Rawad Sleem | @itsrawadsleem

Honestly, I was looking at the releases that came out recently and I really thought I wouldn’t be writing this week because I didn’t really care for any, but then Oris came out with a pretty crazy piece, not crazy for the watch market, but crazy for Oris themselves.

Cased in 18K yellow gold, the limited edition Wings of Hope Big Crown is limited to 100 pieces. The watch is beautiful, the dial is done in white, the lume is a gold color also and the red sub-seconds hand gives it a little bit of pop.

The release is dedicated to the Wings of Hope organization which give medical support, by airlift, to tens-of-thousands of people a year where its needed in the world. With this, also comes the steel version in 40mm with green lume. The steel version is priced at $3,700 and is limited to 1000 pieces.

Other than the metal used, lume color and number of watches being made, both models are the same. They both feature the in-house Calibre 401 which has a 5 day power reserve, which is also stated on the dial under the 12 o’clock marker. Both also come with tan deer leather straps that complete the vintage look.

The gold-cased Big Crown is honestly very sharp. At 38mm, the famous Big Crown case looks great. Something about seeing the famous military watch now cased in gold just works. Turning a watch that is know to be rugged to something precious while also celebrating an amazing organization is poetic. The only thing that will push many of us away, actually, a lot of us away is the price tag. For this limited edition 18k Big Crown, Oris has listed it at $17,000. I love the release but in my humble opinion, if I go for a Big Crown, there are so many great choices in their catalog for under $2,500. For more from Oris' Big Crown series.