Oris Big Crown Pointer Date Movember Edition 2018 Review

We reported about the Oris Movember Edition 2018 before, but our focus was mainly on the good cause it supports, not the watch. I assume you also want to know about the watch, not only the cause it supports. So we requested a Big Crown Pointer Date Movement Edition 2018 for a review, and here it is.Oris Movember Edition 2018This watch goes by the name of Movember Edition 2018, but in fact, I am looking at a Big Crown Pointer Date model with some tweaks. As I wrote in the past, compared to the standard Big Crown Pointer Date in 40mm, this Movember Edition has rose gold coloured hands (4N) and a matching gilt minute track on the dial. The writing is also in this gold colour where-as the Arabic numerals are white. Just to compare, the standard original Oris Big Crown Pointer Date watch has steel hands, a white minute track and green-ish Arabic numerals. But instead of focusing on the differences between the regular Oris Big Crown Pointer Date, lets have a look at this specific Movember Edition 2018.The full reference number for this Oris Movember Edition 2018 is? 01 754 7741 4037-Set LS. It comes in a really nice set: a leather pouch with canvas inside, with space for two watches, or one watch and an additional strap. In this case, you receive a NATO strap with the Movember Edition 2018. We have the watch on leather though, with the typical Movember logo located between the two stitches on each side.This leather pouch comes in a grey box, where you will also find the warranty card, thick manual and service booklet. There are also two extra push-pins inside, just to be sure.Big Crown Pointer DateThe Big Crown Pointer Date has been in the collection of Oris for a very long time. 80 years to be precise, which Oris celebrates with the bronze version of this watch (we covered it here). Below, you see?an image of the Movember Edition 2018 I have here and one of the early Big Crown Pointer Date watches that Oris produced. It is one of the classic Oris watches that always remained to be in their collection. Perhaps it is the backbone of the Oris collection. In any case, I am happy to see that Oris decided to go with the Big Crown Pointer Date for this Movember Edition 2018 instead of another version of the Sixty-Five diver. Although I am a fan of that watch too, I think it is a nice change.To be totally honest with you, I never handled an Oris Big Crown Pointer Date before this Movember Edition and the 80th-anniversary edition. I know, it is a bit embarrassing but it is true. I have to say that one of the reasons was that the watch just looked a bit too classic to me and I am not particularly a fan of a pointer date. Taste changes over the years Ive noticed and I actually re-discovered the Big Crown Pointer Date again. It would suit me better now than it did 10 years ago, for sure.Caliber 754 MovementInside this watch we find the Oris caliber 754. Although Oris does have some manufacture movements (as reviewed here for example), for this caliber 754 they rely on the Sellita SW200-1 movement. It is the direct competitor of the much-appraised ETA2824-2. A power reserve of 38 hours, ticking at 28,800 beats per hour and basically a no-nonsense automatic movement. We visited the Sellita manufacture a while ago, which you can read about here. Given the price point of this watch (1800 Euro), we think it is perfect logic for Oris to use their caliber 754 and not an in-house movement.Case and DialThe name Big Crown might put you on the wrong foot, as the watch itself isnt very big with its 40mm diameter. A very humble size these days, especially for a sports watch (a classic looking one, agreed). Big Crown only relates to the crown, which came in handy for pilots to operate their watch with their pilot gloves on. It was in a time where watches were hand-wound most of the time (although the first automatic watch was already invented at the time, in 1923 by John Harwood), so a large crown was a necessity for those using gloves. For todays standards, the crown isnt exceptionally large, but very sufficient. Since the movement is self-winding, you will only need it to correct time and date. Although you can probably do so with the watch on your wrist (and even using gloves), I recommend to only set or correct a watch when you have taken it off your wrist. This to prevent too much tension on the winding stem.The hands used by Oris are also referred to as Cathedral hands and are filled with Super-LumiNova for visibility in low-light conditions. Theres a fourth hand, which is used for pointing the date. On the scale (to 31) outside the minute track, you will find the days of the month. Every other 5 minutes on the track theres a luminous triangle and at 12 oclock two luminous squares. The gilt minute track matches the rose gold coloured hands very nicely. The pointer for the date has a red so you can distinguish it easily from the long and sleek rose gold seconds hand.?As you can see below, printing is done in white and gilt, giving a good contrast with each other and with the dial. You can also see how the dial is being distorted a bit by the domed (sapphire) crystal.The stainless steel case has a diameter of 40mm as indicated above and fits my wrist nicely. I could handle a larger watch but also given the fact that this watch was much smaller originally, I like the 40mm size.A brushed finish on top of the lugs give the watch a utilitarian look and feel, and the polished sides give it a nice contrast. I wonder what would happen if the entire case would have been brushed, but I surely dont mind the nice combination of brushed and polished surfaces. The ribbed bezel looks nice, but as you can see the vintage Big Crown Pointer Date had a smooth bezel. Perhaps they also had versions with a ribbed bezel though. It looks good, I prefer it over a smooth bezel.