Orient Star Offers Great Value Just Like Orient!
If Orient is replacing Seiko 5 as one of the best entry-level options, I think Orient Star needs serious consideration as one of the best mid-tier options for moving up market, rather than Seiko Presage or Seiko Prospex. Here is a nice dress/everyday option from Orient Star. 100M WR and sapphire crystal and I love those Breguet hands. This is the older version of this watch with the 40 hour power reserve, rather than 50 hours. Still a great watch, especially considering I picked it up for just under $300.
6 comments
Sort by
Matthew(formerlyDigitalDivider)
LúmëgaudAnar is the correct spelling, and means time machine of the sun in Quenya. I've been collecting for a few years and have a decent collection of mostly budget and entry-level watches with a few...
Michigan City, IN, USA
Member since
Last active: 3 hrs ago
7.50” / 19.05 cm
Orient Star does bring a lot of value, with their pricing about equal to Seiko Presage/Prospex. Dare I say, Orient's quality are slightly superior.
That said, Orient still have a long way to go to compete with Seiko 5's. Seiko has a much more diverse dials, designs, and I think they can produce more watches than orient to meet customer demands.
Orient Star does bring a lot of value, with their pricing about equal to Seiko Presage/Prospex. Dare I say, Orient's quality are slightly superior.
That said, Orient still have a long way to go to compete with Seiko 5's. Seiko has a much more diverse dials, designs, and I think they can produce more watches than orient to meet customer demands.
Historically, it is true that Seiko 5 offered a wide variety of entry level watches, and perhaps I should have been clearer that I was referring to the new Seiko 5 line. It is still true that they offer a wider variety of colors for each of the new models; SRPD, SPRE, SRPG, and SRPH, but Orient offers a comparable, and in some cases, a superior, model for each of the four new Seiko 5 models at equal or lower prices.
The Mako II, Ray II, or Kanno all have superior water resistance and screw-down crowns and can generally be found for lower prices than the SRPD. Orient offers many models similar to the dressier SRPE beyond the Bambino, which is not quite as sporty as the SRPE, but the Orient Sport, reference number RA-AA0C04B19B, has a similar aesthetic. For the SRPG, Orient offers the Defender, which has a different dial design from most field watches and also has a screw-down crown. Finally, for the SRPH, Orient offers the Flight, which has the Type B Flieger style dial and also has a screw-down crown. All of these Orient watches can easily be found for less than $200, and some of them may even be below $150.
Historically, it is true that Seiko 5 offered a wide variety of entry level watches, and perhaps I should have been clearer that I was referring to the new Seiko 5 line. It is still true that they offer a wider variety of colors for each of the new models; SRPD, SPRE, SRPG, and SRPH, but Orient offers a comparable, and in some cases, a superior, model for each of the four new Seiko 5 models at equal or lower prices.
The Mako II, Ray II, or Kanno all have superior water resistance and screw-down crowns and can generally be found for lower prices than the SRPD. Orient offers many models similar to the dressier SRPE beyond the Bambino, which is not quite as sporty as the SRPE, but the Orient Sport, reference number RA-AA0C04B19B, has a similar aesthetic. For the SRPG, Orient offers the Defender, which has a different dial design from most field watches and also has a screw-down crown. Finally, for the SRPH, Orient offers the Flight, which has the Type B Flieger style dial and also has a screw-down crown. All of these Orient watches can easily be found for less than $200, and some of them may even be below $150.
Ah yes, the new Seiko 5 lineup are screwed
I commented on this watch before but didn't realise you could get it for that money! I'm going to look on TUS watches which seem to offer good value on Orients in the UK.
Ah yes, the new Seiko 5 lineup are screwed
Full disclosure, I do own two of the new Seiko 5 watches, an SRPG35 and an SRPH33. They do offer improvements over the older Seiko 5 models like the SNZs or the SNKs; 100M WR and the 4R36 movement. The big difference between these two and their Orient counterparts is the screw-down crown absent in the Seiko watches and present in the Orient watches. I will also point out that the price on the new Seiko 5s continues to drop, and they can be found for well below $200 on the grey market now. The advantage Orient enjoyed when the 5KXs and other Seiko 5s first premiered is disappearing as the price on the new Seiko 5s becomes more reasonable.
In my quest for a white dial watch, I bought these two……. Both excellent in their own way, sheer quality.
put a Swiss name on and you could double the price…….it just shows the brand snobbery and if you like horological time pieces for what they are, as opposed to being seen to wear certain brands, you can’t touch the Japanese in the sub £500 niche……. In my opinion of course.