WatchTime New York 2026 · Launch Coverage
Walk the floor at WatchTime New York and a pattern emerges quickly: dive watches, pilot watches, and sport chronographs dominate the conversation. They are comfortable territory for most brands, and for good reason — they sell. What stands out at an event like this, then, is a watch that quietly refuses to fit that mould. The Oris Artelier Complication, shown during the Oct 16–18 run at Cipriani 42nd Street, is exactly that watch. It landed at Watches & Wonders earlier this year, but the New York showing brought it to US collectors for the first time, and it deserves a proper look.
The short version: a 39.5mm steel dress watch with moon phase and a second time zone, priced at $2,950 on leather, from a brand whose identity is built almost entirely on sport. That gap between identity and product is what makes it worth examining carefully. Either Oris miscalculated, or they have made something genuinely good. On the evidence of the Artelier Complication, it is the second one.
TL;DR
The Oris Artelier Complication puts moon phase and dual time into a 39.5mm steel case for $2,950 — strong value for a multi-complication dress watch with an in-house-adjacent calibre. Ivory, midnight blue, and chestnut dials give real choice. Water resistance tops out at 30m, so this is a desk-to-dinner proposition, not a weekend adventurer. For Oris collectors who have the Aquis ticked off and want something quieter, this is the obvious next step.
Oris Outside Its Comfort Zone
Oris built its reputation on watches that do something specific and do it without apology. The Aquis is a diver that punches well above its price. The Divers Sixty-Five is a retro-sport watch done with enough restraint to feel timeless. The ProPilot Calibre 111, also at WatchTime New York this year, anchors the brand in aviation with a genuinely impressive mechanical power-reserve display. These are watches with clear purposes and audiences.
The Artelier line has always been the outlier — Oris’s attempt at a dressier register, named after the French word for workshop and positioned for occasions where the Aquis would feel out of place. Previous Artelier complications have been respectable without being remarkable. This 2026 version changes that. The pairing of a classical moon phase with a practical dual-time display on a single, uncluttered dial is exactly the kind of considered decision that elevates a watch from competent to compelling.
Case and Proportions
The case measures 39.5mm across with a lug-to-lug of 45.5mm and a height of 11.8mm. Those numbers place it squarely in classic dress-watch territory: slim enough to sit under a shirt cuff without catching, wide enough to read comfortably without glasses at a dinner table. The multi-piece stainless steel construction has a two-tone finish — polished flanks on the lugs against a brushed mid-case — that avoids the austerity of fully polished dials while staying firmly on the formal side. Compared to the broader sport watches in Oris’s lineup, the Artelier Complication wears like a different brand entirely.
The domed sapphire crystal adds a subtle distortion when viewed at angles — a deliberate reference to the vintage watches this design owes something to. Anti-reflective coating on the inner surface keeps legibility intact under artificial light. The caseback uses mineral glass rather than sapphire, which is a practical choice at this price point: sapphire casebacks add cost without functional benefit on a non-diver. Water resistance reaches 30m (3 bar), which is sufficient for hand-washing and rain but nothing more demanding. This is not a watch to wear into the surf.
Three Dials, Three Moods
Oris offers the Artelier Complication in three references, differentiated by dial colour: ivory (ref. 782 7811 4051-07), midnight blue (782 7811 4055-07), and chestnut (782 7811 4056-07). Each pairs with a dark brown leather strap as standard, with a steel bracelet available as an alternative. The ivory dial reads as the most classically formal — cream with applied gold-tone indices and a crescent-shaped moon phase aperture at 12 o’clock that sits against a star-spangled deep blue disc. The midnight blue introduces some depth, shifting the mood toward evening wear. The chestnut is the most unconventional of the three, a warm amber-brown that works surprisingly well against the gold accents and gives the watch a patina-adjacent character without the actual patina.
Calibre 782: The Engine
The movement is Oris Calibre 782, an automatic with a 41-hour power reserve. It drives the hours, minutes, and seconds in the conventional arrangement along with the two complications — a design choice that required careful layout to keep the dial uncluttered. The 41-hour reserve is workable for daily wearers and weekend getaways but not generous enough to skip wearing it for two days without a quick manual wind on return. At this price, that is an acceptable trade-off.
Moon Phase and Dual Time in Practice
The moon phase disc occupies the aperture at 12 o’clock. The standard accuracy for a moon phase display of this type is approximately one day of deviation every 122 years — precise enough for anyone who is not running a tidal navigation programme. Setting the moon phase requires advancing the disc to match the current lunar date, a process performed via the crown at 3 o’clock, and thereafter it runs without intervention. For readers who travel frequently or find celestial complications appealing, it is a genuine pleasure to use. For those who prefer purely functional timekeeping, the moon phase is easy to ignore — the layout keeps it separated from the main time display without interfering.
