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Review
of the Less than a year ago, I had never heard of Orient Watch Co., Ltd. or seen an Orient watch. Today, I moderate an Orient watch discussion forum that I founded, and I own two Orient watches: a standard Orient automatic purchased from a US dealer on ebay, and the subject of this review: an Orient Star purchased from a dealer in Japan. So how, in the span of a few weeks, can someone go from total ignorance of a company and its watches to being a staunch advocate of the brand and owner of two? Read on for the answer. History of the Orient Watch
Company, Ltd. There is very little information available in English on the Internet about the Orient Watch Company. The official corporate web site is in Japanese and has one small page in English that gives a brief company history as well as a management synopsis and financial statement. In brief, the company was founded in 1950 but traces its roots back to 1901 and the horological marketing of its founder, a certain Shogoro Yoshida, in Tokyo. For many years, Orient was Number Three in the Japanese watchmaking triumvirate of Seiko, Citizen, and Orient. However, Casio, riding on the heels of the quartz revolution begun by Seiko in the 1970s, quickly supplanted Orient with its high quality, affordable watches that were marketed primarily in the United States, but which were also popular in Japan and Asian markets. Nevertheless, Orient stayed the course with a conservative design philosophy and a marketing strategy that has largely ignored the US in favor of Japan and other Pacific rim countries, the Middle East, Russia, and South America. Today, Orient has manufacturing facilities in Japan, Singapore, and Brazil, and offers a wide range of watch designs and styles, including quartz, mechanical, and light powered (similar to Citizen’s Eco-Drive line). And even though Seiko Epson (the division of Seiko formerly known as the Suwa Seikosha Co., the maker of the very first Grand Seiko in 1960) now owns a controlling interest (52%) in Orient, the company remains an independent force in Japanese watchmaking, showcasing the very best in design and craftsmanship from the Land of the Rising Sun. Orient Star The Orient Star is Orient’s top tier watch line and they only market these watches
in Japan and select Asian countries. Orient Stars are several steps up from
even the most expensive “ordinary” Orient watch, and they have always had
mechanical movements. Orient Stars bear
their own logo, a distinctive oval shaped “O” with an “S” integrated into it.
And beginning with some select 2004 models, the script used for the “S” in the
logo as well as the name “Orient Star” on the watch dial has been changed to a
gothic font very similar to that used by Seiko for the Grand Seiko name. (Whether
this new font will be used by Orient on all future Orient Star watches remains
to be seen. I personally prefer the old logo and script.) Retail prices for
Orient Stars range anywhere from around ¥20,000
up to ¥80,000 (roughly $180.00 to $700.00
US). The absolute “top of the line” Orient is the Orient Star Royal, which is produced
in limited quantities and only marketed in Japan. The level of workmanship bestowed on these watches approaches that of
the Grand Seiko. You can expect to pay well over ¥100,000 ($900.00 US)
for any Orient Star Royal, and some limited edition models retail for
considerably more. Nevertheless, the Royals do offer a more affordable
alternative to those seeking the best in Japanese horology but who can’t quite
handle the ¥200,000 to ¥1,000,000 ($1,800.00 to $10,000.00 US) price commanded
for Grand Seiko watches. At ¥34,000 ($311.00 US), the
subject of this review falls in the middle of the price range for Orient Stars. Buying an Orient Star
After researching the history of Orient and recognizing the quality of the Orient automatic I ordered from a dealer on ebay, I decided that my next Japanese watch purchase would be an Orient Star. Unlike the plethora of Orient models you can usually find on ebay, you will rarely see any Orient Stars there. Therefore, just trying to figure out how to buy one was an Internet research project in itself. While there are other Japanese dealers on the Net where Orient Stars can be purchased, the three I initially turned up in my search were The Poor Man's Watch Corner (operated by Reto Castellazzi, a Swiss expatriate living in Thailand), Wayne's Watch World (operated by Wayne Lee, owner of the Seiko and Citizen Watch Forum), and HIGUCHI-INC in Oita, Japan. Of these three, only Higuchi is an authorized Orient dealer. In addition, Higuchi is the only