Oris x Momotaro Divers Sixty-Five Review

When I heard that there will be an Oris x Momotaro Divers Sixty-Five collaboration, I got excited. I got too excited that I immediately pre-ordered it. As a fan of Momotaro, this was a no-brainer purchase. However, the whole collaboration between a denim company and a swiss watch company is still a bit new for me. As per the Oris’ website, “Oris is the perfect match for us, because like Momotaro, it’s independent, it makes bold and brave choices, and it’s obsessive about quality. This isn’t just a product collaboration – our spirit, culture and craftsmanship really synchronised. And we also love Oris watches and the Oris story. Go your own way!”

Pricing

The price is USD$2,200 / AUD$3,200. The pricing is a tad high for what you get due to the collaboration and limited production. I am personally used to having a non-bracelet version to be slightly cheaper. I believe however that bracelet can be purchased separately.

Packaging

The denim pouch is definitely a selling point, but I do have some negative feedback about the packaging overall.

The outer box for a collaboration watch is underwhelming. It’s just Oris’ plain box, covered by an outer sleeve with a small cloth covering the pouch. For the price, I would expect a little bit more elegance in the outer box. Maybe even just Momotaro’s logo on it as well.

When you remove the outer sleeve and open the box, you’re greeted with the embossed cloth.

The denim pouch set however makes up for it. The quality of the denim is very high and you can definitely feel it. This goes for both the pouch and the warranty card holder.

There is also a small note of the collaboration inside the packaging.

Movement

Movement: Oris 733 / base SW 200-1
Power reserve: 38 hrs
Vibrations: 28’800, 4 Hz
Jewels: 26

For a SW200-1 base, it’s quite an expensive watch. However, there are different levels of SW 200 with accuracy and testing position being the benchmark. More information can be found in the Caliber Corner website.

Thoughts

The watch is far from perfect, but it has a place in a collection. With the denim strap and colour combinations, it’s definitely going to be the weekend watch for most. I found that this truly shines with a dark pair with jeans with a contrasting top.

One of the biggest plus for me was the lack of the date feature. I find the watch more balanced that way. Rotating the bezel also has a good amount of resistance and a satisfying click sound to it. The dial colour is sort of a soft honeydew green colour which I believe could be the first.

The crystal is a double domed sapphire with an AR (Anti-reflective) coating inside. The double dome prevents distortion when looking at the watch from different angles. However, I still find the edges a bit trippy when looking at the watch directly due to the sapphire crystal.

The strap is very well made. It’s not overly stiff outside the box and should definitely soften overtime. Thickness is perfect for the size of the watch and stitching is clean and well done. You can definitely see the quality on these straps similar to the denim pouch. Length is standard so small wristers will end up using the last two holes.

However, I don’t think you can get the fade similar to raw denim from daily use. Yes, your strap will crease, but I don’t think your watch and strap will see the same action as your jeans. You can resort to sand paper, but don’t quote me on that.

The strap at the back has some nice little touches as well. You can see the peach crest on one and the Momotaro and Oris branding on the other.

The caseback is very simple. It’s a solid caseback with the engraving of the collaboration. Nothing special.

One thing I immediately noticed as well is that this Oris suffers from the usual crown wobbliness. Since it uses a base SW200-1, it’s a small movement in a large case. For comparison, the Oris pointer date which is measured at 36mm uses a Oris Calibre 753 which is the same base movement. That means that a 36mm and a 40mm watch uses the same 25.6mm diameter movement. I would assume it’s only logical it might need a longer crown stem for the 40mm which might contribute to its wobbliness. Regardless, the crown still screws in very tightly and would possibly live up to its water resistance.

I do believe the whole product collaboration is mutually exclusive. Oris made the watch and Momotaro made the strap. The choice of colours will just have to blend. Swap the dial with a darker green and add a date function and you’ll end up with the Oris Divers 65 ref. 01 733 7707 4357-07 8 20 18 and that’s on a bracelet. Knowing that in mind, I personally find it a bit disappointing for Oris as this could have been greater.

Final Thoughts

If you’re a fan of Momotaro, prefers the Divers Sixty-Five without a date, or just like the dial colour, this is an easy purchase. It has the characteristics of the Sixty-Five in just a different package. However, if you’re looking at a daily diver, date functionality or requires a bracelet, there are more options such as the Divers 65 above or Aquis which also comes on a bracelet.