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Oris is different - period. It's an independent, family-owned watchmaker in an era of conglomerate-controlled "masons." Oris is a German-Swiss house in an industry dominated by francophone Swiss.

And when Oris designs a dive watch like this Oris ProDiver Chronograph, it's bound to be different.

At 51mm in diameter, the ProDiver Chronograph is the kind of watch only an independent watch manufacturer builds. The size, features, style, and sensibility of the colossal sports watch speak to a utility-driven design ethic. According to Oris, the 2009-present ProDiver line was inspired by deep water salvage professionals, and there's little reason to believe otherwise.

Consider the Rotation Safety System. Oris-lingo for "dive bezel," the RSS features an enormous ceramic bezel insert within a vulcanized rubber ring. The rubber ring moves freely around the bezel and cannot displace the calibrations until the ring is snapped upward into its activated position. Once activated, the rubber ring is locked to the bezel and moves its calibrations in unidirectional fashion. Simply snap the ring back downward to lock the bezel. Better than a conventional dive bezel, the Oris RSS ensures that dives are neither extended *nor* shortened by accident.

The dial exhibits the same individualist sensibility as the bezel. A subtle wave motif is embossed on the matte black surface, and each sub-dial features a unique chapter ring in order to differentiate them. A date window adds everyday practicality. Each hour index is a vast polished and applied element with enormous quantities of lumina; when paired with the broad lumed hands, the Oris ProDiver Chronograph glows like a torch when daylight fades. Oris includes a concave rehaut outboard of the hour index track to ease the visual transition from dial to bezel.

The Oris ProDiver's 51mm titanium case and matching bracelet satisfy with superb build quality and commensurate finish. Although hulking in profile, the ProDiver wears far smaller than its nominal size thanks to *very* short lugs, lightweight titanium construction, and smoothly finished edges on all metal elements that touch skin. While the nominal 51mm is huge, the actual lug-to-lug span is no larger than most 44-45mm sports watches.

Oris' deployant clasp is of excellent quality, features a secure twin-trigger release in order to prevent accidental release. The dive suit extension is a robust fold-our piece milled from solid aluminum billets, and its utility extends to use over thick winter apparel.

This Oris ProDiver Chronograph is available from thewatchbox.com with all original Oris factory packaging, documents of provenance, strap-swapping tool, and accessory strap. See it in high-resolution images on www.thewatchbox.com. Video and content by Tim Mosso.

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