The world of luxury timepieces is filled with high priced mechanical watches with automatic movements that are sold at price points that soar into the stratosphere. The thought that a high quality mechanical watch is unattainable for people of average means is very discouraging to many prospective watch collectors. But, if they are lucky, they discover Orient.
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| Vintage Orient Tri-Star Automatic Watch |
Orient was founded in 1901 when Shogoro Yoshida opened the Yoshida Watch Shop in Ueno, Taito, Tokyo, Japan. They started out selling imported pocket watches and grew into a manufacturer of watch cases and clocks. Between 1920 and 1934, they manufactured their first watches. In 1951, the company changed its name to Orient, manufactured their first Orient Star watch, and started the development of in-house movements. They weathered the quartz watch crisis by sticking to their resolve to create the longest lasting mechanical watches.
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| The caseback of my Orient Bambino |
In more recent times, Orient joined Seiko Group when Seiko Epson bought 51% of Orient in 2001. In 2009, the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seiko. In 2017, Orient became a completely integrated Seiko brand. It's a good match. For collectors of modest middle class means Orient and Seiko automatic watches provide great value.
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| The Orient Bambino, 2nd Generation, Version 3 |
To read my review of my vintage Orient Tri-Star click here. To read my review of my Orient Bambino, 2nd Generation, Version 3 click here. To see all of my Watches A to Z posts click here.
