Founded in 1904, the Swiss brand Oris, which celebrated its 110th anniversary in 2014, offered four main watch categories for many years: Motor Sport, Diving, Aviation and Culture. This time, we will try to draw your attention to the “Diving” series and, more specifically, to one of the most interesting representatives of the Aquis family – the Oris Aquis GMT Date.

The Swiss manufacturer, well known for producing high-quality yet surprisingly affordable watches, introduced its new series of watches for underwater sports in 2011, brought together under the Aquis name – and this particular watch features a case measuring 43.5 mm, a medium size within the range. In our opinion, this is an optimal size for a watch of this class, considering that most of the time it will not be used for diving but rather for everyday wear, where comfort is of utmost importance.

The manufacturer has made every effort to incorporate its many years of experience in producing high-quality watches into the creation of this model. A brushed case made of high-grade 316L stainless steel with polished details, a rotating steel bezel with a ceramic insert and a 24-hour scale – all of this demonstrates the attention Oris pay to functionality and detail.

In this particular case, the bezel features a polished black ceramic insert, offering excellent scratch resistance and contrasting beautifully with the blue dial. But there is also a very interesting feature here – unlike the standard Aquis Date, this model is equipped with a GMT function, and the bezel scale is designed to display an additional time zone. This makes the watch an exceptionally interesting combination of a classic diver and a practical travel companion.

As for its use underwater, just one look at the dial will show you that, when it comes to diving, this is a watch that gets the job done – the generously sized hour markers with ample Super-LumiNova coating allow the indications to be read even in very low light conditions. The hands are also coated with luminous material, while the brightly coloured GMT hand makes it easy to distinguish the indications for the second time zone.

The blue dial has a very appealing appearance and changes its shades depending on the light and viewing angle. The combination of the rich blue colour, polished hour markers, contrasting GMT hand and black ceramic bezel insert is truly successful, giving the watch a character that is both sporty and elegant.

The watch is water-resistant to an impressive 300 m / 30 bar, thanks to the robust construction of the case and its screw-down crown. This allows it to be used for demanding water activities while also making it more than suitable for everyday wear. Of course, despite the high water resistance, the bezel's GMT scale does not replace the dedicated dive-time scale found on standard diving models.

And, of course, we must not overlook the movement – here we have the automatic Oris Calibre 798, based on the Swiss Sellita SW330-1, operating at 28,800 vibrations per hour and providing a power reserve of approximately 42 hours. In addition to the standard indications for hours, minutes, seconds and date, it also features a central 24-hour hand for a second time zone. Through the transparent caseback, the movement can be admired with Oris's characteristic red rotor – another interesting detail that completes the overall impression of the watch.

This particular example is equipped with a substantial stainless steel bracelet with a folding clasp, which perfectly complements the case design and provides the necessary security when worn. All of this makes the Oris Aquis GMT Date a very interesting choice for enthusiasts of sports watches who want to combine the robustness of a genuine diver with the practicality o