Review’Tis The Time For Joy: Introducing Oris’s ProPilot X Kermit Edition

With myriad tiny components put together like a minute jigsaw puzzle by seasoned crafts-persons with forceps-wielding gloved fingers expertly moving parts that can only be measured in millimetres, mechanical watchmaking is a serious business. This is a fact that Oris are well aware of, known as they are for only making mechanical watches. They have, over the years, consciously focussed on improving their movements, one tiny component at a time. At Watches and Wonders, Geneva 2023, the brand showcased the product of their collaboration with Disney’s The Muppets—the ProPilot X Kermit Edition. This titanium timepiece has a special dial in brilliant lime green—or Kermit-the-frog-green, if you will— with a special hidden message once a month in the date window at six o’clock: take a moment to enjoy the small things on ‘Kermit day’.

“The first function of every Oris watch, in the purest emotional, feel-it-in-your-bones sense, is to bring joy. That’s it. If an Oris watch can make someone’s day better, we’ve done our job,” Oris stated in a release. Naturally, when they came out and said this, it drew attention from horologists, fans of Oris as well as those of The Muppets, and pretty much anyone looking to add that dash of lime to their lives—here’s a brand that know what they’re talking about when they say that everyone needs a little ‘me’ time.

Many Hues of Serious Watchmaking

Despite being among the few Swiss brands that make only mechanical timepieces, Oris’s in-house movements are relatively reasonably priced within the Swiss luxury watch segment. Their release of the Big Crown ProPilot X Calibre 400 last year was testament to how seriously they take their craft. The brand’s in-house calibre 400 (which previously powered timepieces in their Aquis line) is a highly anti-magnetic movement with enhanced accuracy and a power reserve of 120 hours. Oris’s faith in their mechanical know-how came with a 10-year warranty and thus a recommended service interval of 10 years as well. This 2022 release was a part of their ‘Joy of mechanics’ theme, which continues this year with the ProPilot X Kermit Edition.

The Kermit-Green Colour Of Fun

The 2023 ProPilot X Kermit Edition is powered by the same in-house movement, the calibre 400, with functions such as central hands for hours, minutes and seconds, and a date window at six o’clock.

It is here, at six, on the first of every month, where Kermit the frog makes his appearance with a wide, happy grin, reminding the wearer to ‘take a minute’ to mark ‘Kermit day’, a day that’s all about ‘not taking life too seriously’. Kermit the frog was among Jim Henson’s earliest characters in The Muppets, and the ‘easy-going’ amphibian has been making people laugh for generations, since 1955.

Kermit the frog was among Jim Henson’s earliest characters in The Muppets, and the ‘easy-going’ amphibian has been making people laugh for generations, since 1955. Photo Credit: Disney

"[Kermit and Oris] have a lot in common. He’s the 'everyfrog', like the everyman. He's is down to earth," says Ken Laurent, creative director at Oris. Photo Credit: Disney

“We talk a lot about functions in a literal sense, but really, the purpose of an Oris watch is to make people smile. That’s it. And with the ProPilot X Kermit Edition, there’s nothing else to it,” says Ken Laurent, creative director at Oris. “Okay, yes, it’s powered by a brilliant movement and the case design is spectacular, but the function of this watch is really simple: to bring joy.”

Seriously Happy And Humble

And joy it brings, with its bright, happy, green dial, punctuated by long, slender, white hour markers and hour and minute hands in white and coated with Super-LumiNova. Sized at an easy 39mm, the titanium case is extremely lightweight, and features the ProPilot line’s signature knurled bezel, (incidentally, inspired by jet engine turbines), and satin and sandblasted finishes on the case and the screwed-down titanium caseback, offering a view of the movement through sapphire crystal.

Oris's ‘joy of mechanics’ theme continues this year with the ProPilot X Kermit Edition, which is powered by their in-house Calibre 400

₹4,50,000

Check Our Selling Price

The Calibre 400 is a highly anti-magnetic movement with enhanced accuracy and a power reserve of 120 hours

₹4,50,000

Check Our Selling Price

The screwed-down caseback offers a view of the movement through sapphire crystal, and the folding clasp on the bracelet with the Oris-patented ‘lift’ system that prevents the clasp from accidentally coming undone

₹4,50,000

Check Our Selling Price

01

An integrated three-link titanium bracelet features the same satin and sandblasted finishes, and a folding clasp with the Oris-patented ‘lift’ system that prevents the clasp from accidentally coming undone. These subtle nuances come together in one superb, happy-green timepiece.

In fact, barring the Kermit emoji on 12 days in a year, for the rest of the 350-something days the ProPilot X Kermit Edition can be mistaken for just that—a superb, happy-green timepiece. “We could have put a big Kermit the Frog emoji on the dial. Some might have done that because they want their most important collaborations to be upfront, to scream. But we didn’t want that. We wanted something more humble that would respect the product,” adds Laurent.

ProPilot X Kermit Edition: A Joy, Indeed

With a serious mechanical movement inside a serious titanium case, the bright green colour and the monthly Kermit emoji are appropriate reminders that every once in a while, one needs to appreciate the small things that really bring one joy—much like this Oris ProPilot X Kermit Edition timepiece—especially at a time when the world is still reeling from the effects of viruses and wars, natural disasters and negativity.