n the 1960s, long before the quartz crisis, the Swiss watch industry experienced an existential event. Over the previous three decades, it had been subject to the Swiss Watch Statute, a law that had been introduced in the 1930s to counter anti-competition measures taken by companies battling for survival during The Great Depression.

One of the unintended consequences of the statute was that it prohibited Swiss watch companies from innovating. Oris was one such company. The law limited it to less accurate pin-lever movements – and that law was upheld by a Swiss lobby glad to see competition held in check.

©Archives Europa Star

©Archives Europa Star

This series of editorials and articles in Europa Star addressed the Swiss Watch Statute in the early 1960s. Oris was one of the companies disadvantaged by the statute (especially due to escapement restrictions) and lobbied to abandon this cartel-like system.

©Archives Europa Star

In 1956, Oris hired a young lawyer and tasked him with getting the statute reversed. Dr Rolf Portmann would fight the “Swiss Watch Cartel” for a decade. In 1965, he broke the chains that had held Oris back and the law was scrapped. For Oris: liberation, independence.

Now free to innovate, only a year later Oris would introduce the Oris Star, the brand’s first in-house lever escapement movement watch. In 1982, Dr Portmann and Ulrich W. Herzog would stage a management buyout. Now in his nineties, he remains Oris Honorary Chairman.

Oris, and Swiss watchmaking, owe Dr Portmann a debt of gratitude. As watch historian Gisbert L. Brunner says, “without Dr Portmann’s tireless insistence, the ill-fated Watch Statute would have remained in force.”

This year, the brand marks the 60^th anniversary of that heroic, historic moment with the Oris Star Edition, a tribute to Dr Portmann and his unique contribution to Oris and to Swiss mechanical watchmaking.

The original Oris Star of 1966 was a landmark watch for Oris. Not only did it mark the beginning of a new mechanical era for the company, it also signalled changing tastes – and the democratisation of luxury.

In the fashionably liberated mid-1960s, elegance no longer meant watches had to be round and gold; those sober, rigid standards were fading away. Instead, the barrel-shaped, modernist Star captured the shift to a new elegance. It was space-age in looks, too, reflecting the pioneering spirit of the time. This was a watch from a heritage brand that was also a manifesto for state-of-the-art technology and contemporary taste and design.

©Archives Europa Star

©Archives Europa Star

Archives from the 1960s and 1970s in Europa Star covering the launch of the Oris Star, the brand’s first lever escapement watch. Under the Statute regime, Oris was forced to use less prestigious pin-lever escapements.

©Archives Europa Star

Its story is retold through the new Oris Star Edition, introduced at Watches and Wonders Geneva 2026. Visually, it’s faithful to the original. The 35.00 mm case is barrel-shaped, with lugs seamlessly integrated into its silhouette; the silvery dial is sparsely decorated with twin-baton hour markers and square-tipped hands; the words “Star”, “Automatic” and “26 Jewels” have been added to the dial, a delicious 1960s throwback; there’s an asymmetrical date window at 3 o’clock; and the finishing touch is a vintage plexi-crystal. Like the original, it’s set on a black leather strap. It echoes a great triumph.

Inside is Oris Calibre 733, a Swiss Made automatic with a 41-hour power reserve. The case back is engraved with the evocative 1960s Oris Shield crest. It’s non-limited and will be in stores in May.

At once, the Oris Star Edition is sober and utilitarian, stylish and sophisticated, a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever told in the history of Swiss watchmaking.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Case

• Multi-piece stainless steel case
• Size: 35.00 mm
• Thickness: 11.10 mm
• Lug to lug: 41.50 mm
• Dial: Silver with applied indices
• Luminous material: Hands and indices filled with Super-LumiNova^®
• Top glass: Plexi-crystal
• Case back: Stainless steel, screwed, vintage Oris Shield engraving
• Operating devices: Stainless steel screw-in security crown
• Strap: Black leather with pin buckle
• Water resistance: 5 bar

Movement

• Number: Oris Calibre 733
• Functions: Centre hands for hours, minutes and seconds, date window, instantaneous date, date corrector, fine timing device and stop-second
• Winding: Automatic
• Power reserve: 41 hours
• Swiss retail price: CHF 1’800
• Availability: May