The Big Crown Pointer Date was introduced by Oris in 1938 as a watch for pilots. It had no widely published reference number of its own. Its two defining traits were set from the start: an oversized crown that airmen could grip and turn while wearing flight gloves, and an unusual way of showing the date, with a central pointer hand that travels around a date scale printed at the edge of the dial instead of a date window. In 1938 Oris worked from seven production sites in the Waldenburg valley in Switzerland, where the company is still based. Vintage examples from the 1940s and 1950s seen on the market are small by today’s standards and are driven by manually wound movements. The model matters because it brought a rare date complication to a purpose-built pilot’s watch and has stayed in the range ever since.

The design is recognised by its large crown, its legible dial and the pointer hand for the date, which over the decades changed shape from an arrow tip to a half-moon and today mixes both for better readability. The watch took on a second role during the quartz crisis of the 1970s, which closed about 1,000 Swiss firms and cost 60,000 jobs. After the 1982 management buyout, in which Dr Rolf Portmann took part, Oris used the Big Crown as its comeback piece and as proof of its heritage. Modern versions keep the layout: the 80th Anniversary Edition of 2018 has a 40mm bronze case with a fluted bezel and bronze crown, a green dial and the automatic Oris 754 calibre with a pointer date like the original.

Collectors and the watch press regard the Big Crown Pointer Date as the brand’s signature model. Paris Match describes it as an icon of the house and credits its long popularity to a practical, functional design and a reasonable price, and Gear Patrol marked its 80th year with the bronze anniversary edition, priced at $2,000. Vintage pieces trade at modest prices, which makes them an accessible entry into historical pilot’s watches, although buyers are advised to check that crowns, dials and straps are original. The original 1938 version is no longer produced, but the Big Crown Pointer Date line has remained in the Oris catalogue ever since and is still in production today.