# Orvis, NOT Oris



## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

The other day, I showed a stainless steel military-style quartz chronograph branded, "ORVIS", on a general watch thread here on the forum. When I bought it, I thought the brand name might be a horrible pseudo form of the name "Oris" designed to fool the unwary punter. But to my surprise, Orvis turns out to be a highly respectable American company, and the watch is actually rather nice. The original dark brown strap unfortunately needed replacing, but the black one I have had put on the watch by a jeweller friend looks very nice, and I have started trialling the watch.

So who or what is "Orvis?" Well, Orvis is America's oldest mail-order outfitter and longest continually operating fly-fishing business. It's history stretches back to the middle of the 19th century and the company is now not only a leading player in the fly-fishing tackle business but also, "the purveyor of the Distinctive Country Lifestyle, offering a wide assortment of men's and women's sportswear, fine gifts and home furnishings, luggage and travel accessories, dog beds and other pet items, as well as fine shotguns, gear, and technical apparel for wingshooting and sporting clays." In fact, Orvis is a major going concern, and it is now also involved in the provision of international sporting and eco-travel as well as fishing and shooting schools. The company employs 1,700 people and sells via its website and catalogues. In 2015, the firm had 69 retail stores and 10 outlets in the US, plus 19 stores in the UK, and there is also a wholesale division supplying hundreds of independent dealers. So why hadn't I heard of them before I bought my watch?

The extraordinary Orvis Solunagraph timepiece, dating to the early 1970s. This rare watch, actually originating from Heuer and with a valjoux hand-wind movement, has a special complication known as a "Mareograph" which tracks the tides and is used by fishermen to judge when best to set their nets. (pic from collectionheuer.be):










The Orvis company was founded by Charles F. Orvis in Manchester, Vermont, in 1856, and it wasn't long before the Orvis family started to become important innovators in the world of fishing. In 1874, Charles invented the first ventilated narrow spool fly reel to be mounted upright, thus paving the way for modern fly reel design, and later, in 1892, Charles' daughter Mary Orvis Marbury received acclaim for her book on fishing flies, which was the first illustrated classification and standardization of these lures.

The Orvis Grafton Street Watch with its 35mm gold-plated case and rather nice hayfork date hand has a real vintage look. Also shows the month and day, has a Japanese quartz movement and is WR to 5 ATM. Priced at £139 (pic from orvis.co.uk):










Through the early and middle twentieth century, the Orvis company continued to innovate in the world of fishing, and during World War 2 it produced split bamboo ski poles for US troops. The most important angling innovations continued to be in the fly reel and fishing rod sectors, with Orvis rods being named No. 1 Best Made Product of the US in the 1980s by Tom peters, author of "In Search of Excellence". By this time, the company was in the hands of the Perkins family since in 1965, Leigh H. Perkins bought the Orvis concern which, by then, had annual sales of $500,000.

The Orvis company is still in the hands of the Perkins family. In 1992, Perk Perkins was named as new President and CEO of "The Orvis Company Inc." The company has continued to expand since the advent of Perk Perkins as CEO, started to trade online in 1995 with customers able to purchase Orvis products from a new e-commerce site starting in March 1998. And the rest, as they say, is history. Indeed, it really is a history and there is even a book about the history of Orvis by Paul Schullery.

Three recent colourful variants on the quartz Orvis Field Watch (pic from orvis.com):










When it comes to Orvis branded watches, we are not talking about timepieces manufactured by Orvis since the company was and is not a watchmaking business. Instead, we are talking about watches made elsewhere and having an input in terms of design, quality and price from Orvis. Given that Orvis is a proud company that guards its reputation and stresses its heritage as well as its ethical standards, one would expect the watches produced by the firm to be quality products. Certainly the quartz example that I am currently wearing is a well-made and decent piece of kit.

