Orient Mako 20th Anniversary Edition Contest + Discount Code

It's been a while since we've arranged a little something for Orient Place blog's followers. So, here is that "little something".

Last week I noticed a nice contest being run by WatchNation, a UK-based authorized retailer of Orient (and numerous other brands), who also ship internationally. WatchNation has apparently been granted exclusivity for selling the new Mako 20^th Anniversary Edition in the UK.

Now, they announced the following contest: for every 10 pre-orders received for the Mako Anniversary Edition, they'd be giving away 1 Orient Bambino Watch to a lucky winner, to be selected at random from those 10 pre-orders. 

                           

This seems like a great opportunity to build a two-watch collection inexpensively, with just a bit of luck: Orient's entry-level automatic diver-style watch and dress watch are two fine items. Plus, Easter is coming, so they can also make a pretty cool gift.

I did not get a chance to make a purchase with WatchNation before, but from my brief conversation with them and online reviews, seems like a more than decent retailer, with an online and brick-and-mortar store as well.

What's more, following my conversation, WatchNation also offered an exclusive discount code for Orient Place followers! Use code OP15 at checkout for 15% off the Orient Mako 20^th Anniversary.

Note, that the code is only applicable when purchasing the Mako 20^th Anniversary, and both code and the contest expire on March 31, 2024. Also note that while WatchNation's exclusivity is in the UK, the competition and discount code apply worldwide.

If you decide to enter the competition, I'd be happy to hear back on your experience, how you feel about the Mako Anniversary Edition (when you receive it), and of course, if you won a Bambino!

  

The Orient Star Survey Has Closed, And a Winner Announced!

Over the last two weeks, 99 questionnaire forms have entered our survey and were found to be eligible to participate in the draw, for a chance to win a new, limited edition Orient World Map Diver re-issue.

The winner was selected by means of double randomization: first, each entry was given a random number between 0 and 1, generated by Excel. All entries were sorted in the order of these random values, thus eliminating any importance of the original order of entry.

Then, a random number between 1 and 99 was drawn, again using Excel's random number generator. The number came out 87. So the winner was the 87^th entry in the sorted list.

And now that we got the geeky part covered, we can tell you who won... Congratulations, Luke from the USA!

We have reached out to the winner via email to inform him of the good news and to arrange the delivery. We hope the watch reaches you quickly and that you will enjoy it - and many thanks to everyone who participated!

The blog would like to thank Orient – Epson Europe for creating the survey and of course - for providing the World Map watch as a reward!

We're Handing Out An Orient World Map Watch!

Hello to all blog followers and readers. Today we are giving you a chance to win the limited edition Orient World Map Diver, courtesy of Epson-Orient!

And here are all the details…

 

What You Can Win…

The prize we are giving is the limited edition World Map, reference RA-AA0E04Y, with the lovely multicolor map that so authentically resembles Orient's original 1969 model. This is one of just 900 export units produced by Orient (in addition to 300 units sold in Japan). Its list price is around 480 USD.

Note: the reward watch is the item that has been reviewed and photographed in our review article. It has not been resized or worn (I used the white-dial model for on-the-wrist testing). Other than posing for some photoshoots, it remained in the box and is new and practically un-used: a worthy prize, then!

 

What You Need To Do…

To participate, you will need to fill out this questionnaire, concerning the Orient Star brand, prepared by Epson-Orient Europe. It includes 15 survey questions, plus 3 more questions to help us get in touch with you in case you win!

In order to be eligible for winning, we ask that you complete at least 13 of the 15 survey questions – this is important for the brand, as the purpose of this survey is obviously to get to know you better, and to learn how you perceive Orient Star and its watches.

The form is in English, and we ask that answers are written in English as well (doesn't have to be mother-tongue level… just clear enough to be understood).

Needless to say, only one survey submission per person is allowed.

Note: you may submit your forms between now and June 20, 2021 at noon (CET). Forms submitted later will not be eligible to participate.

How The Draw Works…

It's very simple:

1. On June 20, after the time for submitting answers has ended, we will take all the forms that have been submitted.
2. We would exclude all forms with less than 13 survey questions answered.
3. We would also exclude any forms that include gibberish or unclear answers, and any forms with missing contact information.
4. One form will be randomly drawn.
5. Then, we will contact the happy winner via the Email address provided, in order to arrange the shipment.

 

And that's all there is to it. Now go fill in that survey, and good luck!

