ORIS ARTELIER COMPLICATION
Oris’s urban dress watch is back and ready to stand out. With its clean lines and modern profile, the Artelier Complication is a watch for a new generation of independent minds.
BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON
This year, the Oris Artelier Complication returns, proving the joy of a Swiss Made mechanical watch with a moon phase never wanes.
At some point over the next few years, perhaps before this decade is out, man will once again walk on the Moon. It was just before Christmas in 1972 when Gene Cernan stepped off the lunar surface and back into his spacecraft.
At the time, few expected more than half a century would pass before another human returned. Our fascination with the Moon has never waned. It’s our nearest satellite and its orbital cycle determines so much of what happens down here on Earth. The brightness of a full Moon on a clear night casts the world into a sharp, beautiful monochrome. Meanwhile, the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., which documents the 1960s space programme, is among the most visited museums in the world.
It’s this enduring love affair that prompted watchmakers as long ago as the 18th century to capture the Moon’s 29.5-day cycle on a watch with a moon phase indicator. And it’s this same wistful longing that lies behind the new Oris Artelier Complication, a watch defined by its timeless, poetic moon phase, and launching at Watches and Wonders Geneva 2026.
It’s part of a collection redesign by Lena Huwiler, our hugely talented Product Design Engineer. As Lena, who is only 24 years old, explains on page 8, she’s given an Oris classic a modern, urban profile and reworked the moon phase display for a new generation of free-thinking watch lovers. The lure of the Moon remains. “A moon phase watch is a romantic tribute to the traditional craft of watchmaking,” she says.
Oris is delighted to introduce the new Artelier Complication, the flagship model in the new Artelier collection, an Oris classic that returns with a dynamic new profile. It’s been designed by Lena Huwiler, Oris’s new Product Design Engineer, who at 24-years-old has brought fresh sensitivity to a much-loved watch.
The major update is in the complication and how it’s presented. This begins with the new Calibre 782 automatic. It has the same base architecture as its precursor, Calibre 781, only without the gearing that served two further dial indications on previous models. The new watch therefore, has only two sub-counters, a moon phase at 12 o’clock and a second 24-hour time zone at 6 o’clock.This delivers two immediate benefits. First, it declutters the dial while retaining all the essential information. And second, it means adjustment can be managed through the crown and a single pusher integrated into the right case flank.
The dial is available in three colours: ivory, midnight blue and chestnut. Each has three zones: a textured centre, a smooth, gently curved outer rim, and those two subcounters to display the watch’s signature complications. On the chestnut version, these counters are a darker colour, further enhancing legibility. The silvered moon sits on a starry background that matches that of the moon phase’s curved aperture cover (the shape enables the indication of a waxing and waning moon), a decision taken to reduce the visual impact of the cover’s baroque form.
The dial is covered by an elegantly domed sapphire crystal. Further details add to the modernist feel. It has tapered and stepped hour markers and square-tipped hour and minute hands, and there’s a new sans serif typeface for the words “Artelier” and “Swiss Made”. The result is a deliberately modern design that reimagines two classic watchmaking functions for a youthful, urbane audience.
