WWR# 18: Orient Classic Chronograph TT0V004W

Orient, one of the least popular watch brands globally and one of the brands that I only knew of when I started collecting is also one of the brands that surprises me more often and has somewhat read my mind on what kind of watches I like and would love to see available in the market.  And the best part of all, majority of their watches are pretty affordable.

My Weekly Watch Recom for this week is a new model from their Classic Quartz Line.  It seems that Orient is churning out lots of Quartz models recently which equals more or less the number of new mechanicals they introduce.  Well this watch truly has some classic lines.  It has hints and cues chronographs decades ago, so its not hard to like.  I also like how the sub dials are not contemporary to chronograph watches today.  For example, the continuous seconds hand is at the 9 o'clock position, the 6 o'clock area seems to have a mini clock dial which I assume tells the minute and second chronograph counter, and at the 12 o'clock is for the 1/10th of a second counter.  If I'm wrong, please do comment and correct me.

I've handle this piece in person and it's very light, very practical for an everyday beater at the office or trips to the coffee shop or having some drinks with friends later.  The case has an all polished finish.  Leather strap is mediocre but you can always change it with croc design to give it a more classier look.

Pictures below are the 3 different tones of dial, case, hands and straps that I like the most.  Looking for a classy daily beater? You can get this for less than $150 at your retail stores and get an upgrade for your wrist that's more that what you paid for.

Here are some more details from Orient's website.

Analogue Quartz Movement : caliber KFB00
Chronograph in 1/20 second
Chronograph hands (second & 1/20 second), Small second hand
Date indicator

Stainless steel case
Domed crystal glass
Screw caseback
Genuine leather strap
Water resistant to 50m
Diameter 42.60mm
Thickness 10.79mm

 

WWR# 9: Orient Ray Diver Watch EM65009D

You may think that I have any link with Orient or anything but I just can't help but recommend another watch from the brand after finding this over the net and just stuck with me to share it to rest of the public to know.

Another thing Orient is popular with from the views of WIS like me is the cool names that they name their watches for easier identification for watch fans. Their most popular watch I have to say is the Mako. It's a diver style watch with a 40mm diameter, auto movement 46946 and is available with quite a range of dial/bezel colors, blue being the most popular. By 2010, the Mako was upgraded to it's bigger brother and named it Mako XL which is by far one of the best sellers to date from Orient. I also did a review of the Mako XL in my previous post (check it out). And just last night, while hunting the net for horological species, I found this. It's the new diver watch called 'Ray'. And by the looks of it, it's another upgrade from the Mako.



The bezel and case is very similar. The hour and minute hands are upgraded and I like the ones on these better from the Mako. By far the best hands I've seen from lower end Orient diver watches. The other thing I like are the round indices that are inspired from their pro-saturation divers. The bezel insert is a mix fusion with the Mako and Mako XL, and has remained the lume pip on the 12 marker. The bracelet now is slightly decorated with polished lines which gives it a classier look. The specs read it has a 41mm case diameter and 22 lugs. The price is at $215 (same with the Mako). Below are the pictures from Orient. If you are looking for your first or next affordable mechanical diver, look no further.





for comparison sake, the Mako, Mako XL, Pro Diver and the Ray in order.

WWR #8: Orient Power Reserve Dress Watch DJ0200

What of the things that I look for when choosing watch brands is the way how they are able to meet the demand of the consumer which is me of course. What I mean is, we as watch idot savants or watch consumers have needs. We have specifics that we want a watch that has an inhouse mechanical movement, perpetual calendar, chronograph, power reserve indicator, tourbillion, platinum casing, etc etc..blah blah blah. But of course, most of the time, those needs are not met because of the constraint of our capacity to pay our credit card bill after a month's purchase. And it surprises me when there is a product our there that meets my needs, and at the same time I can demand (I can afford I mean). And this is one example that I will recommend for this week. The New Orient Power Reserve Dress Watch.




Mostly, low to middle-end watches that come from the land of Japan have basic automatic movements and features non decorated movement which some do not hack or wind. It may feature day-date and thats it. For this watch that I recommend, it has that, plus a real GMT hand function, a power reserve, and a winding and hacking function to complete a jetsetter yuppie's demand of a classical timepiece. To add to that, it has a Sapphire Crystal and a see thru exhibition caseback for the view of the decorated new movement.



