Orient's Triple and Double Movement Watches

Watches that contain two (or more) movements can turn out rather funky. And Orient, as a brand never shy of going funky, definitely had made a few attempts at producing such watches, with varying degrees of success.

 

The Mecha-Trenics

The beast that started the trend was the 2004 "Mecha-Trenics", and a beast it was! That was a 50mm-wide case, housing no less than three independent mechanical calibers "55", a fairly small movement primarily used for women's watches.

The implementation of the movements was rather curious, though that was probably mandated by the crowdedness of the dial. You had one movement driving the "1^st time zone", a dub-dial with a full set of hour, minute, and second hand. Another movement drove the "2^nd time zone" with the hour and minute hands; and the third one moved only an hour hand, representing a "3^rd zone". All three zones had their own date display though…

The "Tre" in the name indicated the trio of movements, by the way – it had nothing to do with (elec)tronics, as the watch was indeed purely mechanical.

Two models were produced, each a limited edition of 999 pieces: Reference WV0011NT had a black dial, while ref. WV0021NT had a white dial.

 

"Stylish and Smart" Dual

Throughout much of the 2010s, Orient pushed forward with their "Stylish and Smart" line, an eclectic collection of watches that featured a modern, mostly young and fun kind of styling that avoided conventional time-telling designs. It was there where in 2012 the company introduced its new "Dual" concept.

The Dual watches combined an automatic movement along with a quartz movement to show two time zones. The first two releases, ref. WV0011XC and WV0021XC, were constructed using rectangular cases, measuring 31mm across and 49.5mm long (fairly big for a lugless design). The automatic caliber presented time digitally, using rotating discs, at the top – and the quartz running normal hands in a lower sub-dial.

In 2013 Orient presented the "Dual II", this time in a round 43mm case. Four models were produced in different colors. It's fair to say that the Dual II was a much better design, and these are some pretty cool watches.

Also, note that Orient being Orient, they would not just settle for squeezing two movements and two dials into one reasonably sized case; they also added an internal rotating "calendar" bezel – the kind where you align the weekdays and dates at the beginning of a month to enjoy a daily calendar for the rest of the month.

 

"Moussy" Watches

No historical review of Orient oddball creations would be complete without an even more oddball creation coming in from leftfield, would it? enter Moussy.

Moussy is a Japanese women's fashion brand. Orient started cooperating with Moussy in 2013, when it launched a bunch of quartz watches – including some dual-movement releases.

One style of dual watches consisted of a couple of small cases lined up together on a strap. A few references in different color combinations were presented, and they actually seem to have been very nice and wearable items.

The other type of dual Moussy watches was the real deal: a 50mm satellite-dish of a case, providing plenty of room for a couple of quartz movements to show the time on fairly legible sub-dials; legible, if it weren't for the cartoon dial, that is.

And this, more or less, is it. Today Orient is not producing any new dual (or triple) movement watches.

Photos were taken from official Orient advertising, except the photo of the two mecha-trenics versions, taken from Watch Tanaka blog.

New Models Added To The Bambino Family

A bunch of new references has recently been added by Orient to the Bambino family, or "Classic and Simple" series, as it is called in the brand's formal announcements.

The quintuple includes:

·         Ref. RA-AC0018E, with a green dial and a mesh bracelet

·         Ref. RA-AC0019L, with a navy blue dial and mesh bracelet

·         Ref. RA-AC0020G, with a crème or beige colored dial, and mesh

·         Ref. RA-AC0021L, with a navy blue dial and matching blue leather strap

·         Ref. RA-AC0022S, with a white dial and black leather strap

All models feature roman numerals at 12 and 6 and stick markers for the other hours. The case is the standard for the series 40.5mm wide, 12.3mm thick stainless steel piece with exhibition case-back and mineral glass.

Prices have not been mentioned, but are likely to be in the same range as other members of the Bambino family.

Interestingly, no Japanese (RN-xxx) references have been provided, so at least for now, these are strictly non-Japanese models that should soon be available for worldwide distribution.

Orient's Skeleton Watch History

Watch brands have different ways of showing off their fine watchmaking expertise. One such method is producing skeleton watches, in which as much of the dial and movement bridges are stripped ("skeletonized") to provide a clear view of the beating heart of the mechanism.

Skeletonization is a very delicate art. When done right and skillfully executed, it can result in a highly exquisite timepiece. However, poor design or low-quality execution of a skeleton watch would likely end up looking cheap, hard to read, and generally very far from making a positive impression.

Orient too dipped its feet in the skeletonized end of the watchmaking pool, with varying degrees of success. Let's look at the company's skeleton watches over the years.

The Mon Bijou

In 1991, Orient introduced the curiously named, and non-Orient branded, "Mon Bijou" – literally meaning "my jewel", in French. A number of Mon Bijou versions were released, all featuring a hand-wound movement, but differing in the style and finishing.

The Mon Bijous were fairly small watches, measuring around 35mm in diameter, give or take (versions did differ slightly). Today you may find it advertised as either Men's or Women's watch, although it really is kind of unisex – with some of the versions leaning more toward the feminine end of things.

Nowadays, these early skeletons may seem a bit over-the-top ornate, their flamboyance out of line with the brand's DNA (and with their petite size…) – but at the time, they represented the top of Orient's watchmaking skills.

 

Orient Star / Royal Skeletons

A few years later (probably around 2000, though I could not pinpoint the exact time), the skeleton design found a new home under the Orient Star and Star Royal branding.

