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Oris Big Crown 40mm Mens Watch - Brown
Ref. 01 754 7741 3166-07 8 20 01
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Stepping up in Oris's range
The Big Crown Pointer Date has been in continuous production since 1938, its oversized crown originally sized to be operated by pilots wearing heavy gloves. The design has never been significantly tampered with. This reference marks the first time Oris released it in full bronze — case, bezel, crown, and bracelet — and the brown dial is one of four colours offered in this debut run. Bronze ages visibly and unevenly, which is the point of choosing it here: the warmth of the material picks up the brown dial and Arabic numerals in a way that steel or titanium would flatten. The date is shown not by a window but by a central red arrow hand sweeping the outer ring of the dial — an older, more characterful solution than an aperture, and one that keeps the dial symmetrical. The double-domed sapphire crystal adds height but redistributes it in a way that reads as curvature rather than bulk, so the watch sits against the wrist rather than standing away from it. The red rotor is visible through the caseback and carries the Oris name; it is a small thing, but it is the kind of detail that rewards the habit of taking a watch off at the end of the day and looking at it.
- Reference
- 01 754 7741 3166-07 8 20 01
- Brand
- Oris
- Collection
- Big Crown
- Case size
- 40mm
- Case thickness
- 12.1mm
- Lug width
- 20mm
- Case material
- Bronze
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Brown
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- 754
- Functions
- Date
- Water resistance
- 50m
- Bracelet / strap
- Bronze bracelet
- Strap colour
- Bronze
- Clasp
- Deployant clasp
- Lume
- Luminous
- Retailer
- Goldsmiths
Additional specifications
- Lug-to-lug
- 48.2mm
- Power reserve
- 38 hours
Learn more about Oris
Paul Cattin and Georges Christian took over an empty factory in Hölstein in 1904 and named the company after a nearby gorge. It stayed independent, and stayed in that valley, for its entire history.
Oris built its reputation on volume mechanical watches made properly. By the 1960s it was among the largest Swiss employers in the sector, producing hundreds of thousands of movements a year. Its most curious historical footnote is regulatory: Swiss law restricted the number of jewels a watch could contain under certain classifications, and Oris fought a decade-long legal battle to be permitted to fit lever escapements — winning in 1968.
The quartz crisis nearly ended it. The company was bought out of the ASUAG conglomerate in 1982 by two managers, Rolf Portmann and Ulrich Herzog, who took it back to mechanical watches exclusively at precisely the moment the rest of the industry was abandoning them.
That independence remains the point. Oris is one of the few Swiss houses of any scale with no group ownership, and it competes on value rather than prestige — dive watches, pilot's watches, and the Big Crown line descended from its 1938 pointer calendar. The house developed its own Calibre 400 family from 2020, offering five-day power reserves and ten-year service intervals at prices well below the norm for in-house movements.
- 1904
- Paul Cattin and Georges Christian found Oris in Hölstein.
- 1938
- The Big Crown pointer calendar is introduced.
- 1968
- Wins the legal fight to use lever escapements.
- 1982
- A management buyout returns the company to independence.
- 2020
- The in-house Calibre 400 launches.
Also in 4 collections
This watch appears in the Oris Big Crown range (14), Back in Stock (4,007), Automatic Watches (1,417) and Brown Dial Watches (93).
Temporarily out of stock
Goldsmiths is not currently taking orders for this reference. Last listed as available on 14 September 2026. Stock is checked nightly and this page updates when it returns.
What the specifications mean
A mechanical watch for everyday wear.
Strengths
- 40mm suits most wrists
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
- Sits in the lower half of Oris's range as we list it
Worth knowing
- 50m suits rain and handwashing, not swimming
- 38-hour reserve means winding it after a day off
Oris Big Crown alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | 01 754 7741 3166-07 8 20 01 | R27056162 | L49843207 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £1,840 | £1,700 | £1,800 |
| Case size | 40mm | 40mm | 40mm |
| Water resistance | 50m | 50m | 30m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Bronze bracelet | Ceramic bracelet | Stainless steel bracelet |
| Power reserve | 38 hours | 80 hours | 72 hours |
| This watch | Closely matched |
|
Your new watch
Frequently asked questions, and things you should know about this watch
Can I swim with it?
Showering yes, swimming no. 50m covers splashes and brief immersion, but a swimming stroke generates well above the pressure that figure describes.
Water resistance explainedWill the glass scratch?
Unlikely. Sapphire is second only to diamond in hardness and shrugs off everyday marking.
Sapphire, mineral and acrylic comparedDoes it need a battery?
No. It is automatic — the motion of your wrist winds it, and there is no cell to replace.
Quartz, automatic and solar comparedHow long does it run for when it's not worn?
About 38 hours fully wound — so it will usually stop if you leave it off overnight.
What size strap does it take?
20mm. Any strap of that width will fit, and on most modern watches quick-release bars make the swap a two-minute job with no tools.
Will it fit my wrist?
Lug-to-lug is 48.2mm, which suits wrists from roughly 16.5cm (6½ inches) upward.
Lug-to-lug decides fit more than case diameter does.
How to size a watch to your wristIs it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as men's, though at 40mm it sits in the range that suits anyone.
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