Sometimes you write about a watch and think “that one I would have liked.” This time I actually happen to own a pair of original Stars from 1966, so the news lands a little extra close to home. But it is the story behind the watch that is the truly interesting part.
The background — freedom via law
At Watches and Wonders 2026 Oris launched a new watch called the Star Edition, a faithful reissue of one of the brand’s most historically charged models. The original Star from 1966 was not just a good-looking sixties watch — it was proof that Oris was finally allowed to do what it had wanted to do for decades.
The background is fascinating. Since the banking crisis of the 1930s the Swiss watch industry was governed by something called the “Swiss Watch Statute” — a set of rules that prevented companies like Oris from making watches with lever escapements. They were literally locked into making pin-lever watches, a technology the industry actively campaigned against as inferior. Competition was kept in check through legislation.
It was not until 1956 that Oris hired the lawyer Dr. Rolf Portmann with one mission: to break that system. It took him nine years. In 1965 the statute fell. In 1966 came the Oris Star — the brand’s first watch with a lever escapement movement. It represented freedom, in the truest sense of the word.
The design — faithful to the original
That is exactly what I appreciate about the new Star Edition: it does not try to modernise the original unnecessarily. The case is still tonneau-shaped, 35 mm, with softly integrated lugs that flow into the silhouette in a way that feels genuinely sixties. The dial is silver with thin baton indices, square-tipped hands, and printed text like “Star,” “Automatic,” and “26 Jewels” — a detail I love, pure nostalgia. The asymmetric date window at 3 o’clock stays. And the crystal is plexi, exactly as it should be.
Inside sits the Calibre 733, an automatic movement (based on the Sellita SW200-1) running at 28,800 vph with 41 hours of power reserve and hacking seconds, water-resistant to 50 metres. The caseback carries an engraving of the old 1960s Oris shield. Nicely thought through.
Price and availability
The Star Edition costs 1,800 CHF (€1,800) and goes on sale in May. It is not limited, which suits it well — this is a watch that deserves to be in the range permanently rather than becoming a passing fad.
Why is the 1966 Oris Star historically significant?
It was the first Oris watch with a lever escapement, made possible only after the Swiss Watch Statute fell in 1965 — the result of a nine-year legal campaign by lawyer Dr. Rolf Portmann. It represented Oris’s hard-won freedom to build the movements it wanted.
What are the Star Edition’s specs?
A 35 mm tonneau steel case with a plexi crystal, silver dial with baton indices and an asymmetric date window at 3 o’clock, and the automatic Calibre 733 (Sellita SW200-1 base) with a 41-hour power reserve.
What does the Oris Star Edition cost?
1,800 CHF (€1,800), available from May 2026, and not a limited edition.
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