As if the new line of Orient Star Skeleton models, with their F8 movement boasting 70 hours of power reserve, wasn’t enough – Orient have just presented a new flagship model to head this collection. At least for a short while – until the limited production run finishes shipping out the 200 numbered pieces.
The technical specifications of the new reference RK-AZ0003L
are the same as the rest of the collection: the 38.8mm wide, 46mm long, stainless
steel case houses the latest caliber F8B63 with its blue silicon escape wheel, and
+15/-5 seconds per day accuracy.
The new dial appears to be even more finely finished than
the original models (which weren’t half bad too). The minute track and
sub-dials get black accents that contrast nicely with the silver tones of the
other dial elements. And – whether you like it or not – the 12 o’clock marker
is adorned with two diamonds.
Everything else is pretty much the same, such as the crocodile
leather strap with its three-fold buckle, the front and back sapphire crystals,
and no doubt – a high level of finishing all round.
For some added interest, Orient named this model “C / 2021 A1”,
after a newly discovered comet by the same name, which is said to come close
enough to Earth to be visible in the naked eye, sometime in December this year.
This watch, however, is expected to be available sooner, in mid October.
The whole thing is now priced around 10% higher than the other
references in the skeleton collection, MSRP placing it way above 3000 USD – among
the most expensive Orients ever. Will it hold its price? How quickly would
Orient be able to dish out those 200 units? Time will tell.
for me, legibility is a key criteria in a watch and not too sure how this will be in that category....is it a prestige shop only collection (JDM) or available globally through ADs?
ReplyDeleteIt's JDM but not exclusively Prestige Shop, which means it's likely to be available online - probably already on pre-sale.
DeleteI really don't understand why we can't just get a third layer of branding with Royal Orient back. It's a better look to have 3 tiers especially when they insist on OS going into 2-3k. The higher end OS look alright on camera but it's always this vague question of "uuuhhh maybe I need to see this in real life but the case finishing doesn't look better then the current contemporary basic dates for 400ish". It's also this weird prison where the only higher end watches we can get HAVE to be the classic skeletons OR have an open heart and the fridge thrown at them. I could be wrong but none of the modern OS around 2-3k look nowhere near as well done as the we0031ek/we0041ek, which imo kick the shit out of these even if the movement is basic and much less impressive.
ReplyDeleteThe new OS don't look bad but they don't look like they are these genuine attempts to get 2k out of you or actual luxury pieces when they are teetering in that territory. If anything these feel like disingenuous MSRP prices aiming to just kind of orbit in the japanese grey market, where they just kind of lob out random SKUs seeing how much they can get and how low they have to go.
I generally like Epson's influence but wtf, still sitting around hoping they have some vision for high end Orient that actually visibly look like luxury pieces and not these odd mid tier inflated price dress skeletons for either real life salaryman shoppers in japan or the 12 people overseas that want to spend over 1k on a skeleton Orient Star.
I guess if Orient were successful at selling $2K+ models in greater numbers they'd consider a return of Royal Orient. But these at the moment are a minority. I think only Classic Skeletons are up there, with the moon phase coming close. But honestly I think the moon phase price is justified, given the competition.
DeleteThe majority of Orient Star line up today is sub $1K and trust me, they look and feel better than most non-Star orients (though some of the upper end non-Star like M-Force are very well made).
I agree with Stars being better then normal Orient, I just don't understand why they don't have that clear separation once again for over a thousand or so. It's a matter of changing a logo, not even marketing because as we both know Orient is pretty anti marketing or at least good/effective marketing.
DeleteIf they are already going to make these watches, even if they are in the hundreds in terms of quantity then just make it this obvious premium reserve line. Make it a new line name with a new logo if they want royal orient to be dead. I don't know it's just frustrating to see more and more skeletons year after year.
ESPECIALLY when they are developing this technology, what is the point of this insane inhouse moonphase or this 70 hour power reserve caliber if we are only going to get it in open heart throwaway SKUs forever (I don't hate open hearts I have a few, but I hate this auto generated picture of what a higher end orient is and has been for some time now).
I don't even think the Epson takeover is an excuse anymore when everyone is going so high up market. 2k done to perfection 3 handers and clean moonphases / inhouse whatever is not exactly competition with a 9f Grand Seiko in 2021 or any of the psychos buying prospex diver reissues. Waaaaaaay different market.5 years ago maybe that was a valid reason for high end Royal Orient pricing, now? Not so much. Even the limited edition low quantity reason I don't think is an excuse for not doing royal-esque models and designs, that is every single brand now, low numbers and "limited".
One possible explanation would be that they want these higher end models to promote the Orient Star brand - rather than serve as their own profit center.
DeleteYou are right about the open heart, I think some of Orient's nicer looking models are solid dials - like the Outdoor or the new Diver 1964. They should do more of these.
And I do hope (and am quite certain) we'll see F8 movements begin to feature in more mundane models, starting next year.
Personally, orient should focus on getting the brand positioning of orient star correct before they even consider relaunching royal orient. Right now, we can talk about the differences in finishing and certain features that separates orient star from Orient or Orient m-force but what does that really say about orient star?!
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