Lake Baikal is a huge lake in the mountainous Russian region of Siberia, north of the Mongolian border. At 1,642 meters in depth it’s the world’s deepest lake. Not to mention, it holds more than 20 percent of the world’s unfrozen fresh surface water reserves, is the world’s oldest and clearest lake, and is the seventh-largest lake in the world by surface area. Lake Baikal was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 and is sometimes referred to as the Galápagos of Russia.
To start the decade, Oris partnered with the Lake Baikal Foundation to support the “Point No. 1” conservation project run by the Scientific Research Institute of Biology at Irkutsk State University.
For the partnership, Oris created a 1,999 piece limited edition of the Aquis Dive watch, which is symbolic because that’s the year Russia passed the Baikal Law, which was signed by Vladimir Putin and designed to preserve the lake.
The Oris Aquis Lake Baikal Limited Edition dive watch is presented in a 43.5 mm diameter stainless steel Aquis case with a unidirectional dive bezel with a blue ceramic bezel insert and a blue gradient dial which fades from light blue in the center to darker blue on the perimeter. The indices are applied and both the hands and indices have a generous amount of lume, along with the dot at 12 on the bezel, for maximum visibility. Further enhancing legibility, the date window was designed to be subtle, with a small aperture located at 6 o’clock.
A thick, slightly domed sapphire crystal protects the dial side, and the screw-down crown is protected by crown guards. On the back, the screw-in steel caseback features a special Lake Baikal insert and engravings. Water-resistance is rated to 300 meters. (Ref. 733 7730 4175-Set)
The watch comes on a stainless steel bracelet, with a specially created environmentally-friendly box, is limited to 1,999 pieces, and will be available in February 2020 for a retail price of $2,400. A portion of each sale goes to support the Point No. 1 Lake Baikal conservation project.
Learn more at Oris.
