I Went To Atlanta With Oris For The Unveiling Of The Hank Aaron Watch, Here’s What Happened

Just a few weeks ago, Oris announced its tribute to the legendary ball player, Hank Aaron: a   limited-edition version of the brand’s coveted Big Crown watch. The exclusive watch celebrates Hank Aaron’s exceptional career as well as his impact on the community. To mark the announcement, Oris brought a group of retailers and journalists, along with some social media pros, to Atlanta during a week-long celebration of Hank Aaron.

From the get-go, the event was filled with stories and tours and press conferences – all revolving around the Atlanta Braves, Hank Aaron, the new Oris Hank Aaron Big Crown Limited Edition watch, and – perhaps most important — The Hank Aaron non-profit Chasing the Dream Foundation that collaborated on the timepiece.

Day One of the trip witnessed a lovely dinner on the Chattahoochee River at Rays on the River. A host of important baseball personalities also attended, including former baseball center fielder Andruw Jones who was an MLB All-Star five times and who won the Silver Slugger Award and the Hank Aaron Award. Since Oris is gifting one of the limited-edition watches to players who have won the Hank Aaron Award, Jones received his timepiece at the next day’s press conference.

Day two of the trip, though, was chocked full. We were given a private tour of the entire stadium – entering areas most people never have access to. Following the tour, we enjoyed refreshments in a private suite, went down on the field to watch batting practice and witnessed the official unveiling of the watch at a press conference in the stadium.

The press conference brought together Brian Snitker, Atlanta Braves manager, as well as Billye Aaron  (Hank Aaron’s wife) on behalf of the Chasing the Dream Foundation, Andrew Jones and, of course, Oris US President VJ Geronimo.  Mrs. Aaron discussed the importance of the Foundation  that she co-founded with her husband and its ability to help youth via scholarships. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of the watch will go to the Foundation and so she lively quipped, “Don’t buy just one.”

Later, we watched the game between the Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers (whom Aaron had also played with for two seasons in the AL) slug it out on the field from the suite and got to go hands on with the Limited Edition Big Crown Hank Aaron watch, which boasts a multi-piece stainless steel 40mm case and a dial design that reflects the enduring spirit of the great baseball Hall-of-Famer.

As I wrote in an article about the launch, the elegant white dial is a nod to Aaron’s dedication to purity and fairness both on and off the field. The outer minute track, the peripheral date indication, the hands and the numbers are in blue  outlined with red or in red outlined in blue– a reference to the Atlanta Braves and Hank Aaron’s uniform.

You can read more about the Chasing the Dream Foundation, Hank Aaron, Oris’s role as the Official Luxury Watch of the Atlanta Braves (as  well as of the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox and San Diego Padres) and the Hank Aaron tribute watch here.