Review Contest Winner

Orient Place Blog's Review Contest, which was launched on November 17, today concluded as the final showdown between our two finalists was decided: by popular vote, it was David's review of his Orient Star Titanium that ended up in second place, while Stefan was declared winner with the review of his Orient Ray II.

Stefan won with 2 named voters (and a bunch more who voted anonymously), while David got 1 vote. A modest victory then, but the reward is also modest so not a problem. As promised, Stefan gets a 50 USD coupon to buy a strap at Martu Leather, one of our favorite strap-makers, and a small business (that's always more rewarding than a big brand!)

And now that the contest is over, it's back to Business As Usual, and we have to continue to write our own reviews for the blog J ... So, later this month we'll entertain you with a review of one of Orient's most legendary watches of recent decades – the Saturation Diver!

The blog thanks all who participated in our watch review contest. If you enjoyed this and our other stories and posts, please follow this blog – you'll be getting the best Orient-related news, stories and reviews. You can also follow by liking the blog page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/OrientPlaceBlog

Orient Place Watch Review Contest – The Finals!

And so, we reach the final stage of our review contest… for your consideration below are two great reviews submitted by blog readers David and Stefan.

Now it's your turn! Vote for your favorite review - the one you've found most enjoyable, helpful, professional, or any other reason. To cast your vote, simply comment below on this post, write the reviewers name – either "David" or "Stefan" – and if you'd like to add some comments or compliments, feel free to do so!

The contest will be open for voting exactly one week, between now and Sunday December 8, noon CET. At that time, we will count the votes each contestant received, and announce the winning reviewer. In case of a draw, winner will be whoever got his total vote-count sooner.

Stefan's Review of his Orient Ray II

Some watches look unassuming on paper. In the Orient lineup, the Ray II is usually featured near the bottom, after the Neptune, Kamasu, Kanno, and Mako. Few reviewers mention the Ray. The spec sheet doesn't distinguish it from other offerings -- at 41.5mm, it doesn't fit the new trend of vintage-inspired smaller divers, and the movement is shared with many of its siblings. The water resistance is 200m, but the watch is not ISO certified.

I was drawn to the dial, which in my opinion looks cleaner than the Mako's, but my expectations were low. Maybe the Ray could serve as a beater watch. I spent the summer working on the rebuild of my house in Northern California, and maybe it would survive the constant dust, dirt, and abuse.

I don't like bracelets, so I bought the Ray on the rubber strap. It's not bad, but I changed immediately to a more comfortable NATO and wore the watch during days at the construction site. After a week, though, I noticed how reluctant I was to take it off. It was big and heavy enough to feel substantial, and yet it also felt perfectly comfortable. Depending on which strap I chose, the Ray turned from work watch to casual companion to dressy sports watch. It felt right in that certain inexplicable way only few watches do.

The case is 13mm thick and mostly polished, except for the brushed tops of the lugs. Dial and bezel insert are matte black. The design is clean, stripped-down. It has a hint of Submariner, but bezel, chapter ring, red-tipped seconds hand, and day/date window give it its own identity. The lume is spectacular and lasts all night; I don't ever have to look twice to read the correct time.

The crystal is mineral, which I prefer over sapphire's blue sheen. The Ray's only weak spot is the signed crown, which for my hands is too small. The F6922 movement, beating at 3hz and with a power reserve of 40 hours, allows for hand-winding and hacking, but the winding action feels rough. It's easy enough, though never pleasant. Good then that I rarely have the need to unscrew the crown. The Ray keeps great time, much better than the advertised -15/+25 accuracy, and I just never take it off. A tool has become a best friend.

David's Review of his Orient Star Titanium WZ0031AF

I've had this watch since 2016 and to this day I still find myself enamoured by the watch.

What I love about the watch:

·         Titanium case, case back, bracelet, crown and clasp. The bracelet comes with half-links and has some minor adjustments on the clasp. The titanium has also been treated with a scratch resistant coating.

·         The crystal is sapphire with Orient's Super Anti-Reflective (SAR) coating. At times it looks like the crystal is not there.

·         The overall polishing of the watch is superb. The "Zaratsu" polishing is well done. From the case to the applied indexes and hands, the various combination of brushed and polished surfaces  makes the watch "pop" in various lighting conditions.

·         The dial is flat with silver sunburst and with contrasting radial circles. Overall, the watch is quite easy to read in various light conditions.

·         The metallic blue hands for the second hand and the power meter are my favourite part of the watch. The blue is really beautiful when the right amount of light hits it.

