Oris is producing some of the most interesting value-proposition diver watches on the market. The Aquis line is the Oris modern diver line in contrast with the Oris Divers Sixty-Five, that focuses on retro-inspired diver watches. The new Oris Aquis Lake Baikal Limited Edition has been released to support Oris partnership with the Lake Baikal Foundation. The watch sales will help to raise funds to support the “Point No.1” project, a project dedicated to the conservation of the Lake Baikal conservation. This project is run by the Scientific Research Institute of Biology at Irkutsk State University.

The watches of the Aquis collection adopt a modern diver design, the previous models have been released in 39.5mm or a 43.5mm diameter cases. The new Oris Aquis Lake Baikal Limited Edition has a 43.5mm case. Despite its large size, the watch doesn't wear too large, thanks to the lug design. The lugs are are in fact bending quite sharply and are not over extending the case edge. The watch will easily fit on a 16cm diameter wrist.

The striking element of the Oris Aquis Baikal diver watch is its sunburst light-blue dial. The dial looks almost white in its center and gradually adopts a quite dark blue on the edge. The sunburst effect is quite subtle, but the dial is playing elegantly with the external light.

The bezel polished ceramic insert is also dark blue, same color as the dial edge. The bezel minute track is printed in white color.

The watch has bold stick indices and silver hands, all filled with Super-LumiNova. The watch possesses a date function at the 6 o'clock position. The date is luckily written in white color on a black background, so it is staying discrete.

The watch is powered by an Oris 733 caliber, which is based on the Sellita SW200-1. This caliber is similar to the ETA 2824-2 caliber. It is hacking and hand-winding. This caliber offers a 38 hour power reserve and a date function.

The watch comes with a stainless steel 3-link bracelet. The lugs are thick, that means it is not possible to replace the steel bracelet with a conventional leather strap.

It is however possible to separately buy the watch with an Oris leather strap or rubber strap instead of the Oris stainless steel bracelet.

The watch caseback is not transparent. It will thus not be possible to see the Oris red rotor. The watch has a steel caseback holding a printing illustrating the specific pattern observed on the frozen surface of the Lake Baikal. "ORIS LAKE BAIKAL LIMITED EDITION" and the watch number "No. XXXX/1999" are engraved on the metal part of the caseback.

Textured frozen surface of the Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia (Photo by Daniel Born on Unsplash).

Oris offers great value-proposition diver watches. This is still the case with the Aquis Baikal Limited Edition. This model is based on a case design that has previously been used, for example with the great Oris Aquis Green. I usually think that 43mm diameter is too large for a three hand diver, but I didn't have this feeling here. I think it's because of the magnificent sunburst gradient light-blue dial. The dial looks almost white in the center, and the sunburst effect is quite subbtle in comparison with the Oris Aquis Green and Oris Aquis Source Limited Edition for example. I have to give Oris credit for the icy rendering of the watch. The color scheme of the watch fits perfectly the icy Baikal lake theme. In fact the watch reminds me of the Rolex Explorer II Polar. Not everybody is found of white dial sport watches, but some watch enthusisasts really are. I am one of them, and I have to say I really enjoyed wearing a watch that clearly looks different from the other models. The Aquis Baikal Limited Edition is now one of my favorite Oris watches; a watch to not miss.