Orient's Pocket Watches

Pocket watches emerged in the early 16th century, when portable timekeeping was first made possible by compact spring-driven mechanisms. Initially worn as pendants, these early watches were both rare and ornate - more symbols of status than reliable instruments. As craftsmanship improved, so did accuracy and design, and by the 17th century, pocket watches had become flatter and rounder, allowing them to slip more easily into waistcoat pockets - a style shift that coincided with changes in men’s clothing, particularly the rise of the three-piece suit.

Through the 18th and 19th centuries, pocket watches evolved into essential daily tools. They were refined with complications, robust cases, and eventually standardized movements that made them vital not just for gentlemen but for railway conductors, military officers, and professionals across fields. This golden age continued until the early 20th century, when wristwatches - initially a novelty and often considered too delicate or feminine for men - gained prominence during and after World War I, eventually replacing the pocket watch in everyday use.

Today, the pocket watch seems to be enjoying a quiet return, not as a utilitarian object but as a fashion statement. On recent red carpets, particularly high-profile events like the Met Gala, celebrities such as Jenna Ortega and Leon Bridges were seen wearing pocket watches, in a pretty extravagant manner, and in great stylistic sync with one another. A good excuse, then, to talk about Orient's pocket watches!

And indeed, throughout the years, Orient has played with the concept of a pendant or pocket watch a few times. Earliest examples were included with the Orient Star Dynamic line, in the late 1950s.

Both the round version and the triangular one (which was also discussed before on the blog) were pretty uncommon releases at the time, and probably produced in very small numbers. Hence, sample of these are near impossible to find nowadays.

With the brand's focus on wristwatches, it took years – in fact, decades – before considering pocket-watch format again. Indeed I've seen some odd picture of an "AAA 21 Jewel" pocket watch but that looked so out of place I am almost certain it was a re-casing of an old wristwatch. But the next familiar pocket-watch releases I am confident with, were quartz models produced in the 1980s.

All examples I saw of these items were gold-toned, and quite minimalist in design. They seem to have been mainly aimed at female buyers, to be worn as pendants.

Again it took some time before Orient returned to making a pocket watch. Around 2002 the brand released Orient Star Royal reference WZ0041EG, a truly fine piece in the brand's highest standards of watchmaking at the time. Hand-wound caliber 48A40 ensured an accuracy of +10,-5 seconds per day and 50 hours of power reserve.

A few years had passed and Orient Star Royal became "Royal Orient". Some of the older models were discontinued, but the pocket piece was among the lucky few to get rebranded, and so – we got reference WE0041EG, essentially the same watch but arguably carrying the nicer logo.

Note that these models, despite being of a much higher quality (and price point) than their quartz predecessors, were only produced in Stainless Steel – and I feel the subtle elegance of these was indeed much better suited for the pocket watch concept than the gold paint of the quartz.

Orient's last batch of pocket watches was produced in the early 2010s. These weren't Royal or Star but "regular" models, yet they were quite nicely designed and made. These included WV0011DD and WV0031DD pictured above, and WV0021DD shown below.

The earlier references with Arabic numerals were introduced in 2010, and made use of the then-new caliber 48C40, a downgraded version of the Royal 48A40, having simpler decoration and reduced accuracy of +25/-15 seconds per day. The last version, having the Roman numerals, was added in 2013. That was Orient's last pocket watch, at least for now.

 

Photos were taken from old Orient catalogs and sale ads, except the "celebrities" photo taken from GQ magazine.