When you think about timeless pieces of style and fashion, thoughts often turn to the classic jewelers and watchmakers of yesterday. Their craftsmanship, from attention to detail to design and overall execution, often make their pieces; collector’s items, and this is why watches and jewelry are such coveted, long-serving items in a wardrobe. Of all of the various major pieces that someone can add to their collection, perhaps nothing equals a watch in importance and prestige. Doing far more than just telling the time, watches encapsulate a piece of the owner’s spirit and evoke their dreams, hopes, and aspirations. Watches aren’t just gifts for the here and now but rather are lifetime treasures that provide joy day in and day out for the rest of the owner’s life.
Perhaps no single model does this with such style, and panache quite like the Ed Marshall Jewelers Raid Watches from Oris. From their leather straps to the gleaming metal and glass protection the watch face, Oris watches are unparalleled in design and build quality. Cut in amazingly modern yet traditional lines; the Ed Marshall Jewelers Raid Watches combine modern utility and aesthetic with a timeless quality and attention to detail that only the amazing craftsman at Oris are capable of achieving. This results in a design that is immediately recognizable yet also inherently distinct – the quality of the watch’s design separating it from a rather crowded pack of other contenders.
Encased in gleaming, polished silver, the Raid Watches sport a black bezel with white lettering with measures for the day’s hours, minutes, and seconds all there on the face of the watch. Lettering is detailed and clear with demarcations between major the day’s hours easy to read and access. Overall, the model has the feel of heft that often accompanies an expensive watch, and it won’t rest lightly on the wearer’s wrist. There’s some real substance here, and that makes the purchase of an Ed Marshall Raid Watch different from others. It is a difference you can feel in the weight of the watch from the quality materials used to build it.
The black leather strap is embossed with an alligator leather pattern with contrasting white stitching which perfectly highlights and draws a stark contrast with the black bezel and white lettering that dominates the watch face. The lettering and the color choice is so that the wearer can see and access all of the critical information about the watch at a glance. Everything is easy to read and difficult to misinterpret. When you consider a watch from its functional perspective, this marriage of function and style is hard not to notice. Indeed, it is a small touch, but one that really works well in situations where the glare from the light might cause you to get a wrong reading from your watch. The colors here minimize the chances of that and keep the information you need right in front of your face.
The three bezels on the side of the watch are made out of solid steel tooling and are easy to use yet durable. Made to take repeated use and active wear, yet again this area of the watch is a demonstration of the kind of quality that Oris puts into their watches. Proudly made in Switzerland, the Ed Marshall Jewelers Raid Watches maintain and continue the Oris tradition of high-end watches that embody style and elegance.
Founded in 1904 by Paul Cattin and Georges Christian, Oris watches was born out of the assumption of a failed Swiss firm called Lohner & Co and took its name from a nearby brook in the town of Hölstein. Like many of the great watchmakers, Oris’ birthplace and origin in Switzerland makes itself evident in everything from the watch’s construction and quality to the craftsmen that build them. Between its founding in 1904 and 1911, Oris experienced amazingly robust growth as more and more people discovered their awesome watches.
The first wristwatch from Oris came out in 1925, and the watch company has remained on the forefront of change and evolution in the segment ever since. Under the direction of the company’s leader Oscar Herzog, who assumed control after the founders’ passing, Oris became a pioneer in new and innovative ways of building wristwatches. This came to a head in the year 1938 when the company introduced its signature style that still dominates its watch faces to this day – the big crown.
Originally designed to make it easier for pilots to glance at their wrist and get all of the information they could possibly need from their watch face, the big crown on watches is distinguished from the somewhat smaller typeface employed previously. Much more of a functional piece than it is a piece of elegant jewelry, the big crown faces on Oris watches made them the go-to brand for pilots and others that needed quick, accurate, and reliable information at a glance. What is now just a style feature on the Raid Watches was once one of Oris’ calling cards and an innovation that dominates modern wristwatch styling currently.
This innovation is even seen as a greater leap than the introduction of automatic movement in 1952. So dominant in the big crown style for watch faces today that few people realize that most every watch sporting that looks today draws its inspiration from the pioneering work of Herzog’s Oris.
And that’s what makes the Ed Marshall Jewelers Raid Watches such an amazing purchase. Whether it is the timeless style or the form and function inherent in the watch, an Ed Marshall Jewelers Raid Watches exudes a timeless quality that is hard to capture in words and nearly impossible to replicate on a factory floor. These watches are true timepieces in the sense that they not only mark the hours of the day but also are perfect gifts to mark the major occasions of life or those times when quality, beauty, and cutting-edge engineering are what you need in a gift.