Orient
- Founded
- 1950
- Based in
- Tokyo, Japan
- In our catalog
- 7 watches from $150 to $350
Orient is the brand watch enthusiasts recommend when someone asks for a good mechanical watch under $300. It makes its own automatic movements, which is unusual at these prices, and its designs, from the domed-crystal Bambino to the Mako diver, have been best-sellers for years.
History
Orient's roots go back to a watch shop opened in Tokyo by Shogoro Yoshida in 1901. After the Second World War his family founded the Orient Watch Company in 1950. It became one of Japan's major watchmakers, exported widely, and kept making mechanical watches when much of the industry moved to quartz.
Seiko Epson, a sister company of Seiko, took control of Orient in 2009 and fully merged it in 2017. Orient still designs and produces its own movements, and it remains the more affordable cousin of Seiko.
Signature models
- Bambino Version 2: The classic Bambino, a dress watch with a high domed crystal and a vintage dial. Often called the best dress watch at its price.
- Bambino Small 36: A smaller Bambino for slimmer wrists.
- Mako III: A dive watch with an in-house automatic movement that can be hand-wound and hacks.
- Ray Raven II: An all-black diver.
- Kamasu: A diver with a sapphire crystal, a step up in quality.
- Defender II: A sporty watch with a 24-hour indicator.
- Sun & Moon: A dress watch with a day and night disc.
What it's known for
Orient's in-house movements are reliable and easy to service, and the designs are classic and well proportioned. The Bambino has introduced many people to mechanical watches.
Price and positioning
Orient watches mostly cost $150 to $300. Seiko 5 is the closest rival, Timex's mechanicals cost about the same, and Orient Star is the step up within the brand.
Orient watches in our library
- Orient Bambino Version 2 ($150 to $200)
- Orient Ray Raven II ($180 to $240)
- Orient Bambino Small 36 ($180 to $220)
- Orient Mako III ($200 to $260)
- Orient Defender II ($200 to $300)
- Orient Kamasu ($250 to $330)
- Orient Sun & Moon ($250 to $350)