Restoring An Old Art Deco Oris Watch Found In A Suitcase
Last year, I shared the story of finding an Art Deco Oris watch in a suitcase. I had been looking through the case at a vintage shop here in Sydney when I saw something glistening. It turned out to be a rather battered and rusty Oris watch. It didn’t run, but I liked the dial and look of the watch, so I bought it with the idea of seeing if I could get it working again.
A love of old objects
One of the wonderful things about this hobby is that it helps us appreciate not just flashy new objects but old ones as well. Sure, there’s a lot of excitement about large events like Watches and Wonders. These shows reveal the new timepieces that brands have to offer. However, I also like going down vintage-watch rabbit holes. Finding obscure or fun timepieces is one of the joys of watch enthusiasm.
My friend Jack was shopping with me when we discovered the Oris. He picked up a vintage Enicar.
Don’t get me wrong; I love exploring new watches too, but there are particular brands and types of watches that I naturally gravitate toward. These brands, like Seiko, Citizen, Tudor, Doxa, and IWC, provide watches and history that resonate with me as a watch reviewer. You will find many articles I have worked on that feature these brands and the tool-ish watches that they produce. And while I like many of their newer offerings, I typically find that their vintage models speak to me the most.
An old Art Deco Oris watch in a suitcase
This love of old objects shows through in my shopping habits as well. You see, in Australia, we have the tradition of op-shops, short for “opportunity shops.” These are, in essence, secondhand or vintage shops, typically offering goods at modest prices. It’s possible to find great gems in these stores, though decent watches are harder to come by. The watches one usually sees there are typically cheap quartz ones from random fashion brands. In short, then, this little Art Deco Oris watch stood out from the crowd.
So when I discovered it at the bottom of a suitcase, I kind of knew that I had a responsibility to bring it back to life. The dial, with its neat, no-nonsense Arabic numerals and sub-seconds, was attractive. I sometimes wonder who owned this watch, as it dates back to the 1940s.
Bringing the Oris watch back to life
Restoring this Oris took the better part of six months because finding a watchmaker available to work on a watch of this age is no easy feat in Sydney. The fact that parts were difficult to come by also complicated matters, and the watch suffered from rust, a common problem in Sydney.
Half a year after finding the watch and dropping it off at a local watchmaker, I had it back in my hands. The dead lume on the hour hand had fallen off during the restoration process, but winding the oversized crown brought a grin to my face. The feeling in the winding action was wonderful!
What the restoration entailed
The watch faced several issues during the repair and refurbishment. Parts of the movement needed to be replaced because of rust. Also, the springs bars were practically dead. I put the watch on a strap with built-in spring bars. The dial was cleaned slightly but not repainted. The case seems to be chromed metal, but the case back is steel.
All in all, though, the watch was in relatively decent condition considering it had been left in a suitcase for who knows how long! The beautiful style of the numerals, including the very Art Deco 9 and the flat-topped 4, is much clearer to see now. The sub-seconds hand ticks strongly, and the timekeeping is quite reasonable at about 10 seconds fast per day.
Concluding thoughts
The movement inside this Oris is caliber 297. Some Oris watches from around the 1940s feature a seven-jewel hand-wound movement inside them. From what I can tell, this was a common caliber for Oris watches of this era.
What about you, Fratelli? Are there any vintage watches you’ve found and had restored? I would love to read about your experiences in the comments. For me, this lovely little Art Deco Oris watch will eventually make a great gift for a friend. In the meantime, I can enjoy wearing it and knowing that it has returned to the land of the ticking.
