The Most Colorful Watch Ever?

This review is going to be quite different, because it discusses a very unusual watch. The most colorful watch I had seen, so much so it goes beyond absurd, and reaches utter coolness.

Behold, the Orient Three Star multi-year calendar reference WV0131EU. I'll just call it "Rainbow".

The Rainbow is a member of Orient's famed multi-year calendar family. The multi-year calendar as a concept deserves an article of its own (on my to-do list, don't worry). This feature, where by rotating a wheel to place the current year under the current month you get a monthly calendar matching the date to a weekday, is sometime also referred to as a perpetual calendar.

As such, Orient definitely breaks the record for the world's cheapest Perpetual Calendar (Just kidding of course, I know what a proper Perpetual Calendar means)!

One record this piece is a true contender for, is "Most Colorful Watch Ever". At least as far as men's watches go. The Rainbow definitely features all colors of the rainbow – and a few extra colors too, I think.

Legibility, of course, is quite poor. The hands are thin and bland, and the watch needs to be tilted at the right angle for them to reflect light and stand out against the cheerful background. But of course, don't hold the watch at too acute an angle, else the sharp edges of the faceted, mineral glass would get in the way.

But then again all that does not really matter. Just enjoy the colors and the way the light plays with them and with the glass!

Accuracy? Well, the Rainbow uses the Orient EU movement, which does not hack. Considering the fact you cannot really set the exact time and that once set, you would not really see where the hands are pointing most of the time – accuracy doesn't really matter. Don't worry, like any fairly new and properly maintained Orient, it should be good enough and not lose or gain more than around 15-20 seconds a day, and often it would be much better than specs.

The Rainbow's case is well made for the price, nicely polished and comfortable. The crown is used for setting the time and date, while the pusher at 2 is used for rotating the year wheel. Now, the whole calendar thing, years, months and days, is also printed in rather tiny letters so you'd need to focus hard in order to make them out; but again, don't let this discourage you: think of it not as a hardcore time measurement device, but rather as a nice little toy to carry around on your wrist. You click the button, something moves, it's all good fun. Right?

Here it is pictured, on its original bracelet, with the "most colorful watch" runner-up – my old Tressa. I think they make good friends.

So there you have it, a completely illogical, illegible, ill-designed offering from Orient that is impossible not to love (unless you're a mean, dark soul). I don't think Orient is producing this specific design at the moment, although they might come back at some point. 

The Rainbow, and some similar colorful variations of the multi-year calendar, can occasionally be found in mint condition for anywhere between 150 – 200 US dollars. This model's year wheel only reaches 2024, so hurry up and make the most of the 6 years left for you to enjoy it!