DAKS Fashion House and Orient Watches

As promised, the blog will occasionally take a look at co-branding initiatives where Orient have produced watches for other brands. The transition from the previous co-branding project we covered couldn't be sharper though, as we depart from the realm of Japanese action figures and arrive at the highly regarded and utterly British fashion house of DAKS.

"Established in 1894, DAKS produces luxury clothing and accessories for both men and women. DAKS is a holder of 3 Royal Warrants; representing our long standing relationship with the Royal Family and the outstanding quality of our products." (description taken from the DAKS website).

The cooperation between Orient and DAKS began in 2006, with a fairly modest release, of what Orient refers to as "pair models" – i.e. a couple of similar watches produced at "his" and "her" sizes. Those were fairly inexpensive quartz watches costing around $400 USD – not a lot considering the DAKS upmarket positioning.

A few years later, however, the cooperation picked up and DAKS moved into a higher segment of the watch market. Between 2009 and 2010 the two brands introduced a number of cool watches, all based on existing Orient designs but given the "DAKS touch" – mainly focused on the DAKS House Check, a unique checkered pattern identified with this fashion house.

At the top of co-branded offering were three watches based on the Royal Orient Cal. 48A40 (EG). These included a couple of pieces very similar to the Royal Orient ref. WZ0021EG, and a pocket-watch. Like the Royal Orient model, these watches were priced at around $1,800 USD.

The three pieces were encased in Sterling Silver and their dials were adorned with a texture reminiscent of the DAKS check; the straps provided for the wrist watches were also decorated with the familiar check pattern on the inside.

The following photo is taken from an old sales ad by an Orient AD. All other photos were taken from official Orient releases.

Another interesting DAKS model was the retrograde, based on Orient's familiar cal. 40A52 (note that this DAKS is not using the more finely regulated and decorated Royal Orient variant, cal. 40B50).

Orient launched two retrograde models, also featuring the checkered straps, and finely check-textured dials. They were priced at around 1,200 USD – similar to the equivalent Orient Star retrograde models.

Finally, Orient also produced a line of high-end ladies' watches, under the tagline "Elegant and Traditional". These were quartz watches, encased in stainless steel with rose- and yellow-gold toned versions, embedded with 24 diamonds and having a crown set with gemstones. The models were priced at just under 1,000 USD.

Nowadays, it's not too difficult to come across the simpler quartz DAKS models, many of which are solar-powered, on auction sites. However the mechanical DAKS pieces are very rare findings – and presumably were not being produced in very large numbers to begin with.

Are Orient's DAKS watches of any particular importance to collectors? Most likely not. While rare, not many people are looking for these items, and it does not seem that they have been at any time a central piece for the DAKS house – and currently, there are no watches featured on their website.

However, for avid Orient collectors, there's still a point of interest here. For instance, if one is looking for a pre-owned Orient Star retrograde and has the opportunity to buy a DAKS variant, this might be an interesting proposition – a chance to get the same Orient Star quality watch in an unusual guise.

Would you choose a DAKS-branded watch over the standard Orient, given the chance, or not? Let us know what you think!