My Orvis watch appears to be an earlier version of the current Orvis Signature Field Chronograph. It has a centre sweep chronograph hand and three registers as well as a date window. The registers are for running seconds, chrono minutes and chrono hours, and the centre hands and markers are lumed. In the dark, it is noticeable that the hands are better lumed than the numbers and markers. The watch has a distinctly vintage feel to it, and has a mineral glass crystal and stainless steel back and case. I am pleased with this watch, and I would expect the most recent version of the watch to be much the same in terms of its quality even though it is evident from the nature and configuration of the registers that the new Signature Field Chronograph has a different movement to that in my own watch.

My own quartz Orvis model - a slightly earlier version of the Signature Field Chronograph shown beneath (pic from images30.fotki.com):










The new quartz Orvis Signature Field Chronograph, with 40mm steel case, priced at £139 (pic from Orvis.co.uk):










The current range of Orvis watches is relatively limited, especially from Orvis UK, but it does, at least, include a few automatics, and dive watches are not excluded. When I bought my pre-owned Orvis chronograph, I had never come across this company before, either in my fishing days or more recently. At this point, I was going to conclude that there is no claim to be made that Orvis watches are anything to do with haute horology or craftsmanship, but then I discovered the extraordinary, now most definitely vintage, Orvis Solunagraph, which was sourced from Heuer and is a very desirable timepiece - it does beg the questions as to when Orvis started producing and selling watches, and how many were fine quality mechanical timepieces. Nevertheless my opinion does hold generally for recent and current Orvis watches, although they are for the most part workmanlike timepieces that have a nice feel and heritage sensibility about them. They are not cheap, however, especially the more upmarket vintage-looking quartz models, and I don't think I could be persuaded to buy one new, unless I was an Orvis follower - which might not be a bad thing given the history and status of this long-established American company. That said, the automatic models do appear to be better value, and I would be happy to have one in my collection to add to the quartz model I already own.

Orvis International Automatic wristwatch with 44mm stainless steel case and mineral glass crystal. 21-jewel automatic movement and 100 metre WR, priced at £175 (pic from orvis.co.uk):










The back of a current Orvis automatic Field watch showing the movement (probably, but not necessarily the same movement as that used for the International Automatic pictured above) (pic from orvis.com):


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## RWP (Nov 8, 2015)

Good read Honour.....brought that talking duck to mind ( Orville  ).


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## gimli (Mar 24, 2016)

Good read. That Solunagraph is an absolute beaut! Always fascinated and interested in "obscure" watch companies that produce quality watches.


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## bowie (Mar 12, 2005)

RWP said:


> Good read Honour.....brought that talking duck to mind ( Orville  ).


 me too also Hovis


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## kanab22 (Mar 21, 2011)

Great article and nice looking watches. Thanks for posting.


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## Richy (Oct 14, 2013)

Good article, I have a few of their fly reels and also my dog has a couple of collars from them. Not cheap but good stuff.


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## davidcxn (Nov 4, 2010)

Another fascinating article & that Solunagraph is stunning. Thanks for posting. :thumbsup:


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## Muddy D (Nov 16, 2013)

Great read Honour. I'd never heard of them either, but they do look worth exploring further. I quite liked the automatics


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## badgersdad (May 16, 2014)

Fascinating stuff. From the dial/strap combos of their modern range , I'd guess or very own Trigger is working in their design department. :biggrin:


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## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

Many thanks for those comments and likes - Orvis is one of those lucky finds in terms of looking out interesting companies to write about. From acquiring unknown watches, fascinating facts and firms sometimes arise - one of the joys of watch collecting.


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## Richy (Oct 14, 2013)

looks like your onto a winner, check this out:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ORVIS-HEUER-SOLUNAGRAPH-2446-SF-2ND-SERIES-RARE-40MM-VALJOUX-72C-TIDES-INDICATOR-/152087519946?hash=item23691f62ca:g:bOsAAOSwubRXM5HE

quids in!

looked a bit more and your watch should have "Heuer" on the crown. It is the first issue and goes between £1500-£6000, depending where you sell it. And to be honest, your looks in better nick than the ones I've seen on the internet.


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