The Other 8 Beat Orient Movements

More than two years ago, I wrote about the Orient GM. That watch used caliber 26960, an 8-beat (or, 4 Hz) movement that Orient borrowed from Seiko, where it was called caliber 5216A.

Well, it turns out the GM was not the only 8 beat movement ever used by Orient. So today, we'll look at three more examples – one dating back to the late sixties, and two other closely related calibers presented in the 2000's and put to use in Royal Orient models.

Caliber 41320 (and possibly additional caliber 41xxx family members) was an 8-beat, hand-winding movement, small enough to fit in watches designed for women and boys.

The exact origins of this caliber are very hard to track down. It looks a bit different from other Orient movements of the time, so its design may have been based on some Swiss movement. It was, however, manufactured by Orient in Japan.

We found this movement in two types of watches from the late sixties and early seventies. First, it was used in a unique dive watch (pictured above), smaller in diameter than Orient's King Divers, which replaced the 1968 "Surfin' Diver". The other type of watch using caliber 41320 was a line of ladies' models, named Orient Lausanne.

Why Orient chose to put a hi-beat movement in watches intended for boys and women, is not clear… it does however hint that the movement was indeed borrowed from an outside source for its small size, and the higher frequency was just a "side effect".

Note that some versions of the Lausanne had a higher jewel count of 21 / 25 stones vs. the basic movement's 17 stones. The higher versions may have been used in more expensive Lausanne references.

Caliber 41320-based watches are quite rare nowadays, but one would occasionally pop up on sale. I did not see any such piece in really good condition recently though. So it is quite difficult to say anything about the quality of these pieces. If any reader has first-hand experience with this caliber, please share your impressions with us (here in comments, or on our Facebook page) – that would be very interesting!

Some three decades passed before Orient returned to hi-beat territory. It was in 2004, at the re-launch of the Royal Orient moniker, that Orient chose to present a new high-end movement developed in-house: caliber 88700.

Cal. 88700 featured 30 jewels, 45-hour power reserve, +6/-4 seconds per day accuracy, automatic and hand winding, central seconds, a date wheel, and – yes! – 28,800 beats per hour frequency. That must have made Orient engineers very proud, and the achievement was mentioned in any historical reviews published by Orient ever since.

The first model to use the new movement was reference WE0011JA boasting a lovely silver dial with high decorations. Next followed ref. WE0021JA (same dial, different logo), WE0031JA (black dial), and WE0041JA (same dial, leather strap instead of bracelet).

Four years later, in 2008, Orient presented caliber 88A00, which was very similar in design and specs, but with the addition of a power reserve indicator. Two models would be using the 88A00: reference WE0011JB (silver dial) and WE0021JB (black dial).

And that's it for now. You have the complete chronicles of Orient high beat movements: the 8-beat cal. 26960, cal. 41xxx, and cal. 88x00; and the 10-beat caliber 9980.

Photos of Lausanne models and of the 8-beat diver were obtained from various sale ads of pre-owned watches.

Need For Speed: Orient Tenbeat

If the story of the rarest Orient of all has whetted your appetite for obscure, legendary unicorns from Orient's past, today we have another one for you. Today we'll talk about the Orient Tenbeat, a watch that we've actually touched on briefly in this old post concerning the Orient GM.

First, a little watchmaking history. The race for movements with faster frequencies heated up in the mid 1960's, as both Swiss and Japanese manufacturers were aiming for the 5 Hz, or 10 beats per second, goal. The benefit, presumably, would have been higher accuracy than the then-prevailing 2.5 or 3 Hz calibers; the cost, most likely, greater wear of the mechanical components.

While Girard Perregaux were first to hit the target in 1966, Seiko did not take much longer to come up with their own competitor, cal. 5740c, which in 1967 was placed inside the brand's Lord Marvel watch (which, by the way, I have as well – it's super smooth to this day).

Of course, other Japanese brands could not afford to stay behind. Citizen presented its caliber 7230-driven Leopard 36000 in 1969, and soon after, in 1970, Orient presented a 5 Hz movement of its own – the 28 Jewel, incabloc-equipped, cal. 9980.

Orient seems to have taken much pride in that caliber, mentioning it in many lists of historical achievements advertised by the brand. While there is very little "behind the scenes" information from that era in Orient, the movement does not seem to bear much visual resemblance to Seiko's 5740 or to Citizen's 7230, so it was likely all or mostly engineered in-house. If that is true, it is evidence of Orient's technical prowess.

The watch itself appears to have been quite nice, featuring a cushion case, a simple yet attractive dial, and the day and date presented one on top of the other in one large window. Both day and date had a quickset option, one from the crown and the other using the pusher at 2.

Like in the case of the "rarest orient" WE0011DU, there are hardly any real-life photos of the Tenbeat available. The only ones I could find were posted years ago by this museum shop in Japan.

Once again, this watch is beyond rare. Its footprint is so faint it almost does not exist at all. And yet, surely, some Tenbeats must exist, somewhere! So if you ever come across one – keep quiet, try not to scare it; take a picture of it, mark the place where you saw it, and move away carefully. Oh, and share all the details with me!

The Orient GM

The GM is a little-known line of models from Orient, which I believe any Orient collector should know. Today I would like to tell you about my GM, A unique piece with a story…

In the late 60s Orient wanted to join the "arms race" to high beat movements. It first developed the "tenbeat" (presented in 1970), an ultra-rare piece sold in minute numbers which I can only assume did not cover the cost of development. Not that there are any available articles discussing what happened back then, but being an industrial engineer and business manager, I think that is a pretty safe assumption.

Looking for a commercially viable endeavor, Orient chose a more sensible approach, an 8 beat movement for an affordable watch. So they went to Seiko and sourced their brand new 5216A movement. This was a member of the 5200 family, acknowledged as one of the best 8 beaters at the time, that was driving some of Seiko's finest models like King Seiko and Lord Matic. Orient dubbed it the caliber 26960 and placed it inside a new model line - the GM.

That was the only Orient produced with a Seiko movement prior to the latter's acquisition of Orient; and to the best of knowledge one of only two such cases ever, the other being a more recent attempt by Orient at mechanical chronographs, powered by a Seiko chronograph movement.

The GM line too did not last for long. Only a few variations were made around 1970-71. Not as rare as the tenbeat but still difficult to find in good condition, I somehow stumbled upon this one NOS. With the tag and stickers still on!

This particular GM has a lovely blue textured dial with just the right amount of shine, a finely brushed case with a polished bezel, and an overall slim and elegant look. An absolute joy to wear and behold.

The 5216A was relaunched by Seiko in the 90s as the 4s15, part of the 4s family, positioned very high up the scale of Seiko models of that era. Watches containing either the 4s15 or the older 5216 nowadays fetch anywhere from 600 dollars to well above 1000, if in decent condition. This piece cost less than 300. Another reason to love Orient!