Oris Roberto Clemente Limited Edition

Oris is introducing a new limited edition stainless steel watch – the Oris Roberto Clemente Limited Edition. The independent watchmaker often produces timepieces in the hope of bringing about positive change. This latest ‘Change for the Better’ piece is in commemoration of baseball player and humanitarian Roberto Clemente and is a result of Oris’ partnership with the Roberto Clemente Foundation. The timepiece is a limited edition of 3,000 pieces – the same number of hits as Clemente had during his career.

The History

For Oris, Puerto Rico-born Roberto Clemente undoubtedly embodies its ‘Change for the Better’ mantra. Notably, Clemente was not only a world-renowned baseball player, who won two World Series for the Pittsburgh Pirates and defied racial discrimination, but also a philanthropist. However, this is ultimately what lead to his early death. Following an earthquake in Nicaragua, which was to leave around 11,000 dead and hundreds of thousands homeless, Clemente learned that his personal relief donations had disappeared. Most likely, this was the fault of corrupt officials. Therefore, the 38-year-old humanitarian personally flew to oversee his new donations reach the Nicaraguan people. But it was on this ill-fated flight that the plane carrying him there crashed into the sea. Consequently, Roberto Clemente’s body was never found.

The Roberto Clemente Foundation was established in 1993, as a non-profit organisation with a mission to ‘Build Nations of Good’. Like Clemente, it aims to bring around real change, principally through education, sports and service leadership. Its accomplishments include the likes of disaster relief, baseball clinics for at-risk youth, and community outreach work. According to Clemente’s son, who is now the President CEO of the Clemente Legacy Program, the organisation ‘want[s] to inspire people to become better humanitarians and to carry the message of love for humankind.’ With this in mind, the Oris Roberto Clemente Limited Edition was born.

The Watch

The life story of Clemente plays a fundamental role in the Oris Roberto Clemente Limited Edition. Firstly, it comes in a 40 mm stainless-steel, multi-piece case with a screw-in crown and caseback. Furthermore, the caseback features a special engraving of Clemente swinging a baseball bat. It also displays each limited edition watch’s individual number, as well as the words: ROBERTO CLEMENTE LIMITED EDITION’. Additionally, the watch is water-resistant to 50 m.

Equally meaningfully, the white dial showcases black and gold detailing. This colour code takes its inspiration from Roberto Clemente’s Pirates uniform. Additionally, the watch’s hour and minute hands plus indices use Super-LumiNova for 24/7 legibility. Notably, the date lies around the edge of the dial and uses a central date hand. Finally, an anti-reflective and domed sapphire crystal protects the dial.

Meanwhile, powering the Oris Roberto Clemente Limited Edition is the Oris 754 calibre. This is an automatic movement with a 38-hour power reserve. It beats at a frequency of 4 Hz. Additionally, it has 26 jewels and is based on the Sellita SW200-1. Moreover, it provides hours, minutes, seconds, as well as an instantaneous date, date corrector, and stop-second function.

Clemente’s son describes his deceased father as a ‘voice of justice for the underprivileged’. Therefore, Oris and the foundation hope that the Oris Roberto Clemente Limited Edition will help to ‘inspire people to become better humanitarians’.

The watch comes on a light brown leather strap with double stitching – inspired by a baseball glove. It comes in a special box with a certificate, an additional NATO strap, plus a strap changing tool. The watch launches on September 9, as this is ‘Robert Clemente Day’, which celebrates his story and legacy. Its price is 1,800 euros and it is a limited edition of 3,000 pieces.

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