Here are the tech specs of the watch from Orient's site.
Mechanical Movement : ORIENT caliber 40P51 Made in Japan
Self-winding & Hand-winding movement
22 jewels
21600/hour vibrations
Power reserve indicator, Date indicator
24hour hand (Dual-time function)
Second hand halt mechanism
Stainless steel case
Sapphire crystal
See-through caseback with crystal
Stainless steel bracelet
Water resistant to 50m
Diameter 40.40mm
Thickness 11.98mm



The thing though is, I haven't yet seen one in the wild so I cannot validate the price and the value, but with the experience with the brand and its value and affordability always in mind, I'm sure it will meet my demands and expectations.

If you have this actual watch, please send me a message on your thoughts about it and pictures of it, I would gladly update this post with your shared pictures for everyone to see.

Orient Diver Watch Mako XL CEM7500

Orient Watches will be celebrating their 60th year on July 13th 2010. A company having those years of experience in watchmaking is quite unknown to the normal watch user, except if you are talking to WIS like me. But I'm not gonna talk about the 60th anniversary edition watch, we are here look at new diver model OEM7500 or otherwise named as Mako XL, Big Mako, New Mako or hogrider.

This model was released about early half of 2009 or that was the time I first saw it in watch forums. This belongs to Orient's diving sports category alongside the mako and the ISO rated 300M diver. So here's my take.

The case of the watch is a combination of polished and brushed finish stainless steel. It's 44.5mm wide which is bigger that its older brother mako to which I can say was one of the reasons I got this one. That size and finish really held on to me and just stuck on my wrist from the moment that sales lady made me try for size. It's big, but it doesn't shout loud. It's not a thick watch to with respect to the ratio of how big the case is, that is why it just sits firmly to your wrist, like a baby firmly sleeping in Dad's arms. The bezel is likewise well done. That improved big numbers on the insert and the grip for 60 click diver feel. Bad though is it has no lume pip on the 60. Well this is not an ISO rated diver though, I myself am also not a diver by any certification available, so I guess it did not bother me. The 200m WR i guess won't be really for open diving or saturated diving, just for casual swimming by the pool or beach. As they said, this is a cocktail or desk diver.

Movement is from the highly dependable and efficient 46943. I believe came from the 7000 series movement from Seiko way back in 60s, its the "if it ain't broken, why fixed it" movement. And I like it that way, its like having an old dependable VW beetle in your driveway but its just been built off the shop floor. A touch of heritage and history but still new for you to make your own.  Absolutley digg it. The movement is the basic automatic winding system with no handwinding or hacking. It has the easy quick-day function through the push of the tiny button on the 2 o'clock marker.

Casebacks. I personally love casebacks. When eyeing or trying out a watch, the caseback is the next thing I'd look at after studying the dial, the hands, bezel and everything in front. I don't know why but something in the caseback makes me feel like looking on the engine of the car, especially for clear casebacks. So for this watch, it has that nice and elegent Orient Automatic Emblem that is just perfect for the brand. It shows also the model number and case numbers but unfortunately, it doesn't have serial numbers like Seiko where you can refer when the watch was produced. Its also a screw down caseback as customary for diver style watches.

The dial on this model is black, though it comes with the bright blue and orange but those colors on watches aren't just for me. Its just either black, white or grey/silver. Well the dial is quite decent and formal, it has big hour markers with that nice Orient Emblem and that 'Automatic' and 'Water Resist' font just makes it somewhat grand. The lume though is the weakest thing on this watch. I mean, my 14 year old Seiko shines brighter than this one.

The hands are quite unique. I haven't seen this kind of arrow shaped hands in any Orient watches and in any other diver watch brands for that matter. It's definitely Orients own arrow head. The second hand has that classic look with the lume pip on the near end. But yes again, lume really sucks, so if it really bothers you, have them relumed.

The bracelet if the watch is one of its high points. It's like buffed biceps to complement and buffed chest with six pack. Its 22mm all throughout. A double push button lock clasp with that nice Orient emblem. Gotta love that emblem.

Overall, its definitley a dress/cocktail/desk diver considering the lack of true ISO diver's rating. But aside from that, its a definite beauty with superb quality craftmanship and design that is uniquely Orient that you can't deny any wrist time for years and years to come.