Horological Meandering

G99
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The Orient Star 'SOMES'. Cheap as chips, tough as old boots and looks good too.

i received this watch about 3 weeks ago and did write a very short ditty on it when i wore it for a friday wristscan about 2 weeks ago. SJX has also written a short article on this watch, but i wanted to give my impressions of Ownership and wearability.

Firstly a very short bit on the company. Orient are a Japanese brand, in business since 1955, that make 100% in-house mechanical movements. Seiko may have a 55% stake in the company, but supply no mechanical parts to Orient. all they supply are quartz movements of which i have no wish to speak.

Orient have 4 levels of quality. Orient, Orient Star, Orient Star Royal and Royal Orient. Orient can be compared to Seiko 5 as solid dependable pieces, Orient Star are on a level with Seiko Premier or Brightz with far better finishing than the standard models and Royal Orient could be compared to Grand Seiko although i havent come into contact with any in the flesh so cannot comment on whether they are as good or not.

This particular watch is from the Orient Star range which is probably has the largest selection of models the company make. i already own 1 Orient Star which has proven to be excellent value for money, but slightly smaller than my preferred size as are many of their models. This watch first came to my attention well over a year ago when i was browsing that online auction site as i am prone to do. what first attracted me was its lovely chocolate brown dial and larger case size. there are a few other dial colours, but the brown really attracted me. i read a bit about the watch which is not easy as the vast majority of information is in Japanese, but the very basics are : 43mm cased automatic with power reserve and sub second dial, made in conjunction with 'SOMES' who are Japans largest, if not only, Equestrian leather workers (saddlemakers). their contribution is the strap which i will come to in a minute.

When i first saw the watch i liked it a lot and liked the price, but had other things to pay for so put it to the back of my mind. When SJX posted the watch i saw how much i liked it again, found it for sale, but, again, had other priorities. however, last month, having been outbid on an orient Star Royal handwind silver cased watch i searched some of the sales sites and found this watch which was used albeit very lightly and had all box and papers. the price was possibly less than some of you spend on a nice meal and bottle of wine so i jumped on it.

to describe the watch isnt hard, it has a 43mm cushion shaped stainless steel case with brushed top and lugs, polished sides, underside and bezel. the crown is recessed nicely into the case so it doesnt wear overly big. what helps this is the fact that the display back is somewhat smaller than the main case so the case sits slightly off the wrist. the dial is a beautiful chocolaty brown colour with superbly finished and polished blunt arrow head hour markers which are lumed to give decent readability at night. the hands are of a similar quality with polished edges and lumed centres. Orient are reknowned for their power reserve indicators and this is no exception with a large PR display ar 12 oclock. unusually for the brand this watch has a sub second dial at 6 oclock. there is an angled minute track around the dials edge which finishes the look off nicely. the display back is nice, but unnessesary as the finish of the movement is not overly good. to finish off the case it is water resistant to 10Bar (100m), more than sufficient for daily use. my main criticism is the lack of AR coating on the sapphire crystal so good pics are extremely hard to take.

i dont know a huge amount about the movement, but i am aware that it is a 21 jewel in-house automatic non hacking movement with 40 hour PR which cannot be handwound, but winds smoothly and quickly on the wrist or by being shaken lightly. it is only guaranteed to be accurate to -25/+40secs a day or thereabouts which seems to be the standard Japanese figures unless they are of Grand Seiko standard or similar. have no fear about the figures as you can hack the seconds by turning the crown backwards so it can be set to an atomic clock. i tested the watch in daily use and over 1 week it remained pretty consistent at gaining 1 second per day! not bad for a cheapy which does beg the question why some companies offer COSC movements at extra cost. as i've already stated, the finish of the movement isnt really good enough to warrant a display back with perlage over the bridges and cote d'geneve on the rotor.

now we come to the strap which is, to put it mildly, fabulous. the leather is not supple yet, but i can see it will be in time, it is about 5mm thick and feels exactly the same as you would expect a saddle, straps and reins to feel. the tang buckle is a heavy weight, but plain piece of stainless steel made i assume to resemble the buckles on reins. it is the whole basis behind the watch so i expected it to be good, but not this good. it makes a mockery of most of the straps that come on far more expensive sports watches.

after a week my initial impressions are excellent. the watch is solid and would probably take a lot of battering before the case or glass gave up. the strap is one of the best i've ever come across and will probably NEVER wear out. the movement is robust and accurate. the dial is beautiful, which, when combined with the polished case, would allow the watch to be worn in most situations although i think it is intended as a sports/leisure watch.

From my experience of the 2 watches i own Orient are a brand to be considered if you want an unfussy yet reliable watch on a budget. it is quite a lot more expensive than a Seiko 5, but personally i think the quality and finish reflect this. i'm extremely happy with both of mine and i know others are very happy with theirs. i do wonder if i would be so happy if i'd not bought the brown dialled model, possibly not as i cant say enough how beautiful the brown colouring is (did i mention it had a lovely brown dial?   ).

i am still looking for the very hard to find Orient Star Royal with solid silver case and 18 jewel handwind movement, but that will be another story.

here's some pics. not very good, but pics nonetheless.

enjoy

Graham

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