What is it about Orient? - I

May 18, 2020
Watch Gonzo
Automatic, Diver's, Dress watches, Multi-function, Orient, Power Reserve, Star
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Orient has been producing excellent watches to date. As a brand been around for not more than just seven decades, they have come up particularly well. What people significantly love about it is – You can never go wrong with an Orient. Doesn’t matter if it’s a higher-end Orient or one just at the entry-level! They make perfect sense when you are getting a mechanical watch for the first time. It successfully opens the gate towards the addictive world of automatic watches.

Why is it so? Top reasons include:

Quality and Craftsmanship: Japanese made products exhibit a high quality and a craftsmanship that at times, is very hard to differentiate from European excellence. Plus, the entry-level watches from Orient are functionally as good as the Swiss entry levels; sometimes better. You find that present in every component of the watches they build; from the designs to the technicalities. They are dedicated to precision in everything they do. Final outcomes, therefore; are easy to guess.
Lineage: Heritage is integral to horology. 70 years not being a very long time compared to many, but its heritage starts from far behind. It’s Seiko that drives them now; but Shogoro Yoshida, the real owner, was already selling table clocks and gauges since 1901 and watches from 1934. Yoshida’s Toyo Tokei Company took a brief break of one year from 1949 and returned in 1951, with the new name – Orient Watch Co. Ltd. Throughout, they had been focused and dedicated towards watch making unlike fashion brands now jumping into the bandwagon.
Reliable timekeeping: Whether the Ray or the Bambino or the Star, timekeeping functionality are impeccable along all the lines of Orient. Max they will gain or lose is between +6 to -7 seconds a day, which is actually quite close to the guidelines of the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC), allowing between +6/-4 seconds a day. However, temperature and your watch’s age are also contributing factors, so are angles to the ground; but these got negligible effects on the performance of an Orient.
Economic and affordable: Ridiculously affordable and very much of an economical choice, mechanical Orient watches compare to just any mid-level Swiss mechanical watch, making experimentations easy. Bambino, Ray and Mako are the foremost names in this regard; have a feel of what is it to own a mechanical timepiece without breaking the bank.
Caters to different markets and budgets: Orient has different models and lineups on offer, spread across to suit a vast array of budgets. This attracts people from all walks of life and captures the max portion of the target market. Roughly, they are known as the Orient (entry-level), the Orient Star (mid-level) and the Royal Orient (higher-end than Star; discontinued from 2016), all with their individual, ideal strikes on design, functionality and budget-friendliness.