Oris once again explores the relationship between watchmaking, culture, and personality with the ProPilot X Gonzo Edition, a new creation developed in collaboration with Disney’s The Muppets. Starring Gonzo, also known as The Great Gonzo, this model marks Oris’s third collaboration with the world of The Muppets, following editions dedicated to Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.

Beyond its playful character, the watch is built around a highly compelling mechanical foundation: the ProPilot X Calibre 115, one of the Swiss independent manufacturer’s most distinctive designs. From this platform, Oris has developed an interpretation that combines skeletonised architecture, a 10-day power reserve, and a series of technical and aesthetic elements conceived specifically around Gonzo’s personality.

A Collaboration Built Around Individuality

The choice of Gonzo is far from accidental. The character, who made his debut on The Muppet Show in 1976, has become one of The Muppets’ most recognisable figures thanks to his distinctive combination of eccentricity, curiosity, and a defiant spirit.

Known for his high-risk performances and for a personality that openly embraces individuality, Gonzo represents an attitude that aligns particularly well with Oris’s philosophy. As an independent Swiss company, Oris has developed an identity based on following its own path and creating mechanical watches with a strong sense of character.

That conceptual connection allows this collaboration to go beyond simply placing a familiar character on a dial. With the ProPilot X Gonzo Edition, Gonzo’s identity is integrated directly into both the architecture and operation of the watch.

Calibre 115 as the Starting Point

The technical foundation of this edition is the Oris Calibre 115, an in-house hand-wound movement distinguished by its skeletonised construction and open-barrel architecture.

One of its defining features is its impressive 240-hour power reserve, equivalent to 10 days. It is complemented by a non-linear power reserve indicator positioned at 3 o’clock, designed to display the remaining energy with increasing precision as the movement approaches the point at which winding is required.

In this edition, the indicator also takes on a distinctive aesthetic role. Its hand is shaped like a chilli, a direct reference to one of the motifs associated with Gonzo’s distinctive style. The scale replaces conventional time indications with ten days marked as “GREAT”, referring to his stage name, The Great Gonzo.

The result is an unusual integration of function and narrative, where elements that would normally belong exclusively to the technical realm become part of the visual language of the collaboration.

Gonzo’s Face Appears Inside the Movement

The most striking feature of the ProPilot X Gonzo Edition, however, can be found in the mainspring.

The system uses a mainspring approximately 1.8 metres long, made visible through the open-barrel architecture positioned at 12 o’clock. Tiny laser-etched markings along the edges of its individual coils progressively come together to form Gonzo’s smiling face when the movement is fully wound.

As the mainspring releases its energy, the different sections of the image gradually separate. Gonzo’s face slowly disappears as the power reserve indicator approaches zero.

When the watch is wound again, the process is reversed. The mainspring tightens and Gonzo’s face progressively reappears.

From a technical perspective, this is a particularly ingenious solution because it transforms an essential component of the movement into a dynamic surface capable of conveying information while simultaneously telling a story. Oris also describes the mechanism as a first in Swiss watchmaking.

A Design Defined by Colour and Light

Gonzo’s personality is also expressed through the skeletonised dial. The design features a gradient transitioning between blue, red, and yellow, inspired both by the character’s distinctive fur and his unconventional sense of style.

The dial ring features a laser-created texture that changes its appearance depending on the viewing angle and the way light strikes its surface. This effect adds a dynamic dimension to the watch while contrasting with the technical structure of the movement.

The combination of titanium, skeletonised architecture, and colour treatment preserves the contemporary character of the ProPilot X while giving this particular reference a visual identity closely connected to Gonzo.

Titanium, Generous Proportions, and 10 Days of Autonomy

The ProPilot X Gonzo Edition features a 44 mm titanium case, with a thickness of 12.60 mm and a lug-to-lug measurement of 52 mm. Titanium is also used for the bracelet, which is fitted with Oris’s proprietary folding clasp.

The dial is protected by sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating on the inside, while the case back features a transparent sapphire crystal that reveals the movement. The hands and indices are filled with Super-LumiNova®, and water resistance reaches 10 bar, equivalent to 100 metres.

The overall construction retains the technical credentials of the ProPilot X, while its distinctive decorative and functional elements make this reference a thoroughly differentiated interpretation within the collection.

A Timepiece Where Mechanics Become Narrative

With the ProPilot X Gonzo Edition, Oris once again demonstrates that a collaboration with a cultural icon does not have to be limited to an aesthetic reinterpretation. Here, Gonzo’s personality is integrated into multiple aspects of the watch, from the colour palette and chilli-shaped indicator to the mechanics of the movement itself.

The appearance and disappearance of his face on the mainspring is perhaps the element that best summarises the concept. A traditional operation such as winding a mechanical watch becomes a small mechanical performance, in which the energy stored within the movement also determines when Gonzo appears and when he disappears.

Produced as a limited production model, the Oris ProPilot X Gonzo Edition represents one of those collaborations where mechanical watchmaking and popular culture find an especially well-defined point of connection. It is a technically sophisticated and visually daring timepiece that remains, above all, true to the personality of a character who has never been afraid to do things his own way.