·         Lume at each hourly mark and on the hands. While there isn't a whole lot of lume but, they are certainly legible at night.

·         In house movement: F6N42. This is a 22 jewel calibre that is nicely decorated. It has shock protection, hacks, hand winds and beats at 21,600bph.

·         10atm WR

·         Signed clasp and crown

Neutral Thoughts:

·         Exhibition crystal on the case back is probably mineral crystal.

·         21,600bph movement

·         The date change, like in typical Japanese fashion, takes almost an hour to complete.

·         The overall design is not unique, it has several design cues from other comparable Japanese watches.

·         Dimensions are a tad chunky sitting at 12mm height and 48mm lug to lug.

What I dislike:

·         The power reserve indicator design, wish it was more symmetrical.

Conclusion:

The Japanese are definitely the masters of light. The overall fit and finish of this Orient Star certainly punches above its price range. From the watches I've personally examined from Hamilton, Tissot to Oris as well as the Citizen Grand Signature none can match the overall presentation of this Orient Star.

Watch Review Contest Reminder and FAQ

I hope everyone's busy writing a review of their favorite (or other…) Orients! Well, honestly, no need to be so busy as it's really not very difficult or time consuming. Just a short, simple write-up, some basic details, pros and cons of your watch, a nice photo… and then you might win that cool reward from Martu Leather straps!

To help y'all out, sharing below a few questions that got sent to the blog regarding the contest, and answers:

·        Does the review need to be in English?

Well, yes… but it does not need to be perfect, just legible. We'll do minor editing, or ask for clarification if anything is not clear. Simple is best!

·        I don't have anything bad to say about the watch…

That's great. No need to make anything up, if you like everything about the watch you're reviewing, just say so.

·        I don't have all the technical specs of the watch

No problem, just list what you do know. If you have the reference, everything else should be fairly easy to find.

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. Though as mentioned on the contest announcement post, if anything gets sent in that somehow doesn't fully comply with the "rules", we will help you fix it.

In case you missed it – all the details are right here, on the announcement post! Deadline for submission is still December 1st, noon CET. 

Good luck!

Orient Place Blog's Watch Review Contest

Almost a year has passed since our last contest! We really enjoyed it last time, and want this year's contest to be even bigger, so – instead of just photos – we're doing a proper Watch Review Contest – and there's a prize! So, read below for all the details and rules…

1.          To participate in the contest – we would like you to write a short review of an Orient Watch you own. To be eligible for the contest, we'd like the review to be in English, contain no more than 400 words (so no need for long stories… mainly what you like about the watch, and what you do not like so much, quality, issues you've had, etc.) – and we also ask that you add one photo of the watch on your wrist.

2.          Send us the review and photo via our messenger address, at m.me/OrientPlaceBlog, or simply visit our Facebook Page (which you're surely familiar with!) and click on Send Message.

No need to attach any document, just paste your review text into messenger, and send that wrist-shot as well in the same way. Easier for us and for you J

3.          The submission stage of the contest will run until December 1st, 2019, noon CET.

4.          We will then select up to four reviews, and upload them onto a blog post, where readers will vote for their favorite review.

This how we'll pick the reviews for the final stage of the contest:

- First priority is for current models that are available to buy new in stores (thus making the reviews more useful for readers).

- If we still have many of those, the selection will be on a first-submitted, first-selected basis.

- Of course, we also expect the review to be nicely written and contain relevant information. However if we see something missing, the review will not be immediately rejected, we'll first ask you to add some info.

5.          After voting concludes, we will announce the winning reviewer.

And as promised, there will be a reward for the winner: a 50 USD coupon to buy a strap at Martu Leather, one of our favorite strap-makers that we have mentioned in our story on how to choose a strap for your Orient watch.

Ready? Set… Go!

And We Have a Winner!

Orient Place Blog's Photo Contest, which began on December 20^th, has ended last Thursday as the final showdown between our two finalists concluded with a clear win: it was Devon Ravine's great shot of his Orient Star Classic that had to settle on a respectable second place, with two votes – leaving the top of the podium for our contest winner with four votes, Andy Lewis.

Andy's winning shot shows his lovely blue-dialed Orient Bambino V4, in the driver's seat of a 1954 Packard sedan classic Americana – which, as its name implies, is a true American classic, providing an appropriate backdrop to a real Japanese classic. In Andy's words, "I love the size and features of this watch… makes it a real classic looking timepiece for a great value"

Andy, we've sent you your reward and a letter of confirmation for your win, and hope you get it soon – and that you continue to enjoy your watch.

