Out of Africa,” when Robert Redford flies over the Kenyan landscape in his yellow Gipsy Moth biplane.
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What really sets this model apart is the lush, grass-green textured dial reminiscent of the meadows of Botswana's Okavango Delta. The textured background, which we associate with high-end Grand Seiko models (though not executed with the same craftsmanship as GS), definitely adds depth and character to the watch. As befits pilot watches, readability is at its best. Applied Arabic numerals and hour indices, along with the hour and minute hands, are coated with the luminescent compound Super-LumiNova, which glows blue in the dark. The black central seconds hand has a red tip to highlight the applied markers on the dial's periphery. Although the date window at the “3 o'clock” position is unobtrusive, with a black background, I understand why the designers opted against a pointer date, which would have added additional markings to the dial and spoiled the complete and very pleasant Safari atmosphere.
Another winning detail of the watch is the matching safari-colored textile strap with a central white stripe, made exclusively for Oris by Erika’s Originals.
AUTOMATIC MOVEMENT
The case back is engraved with an Okavango Air Rescue airplane flying over the Okavango Delta islands and the limited edition number XXXX/2011. Beneath the case back is the Oris 751 caliber, Sellita SW 220-1 with specific decoration and the brand's signature red rotor. This movement is an enlarged version of the time-tested SW 200-1, itself a clone of the ETA. Otherwise, it retains the same characteristics with a frequency of 4 Hz and a power reserve of 38 hours.
AVAILABILITY AND PRICE
The Oris Big Crown ProPilot Okavango Limited Edition comes in a leather travel pouch with an additional brown leather strap. It is limited to 2,011 pieces (honoring the founding year of O.A.R.) and is priced at 2,300 Swiss Francs ~ $2500.
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For more information, visit Oris.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS – ORIS BIG CROWN PROPILOT OKAVANGO AIR RESCUE LIMITED EDITION Case: 41mm diameter – multi-piece stainless steel case, matte – fixed knurled bezel – sapphire crystal with AR coating – steel screw-in case back with special engraving – screw-in crown – 100m water resistance Dial: green textured dial – applied Arabic numerals, hour and minute hands with Super-LumiNova – date window at 3 o'clock Movement: Oris 751 caliber (Sellita SW 220-1) – automatic – 26 jewels – 32.20mm – 28,800 vibrations/hour – 38h power reserve – hours, minutes, seconds, and date Strap: green textile strap, created by Erika’s Originals exclusively for Oris – additional brown leather strap – comes in a leather travel pouch Reference: 751 7761 4187 Availability: limited to 2,011 pieces Price : 2,300 CHF ~ $2500
