Mustaches and Baseball? It’s not a new combination, but it rarely looks this good. On the diamond, famous names like Mike Schmidt, Rollie Fingers, and poor Bill Buckner were known for rocking a hairy upper lip, while 1980s TV screens were dominated by Tom Selleck’s irrepressible Thomas Magnum, who wore a bushy ‘stache and a Detroit Tigers ballcap. Joining the ranks of these fuzzy legends is the Oris ChronOris Movember Edition Watch. This is, I think, the first watch I’ve seen with not one, but TWO mustaches printed on its strap. And you know what? As far as charity special editions go, this is about as good as it gets. The watch head itself (just branded Oris with no mention of Movember) is a welcome re-issue of a vintage delight. With a 70s color scheme and case silhouette, the twin-crown setup looks a joy to wear and use. The subtle co-branded strap can easily be changed if the customer becomes suddenly shy about their do-goodery.
The Charity
Movember is a charity movement that encourages men to take better care of themselves, have regular check-ups (especially for testicular cancer), and to feel more comfortable discussing issues they might previously have kept to themselves. As a show of solidarity, Movember participants start the month clean-shaven and attempt to grow a mustache by the end of November. It is common practice for the friends, families, and co-workers of these hirsute heroes to donate money in appreciation of this naturally occurring phenomenon that has, quite recently, been put to better use than keeping the Gillette family in business.
This particular project is the result of a collaboration between Oris and New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone. While this partnership may seem a tad obscure, it was conceived to shine a light on the mental rather than physical struggles many young men face as they attempt to chase success (or just survival) in this crazy world. Something Boone, as head coach of one of the world’s most iconic and visible franchises, knows a great deal about. As one might expect, Oris will donate part of the proceeds from sales to the Movember charity.
The Watch
The dial layout is incredibly satisfying with a retro font selected for the “ChronOris” type between the center and 6 o’clock, the bright red/orange of the wedge-shaped seconds hand tying in with the 12 o’clock marker on the internal rotating bezel, and acting as the glue that binds this otherwise black, white, and gold affair together.
The warm gold hour and minute hands look perfectly at home in the 39mm stainless steel case and the white luminant within them is mirrored by white hour markers from 4 to 2 o’clock. The 3 o’clock hour marker makes way for a black-on-white date window, which sits comfortably in this colorway thanks to the white of the hour markers, hand lume, and split-seconds track that sits between the hour indices and the rotating bezel. These design decisions, to me, make this overall package a big success.
On the subject of that date window and its integration to the design, I really must applaud its thoughtfulness. Great care has been taken to balance the colors. The outline of the date (in gold) replaces the gold cap on the other white hour markers, and hugs the split-second track so tightly its as if they were old friends.
The radially brushed case features a polished chamfer that runs into stout lugs that ensure the watch will wear close and low on the wrist. It is water-resistant to 100 meters and has a closed caseback, engraved with a mustache graphic (that’s three mustaches for those keeping count) and the classic Oris shield. Inside this watch is an Oris 733 caliber, which is effectively a modified Sellita SW200, which operates at 28,800vph, and offers a power reserve of 38 hours.
Conclusion
The Oris Movember Edition watch comes in a very fetching canvas and leather fold-out travel wallet with a spare NATO strap with maroon, ecru, and olive stripes. The watch will retail for $2,000 on the leather strap or $2,200 on the metal bracelet. This model is available as of today. Learn more at oris.ch.
