Oris Expand Colourful Divers Sixty-Five ‘Cotton Candy’ with Steel Trio

It’s been over two years since Oris launched the Divers Sixty-Five ‘Cotton Candy’ and in that time I haven’t been able to stop thinking about how it’s a perfect summer watch. The bright colours, the well sized case, the retro styling – it’s a watch that just beams out good vibes. However, I’ve always been slightly put off from actually buying one because I’m not a huge fan of bronze. Fortunately, that barrier is no longer in place because Oris have just announced the Divers Sixty-Five ‘Cotton Candy’ in steel.

As you’d expect from a steel revamp of an existing collection, the overall design of the watch is the same as the original but it happens to be in steel now. That means it has a 38mm diameter case with a unidirectional rotating bezel. The Divers Sixty-Five is Oris’ retro style dive watch based on their first ever dive watch from, you guessed it, 1965. It sits strongly in the skindiver aesthetic with its slimmer proportions and 100m water resistance. The term skindiver essentially denotes unassisted swimming, i.e. not scuba diving, which is why they can afford to have lower water resistance ratings.

Naturally, the reason that a steel edition of the ‘Cotton Candy’ is exciting is because of the ‘Cotton Candy’ dials, which continue to be the stars of the show. There’s the same selection of green, blue and pink in pastel shades, although they’re just a touch darker and not quite so pastel as the bronze editions. I think it makes sense to darken them slightly since the silver tone of the steel is itself much brighter than bronze and the dials might be too vibrant if left as it was – something Oris is somewhat guilty of with the eye-watering Kermit.

The dials are rounded out with a combination of circular, rectangular and shield shaped hour markers all coated with SuperLuminova for low light legibility. Those indexes are paired with straight hour and minute hands as well as a lollipop seconds hand. The lollipop is the natural compatriot of cotton candy.

Powering the ‘Cotton Candy’ steel is the Oris Calibre 733, which is based on the Sellita SW200-1. Interestingly, according to the technical information the new watch has a 41-hour power reserve, which would be an improvement on the 38-hour reserve of the previous editions despite being the same movement. It’s a slight disappointment that they haven’t taken this opportunity to introduce the Calibre 400 but if the intention was to keep them at a more accessible price, that makes sense because so far, the 400 seems to almost double the price of any watch it’s in.

Speaking of prices, comparing the solid metal bracelet version of the bronze and steel models reveals that the steel model is slightly more accessible at £2,000 as opposed to £2,325. The ‘Cotton Candy’ steel is also available on colour matched, recycled perlon straps but personally I prefer the look of it on the bracelet. Whether this is the first time you’ve come across the ‘Cotton Candy’ watches or if, like me, you’ve been eyeing them since 2021, this release is the perfect excuse to invest in your summer watch collection.