The second time zone appears at 6 o’clock via a subsidiary dial, allowing a reference city to be set independently of the main local time. The mechanism is hand-set rather than GMT-hand-jumping: adjusting the second zone is done via the crown and requires advancing through hours manually. This is a more traditional approach than the quick-set GMT found on sport watches, but it is consistent with the Artelier’s character as a watch for considered, unhurried use. For business travellers maintaining a home time alongside a destination time, it is genuinely practical. The Oris Social Club Edition II, shown at GWD earlier this year, took a different approach to secondary displays — the Artelier’s solution is quieter and more integrated.
Where It Sits in the Oris Lineup
At $2,950 on leather, the Artelier Complication sits above the Divers Sixty-Five range but below the ProPilot Calibre 111 in Oris’s own price architecture. The comparison that matters most is against competitors from outside the brand: a moonphase at this price from Frederique Constant or Alpina will give you comparable dial aesthetics with less interesting construction; moving up to Longines brings the excellent L899.2 calibre but at broadly similar money; reaching for A. Lange & Söhne starts at roughly ten times the price. The Artelier Complication occupies a legitimate position in that space — it offers more visual and mechanical interest than the entry-level moonphase category while stopping well short of the rarefied end.
For existing Oris collectors who already have the Aquis or the Sixty-Five on the wrist, the Artelier Complication addresses a different wardrobe slot entirely. It is the watch you reach for when the sport watches are too casual but you still want something with mechanical substance — a not uncommon gap in a collection built primarily around Oris’s outdoor-facing lineup.
Verdict
The Oris Artelier Complication earns its place in the 2026 lineup by doing two things that dress watches at this price often fail at: it is restrained without being boring, and it offers genuine complication value rather than adding dial furniture for its own sake. The 39.5mm case fits a wide range of wrist sizes. The three dial options give you a realistic choice of character. The $2,950 price on leather is competitive for what you get. The caveats — 30m water resistance, 41-hour power reserve, no quick-set on the second timezone — are real but predictable for a watch playing in this space. If you are at WatchTime New York or visiting an authorised Oris dealer in the coming weeks, this is worth time on the wrist. It is quietly one of the better watches Oris has made in this category.
Specifications
| Case diameter | 39.5 mm |
| Lug-to-lug | 45.5 mm |
| Thickness | 11.8 mm |
| Case material | Stainless steel |
| Crystal | Domed sapphire, AR-coated inner; mineral caseback |
| Movement | Oris Calibre 782, automatic |
| Power reserve | 41 hours |
| Functions | HH:MM:SS, moon phase (12 o’clock), second time zone (6 o’clock) |
| Water resistance | 30 m (3 bar) |
| Dials available | Ivory, midnight blue, chestnut |
| Strap / bracelet | Dark brown leather or stainless steel bracelet, butterfly clasp |
| Price (USD) | $2,950 (leather strap); ~$3,100 (steel bracelet, est.) |
| Price (SGD, est.) | ~$4,000 (leather); ~$4,200 (bracelet) |
| References | 782 7811 4051-07 (ivory) · 782 7811 4055-07 (midnight blue) · 782 7811 4056-07 (chestnut) |
Frequently Asked Questions
The Oris Artelier Complication is water-resistant to 30 metres (3 bar). This is adequate for everyday wear — hand-washing, rain — but the watch is not rated for swimming or diving. It is a dress watch first.
The Oris Artelier Complication runs on Oris Calibre 782, an in-house automatic movement. It provides a 41-hour power reserve and drives the moon phase and dual-time complications alongside conventional timekeeping.
The Artelier Complication’s moon phase display follows the standard for this complication type: it deviates by approximately one day every 122 years. For practical use, the display is accurate without any manual adjustment for the lifetime of the watch.
The Oris Aquis is a dive sport watch rated to 300m water resistance; the Artelier Complication is a dress watch rated to 30m. They occupy opposite ends of the Oris lineup. The Artelier targets formal occasions; the Aquis targets active use. Both share Oris’s Swiss manufacture credibility and strong value positioning relative to their price tier.
Three dials are offered: ivory (reference 782 7811 4051-07), midnight blue (782 7811 4055-07), and chestnut (782 7811 4056-07). All are available on dark brown leather; a steel bracelet is an alternative strap option across references.
In the US, the watch is stocked at Watches of Switzerland and other authorised Oris dealers at $2,950 on leather strap. Singapore pricing is estimated at approximately SGD 4,000 on leather through Oris boutiques and authorised retailers. Confirm current availability directly with your nearest authorised dealer.
Sources: WristReview — Oris Artelier Complication hands-on (Apr 2026); WatchTime — First Look: 8 Watches to See at WatchTime New York 2026 (Oct 2026); Watches of Switzerland US — Oris pricing (Oct 2026).