English-friendly authorized dealer I found on the Net who is willing to sell and ship these Japan-only watches (especially the Orient Star Royal and Grand Seiko) to customers in the US and other countries. One caveat, however, concerning the purchase of these Japanese market watches: For any warranty or service work, the watch must be returned to Japan. For Grand Seiko, Credor, Brightz, and other Japan-only Seiko watch lines, SCA (Seiko Corp of America) will not honor the warranty on these watches. Just like the Orients, they must be returned to Japan for warranty claims or service. If you buy from Higuchi, I think I can safely say that should that eventuality ever befall you, dealing with them will not only be painless, it will be pleasant. This dealer epitomizes the concept of “customer service.” They answer e-mails with fast, accurate, and courteous responses. And if they have the watch you want in stock, you can count on lightening fast shipping. I ordered my Orient Star on Tuesday, November 25. I received an e-mail the next day notifying me that the watch had been shipped, and giving me the tracking number. And the watch arrived on Saturday, November 29. When was the last time you ordered a watch from a domestic dealer and got it that quickly, let alone one from the other side of the globe? The Watch: Orient Star Ref
WZ0091ER The watch arrived well packaged with the contents listed for customs as “Horological Item.” The declared value was $280.00, which put it squarely under the $400.00 duty free limit set by US Customs. The package went through customs at JFK and showed no evidence that it was opened for inspection. I have heard some horror stories of people in the US who have ordered Sandoz watches from Singapore and Hong Kong (which are generally in the same price range as Orient Stars) only to have customs in the US revalue the watches upon entry and stick the new owner with a hefty duty bill. The fact that Sandoz watches have “Swiss” on them no doubt partially explains this, but I was thankful nonetheless that my “Horological Item” didn’t raise any suspicions with the customs officer who signed it through.
One thing that seems to be quite common for Orient watches destined to be sold in Japan is the rather mundane boxes they are put in. I've seen photos of the boxes that Orient Stars come in that are sold in other Asian markets, and they are nice (though small) wood boxes that have a cardboard slip cover. As you can see from the photo below, my Orient Star came in a pale blue cardboard box with a matching slip cover. It seems you have to spend the really "big bucks" on an Orient Star Royal to get a nice box and pillow for your watch.
Documentation
The Crystal and Dial I am convinced that there is really no way to capture the real beauty of this watch's dial with a camera. In every photograph I’ve seen of the watch, it appears to have a simple black dial. And while the dial is black, it is far from “simple.” There is a very fine satin sunburst texture to the dial, which in and of itself is nothing extraordinary. However, Orient’s execution of this texture is unique, inasmuch as the texture is not the top layer of the dial: the dial face has a clear coating over the texture. By clear coating the texture and giving the dial a smooth surface, Orient has crafted a watch face that can appear at times to have a texture, and at other times to have a smooth surface as deep and shiny as a pool of black ink. This can sometimes, especially in very bright light, give the applied Orient Star logo the appearance of floating just above the surface of the dial. Equally interesting is how the use of a domed crystal is really the only way Orient could create this effect. On watches with flat crystals, the reflective plane of the crystal and the dial are the same, and therefore as you peer into the face of the watch, virtually all the reflected light you see will be from the crystal, not the dial. Those of you with a watch with a flat crystal, hold your watch under a bright light and turn it until you can see the reflection of the light source in the crystal. What you will see is one image of the reflected light source above you, and if the crystal is absolutely flat, that image will be a “life size” reflection. By using a domed crystal, Orient has ensured that the dial itself can catch the light at a different angle from the crystal, thereby revealing the unique properties of the clear coated texture. When you hold this watch under a bright light, you can simultaneously get the “life size” reflection of the light source in the flat dial, and get a much smaller reflection of that same light source