And now that the celebrations and the holiday season are over, we go back to Business As Usual, and here's a little teaser to the story we have coming up next week… discussing one of Orient's more iconic family of divers!

Thanks again to all who participated in our photo contest. If you enjoyed this and our other stories and posts, please follow this blog – you'll be getting the best Orient-related news, stories and reviews. You can also follow by liking the blog page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/OrientPlaceBlog

Photo Contest Final Showdown

*** Edited January 10, noon CET: voting is now closed! Thanks for participating!


The Orient Place Holiday Photo Contest's first stage, which ended January 1^st, yielded some great photos! So first of all it is time to thank everyone who participated, either by posting pictures of their Orient watches, or by voting for their favorite photos.

Now, we move on to the finals... As promised, this is going to be a head to head contest between our two finalists, whose photos received the most Likes, and without further ado – here they are.

Contestant #1: Andy Lewis, with his photo of an Orient Bambino:

 If you like Andy's photo best, comment "Andy" below!

Contestant #2: Devon Ravine, and his photo of an Orient Star Classic:

If you like Devon's photo the most, comment "Devon" below!

The contest will run for a week, ending on January 10, 2019, noon CET. At that time we will pick the winner, who received the most votes (that is, the most comments with his name). Both finalists have already earned our respect – but the winner also gets a small but cool reward, two original Japanese Orient Store brochures.

So come on and vote! And if you would like to stay in touch to see who wins, as well as to enjoy more Orient photos, reviews, articles and news in the future, please follow this blog and/or like our Facebook Page.

Orient Watch Photo Contest Reminder

I hope everybody is enjoying their holiday ... and while you're at it, don't forget our Orient Watch Photo Contest is still open!

We already got a few great photos posted, so you're welcome to go on our Facebook contest thread and Like your favorite photos. But most importantly - post your own photos to join the contest!

Here again are the rules:

1.     Visit the contest post on our Facebook page, here

2.     To participate in the contest – post your best photo of an Orient watch as a comment on that Facebook post. One photo per participant, please, so choose your candidate photograph wisely!

Note - It doesn't necessarily have to be your own watch (and we wouldn't be able to tell if it is, anyway) but it has to be a watch that you personally photographed.

3.     Get as many Likes as you can; and don't just wait for Likes to happen… invite your friends – especially if they appreciate watches – to visit our page and Like your photo – and any other photo they think is good. Visitors are not restricted to liking just one photo.

4.     The contest will run on our Facebook page until January 1st, 2019, noon CET. Until then you can post photos and get Likes – but of course, the sooner you post your photo, the more time you'll have to get Likes.

5.     The blog also gets one vote for the photo we like the best.

6.     After voting concludes, there will be a final head-to-head contest between the two photos that got the most Likes.

Now – to make things interesting, we also have a humble reward for the winner, which Orient watch fans should appreciate: two authentic and very detailed Japan Orient Store brochures!

Okay, six days to go - that is plenty of time to get that perfect Orient shot... good luck!

The Orient Place Holidays Photo Contest

It seems everyone's running a photo-shoot contest nowadays – so why not have a contest of our own? After all, Orient watches are so photogenic!

So – today we're announcing the Orient Place Holiday Season Photo Contest. And here's how it is going to be:

1.       On the Orient Place Facebook page, there is a new post with a link to the contest announcement (i.e. the blog post you're reading right now)

You can visit the Facebook post directly, here

2.       To participate in the contest – post your best photo of an Orient watch as a comment on that Facebook post. One photo per participant, please, so choose your candidate photograph wisely!

Note - It doesn't necessarily have to be your own watch (and we wouldn't be able to tell if it is, anyway) but it has to be a watch that you personally photographed.

3.       Get as many Likes as you can; and don't just wait for Likes to happen… invite your friends – especially if they appreciate watches – to visit our page and Like your photo – and any other photo they think is good. Visitors are not restricted to liking just one photo.

4.       The contest will run on our Facebook page until January 1st, 2019, noon CET. Until then you can post photos and get Likes – but of course, the sooner you post your photo, the more time you'll have to get Likes.

5.       The blog also gets one vote J for the photo we like the best.

6.       After voting concludes, there will be a final head-to-head contest between the two photos that got the most Likes.

Now – to make things interesting, we also have a humble reward for the winner, which Orient watch fans should appreciate: these two authentic and very detailed Japan Orient Store brochures!

Alright then, what are you waiting for? Go post those photos!