in the domed crystal. If the crystal were flat, the reflection of the light source in the crystal would override the reflection in the dial, and the “pool of black ink” effect would be lost. The dial has applied indices at each hour, with the twelve, six, and nine positions having applied Arabic numerals. The Orient Star logo is applied, while the other lettering as well as the seconds scale and Arabic numerals around the perimeter of the dial are screened. The dauphine hands as well as the arrowhead on the second hand are lumed, and the dial is lumed at each hour mark. The color of the lume is pure white and blends quite well with the silver hands and indices—so much so that it's very hard to tell the watch is lumed until you turn out the lights. Then you are greeted with a soft glow that is easily readable for at least two hours if the watch has been exposed to bright light. I consider the quality of the lume to be a big plus, as nothing turns me off more than the greenish tinge of the lume on many watches. The application of the lume to the hands follows the contours so that when viewed in darkness you still see a set of dauphine hands and not two glowing sticks. Very nice. The question as to what material Orient uses for the crystals on Orient Stars unfortunately won't be resolved in this review. One person who sells Orient Stars assured me that the domed crystals are acrylic and only Orient watches that have flat crystals use glass. Well, I can tell you unequivocally that the domed crystal on my watch is glass. What type of glass is the real issue. According to the latest Orient catalog, the $1,000+ Orient Star Royals come with sapphire crystals. To be quite frank, you would expect a watch at the price point of Orient Stars to come with sapphire as well. I asked Higuchi about this before I ordered the watch, and they responded that the crystal is glass, not sapphire. It is interesting to note, however, that the watch did not come with a protective sticker on the crystal, but there was one on the glass display back. I suspect, based on some informal tests performed by me involving how water droplets behave on different type glass surfaces, that the the crystal on this watch may in fact be a sapphire coated mineral composition similar to Seiko's "Sapphlex."
The Case and Bracelet
The bracelet utilizes a two button deployant clasp which is an absolute joy to operate. It is silky smooth. The folding links of the clasp are brushed, not polished. The clasp itself is brushed and signed. The bracelet is very lightweight and yet has a substantial feel. Again, the words quality and elegance spring to mind. And without a doubt, this is the most comfortable steel watch bracelet I've ever worn. When trying on the watch for the first time, it was easy to see that the bracelet was designed for the Japanese market. On my Invicta Swiss Pro Diver, I had to have three links removed for the watch to fit my wrist properly. On my Seiko 5, I had to remove two links. But I only had to remove one link from the Orient Star.
The Movement
The level of finish on the movement is a step up from lower priced Orient Stars and is comparable to that found on the top of the line Orient Star Royals. The rotor on the movement is finished with a nice Côtes de Genève engraving, with "Orient Star" and the Orient Star logo machine-engraved and inked. Most of the other visible parts of the movement bear the familiar perlage decoration seen on most high-end mechanical movements, both Swiss and Japanese. There is also evidence of anglage on the bridge: another distinction of high-end movements. From what can be seen, the plate itself is unadorned, however. As is typical with Orient and Orient Star automatics, the ER (487) cannot be hacked or handwound. Nevertheless, Orient movements have what has to be the most free-turning rotor of any automatic movement made. Just picking up a stopped Orient auto will usually start it running. By contrast, my Seiko 5 with the 7s26 movement requires at least a couple of swings to get it going. And the rotor of the ETA 2824-2 movement in my Invicta 9937 appears to turn in "steps" when compared to how easily the ER (487) rotor turns in the display back of the Orient Star. I've not tested the power reserve capacity, but if my standard Orient auto is any indication, the ER (487) should give well in excess of 40 hours of runtime on a fully wound mainspring. Concluding Thoughts All hi-res close up photos used in this
review were borrowed from Watch-Tanaka.com. Please visit
For more information about Orient watches, visit Orient Express.
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