The "Star Royal" variant, ref. EQ00-A1, received the more elaborate execution of the movement, while the mere "Star" ref. EQ00-A2 boasts a more subtle and actually fairly elegant view of the movement. By the way, make no mistake, both are in stainless steel and gold plated. None of the Orient skeletons was ever made in solid gold.

The next iteration of the skeleton came in 2004 with the introduction of caliber 48B56, offering improved accuracy of +10/-5 seconds per day (vs. the earlier model's roughly +15/-7), a power reserve display, and the hacking mechanism missing in the older models.

At first, this movement was cased as "Orient Star Royal", with ref. WZ0011FQ in stainless steel and WZ0021FQ being gold plated. These watches also featured slightly larger diameters of 37mm without the crown.

Reference WZ0031FQ joined the pack a little later, bearing only the Orient Star logo and featuring unique bridges very reminiscent of Girard Perregaux's signature skeleton bridges, as seen below in the smaller picture.

 

Royal Orient Skeletons

In 2007 came the next iteration of cal. 48B56, this time in full Royal Orient guise, as the Star Royal was now renamed. References WE0011FQ and WE0021FQ were almost identical, except the sub-dial track colors, silver in the first and black in the latter. Also, a thin white line was added to the hour and minute hands of the darker version to improve legibility. Case size grew a little again, reaching 38mm.

A couple of years later, these were released again as Ref. WE0031FQ and WE0041FQ, differing only in the new Royal Orient logo.

In 2010, Orient introduced the rarest and finest execution of its Skeleton watch yet – ref. WE0011DU. The story of this unique creation was posted here on the blog last year.

 

Orient Star Vintage and Classic Skeletons

In 2013 Orient announced a new skeletonized movement – caliber 48E51 – and a new line of watches, the Orient Star Vintage Skeleton. Two limited editions of 500 pieces each were introduced: ref. WZ0011DX with a gold-plated case and champagne-colored dial, and WZ0021DX with plain steel case and silver-colored dial.

Once again, the new models featured a slightly larger case, with their width now reaching 39mm. Despite the "vintage" in their name, embodied mainly in the use of an old Orient Star logo, their design was actually more modern, featuring a cleaner look than earlier Orient skeleton watches.

In 2016 Orient released the Orient Star Classic Skeleton, using the same movement but returning to a more ornate dial design. Ref. WZ0031DX featured gold-plating on the stainless steel case, while WZ0041DX kept it clean. The movement inside was gold plated on both though.

Later that same year, reference WZ0051DX joined the collection, featuring dark-brown dial elements. This was a limited edition, sold exclusively on Orient's Prestige Shops. The last member of the DX family, ref. RK-DX0001S, was released in 2017. Here most of the golden elements were removed in favor of a clean silver-grey appearance; even the gold-plated movement was replaced with a similar non-plated version, cal. 48E52.

 The 70^th Anniversary Skeletons

We are skipping a few other watch models like Orient's long-running "Modern Skeleton" collection, and the recent "Avantgarde Skeleton". These do not feature a fully skeletonized movement, and more accurately belong in Orient's broad range of Semi-Skeleton watches.

And so we arrive in 2021, when finally a new movement and a new line of skeleton watches were introduced. As we reported here back in January, Orient presented caliber F8 featuring 70 hours of power reserve, with two new skeleton models housing it - Reference RK-AZ0001S with a champagne-colored dial, and RK-AZ0002S featuring a white dial, both in stainless steel cases.

 

And that's it – you have the full history of Orient's skeleton watches!

 

Photos were taken from official Orient catalogs and old sale ads.

New M-Force and Moon Phase Models from Orient

Orient introduces today a bunch of new watches, providing an interesting take on existing designs: an "outdoor", or field / military style version of the M-Force; and Moonphase watches with a Mother-of-Pearl dial.

The Outdoor M-Force

This one is based on the latest iteration of the M-Force dive watch. Two primary differences have been made to set this version apart from its marine counterpart: the divers' bezel has been replaced with a navigation bezel, and the dial markers have been made thinner (perhaps as to make for a bit stealthier appearance at night, when one goes about their covert military mission).

Other than that, the overall construction, general specs and dimensions are unchanged, including the 200m depth rating and the extra anti-shock protection which is an M-Force hallmark. This is still 45mm wide (47 counting the beefy crown guard) and 52mm lug to lug, which, as we discovered on our hands-on review, are in fact perfectly wearable and – for wrists not too scrawny – even comfortable.

Two models are being introduced at this time:

·         Reference RN-AC0N01B features raw stainless steel bezel and crown guard (making for a unique appearance among previous M-Force versions) with a matching steel bracelet and a matte black textured dial.

·         Reference RN-AC0N03E features black coating on the bezel and crown-guard and a green, military-looking textured dial. This one comes on a nylon NATO-style strap.

Prices are the same as the dive-oriented versions. Availability is scheduled for June 3.

The blog's verdict: This is a welcome addition to the M-Force collection. We already learned to love the base models and are always happy for a greater diversity of options to choose from.

 

The Orient Star MOP Dial Moonphase

This release extends the range of Contemporary Moon Phase models introduced last year. Interestingly it is this more modern and technical-looking collection, rather than the classic moon phase collection, that Orient chose to put the MOP dials on. This, despite Mother-of-Pearl dials being generally considered romantic and a little bit old-school.

Here too, the base model's overall specs have been preserved. The watch measures 41mm across, 48.5mm lug to lug, and the main design elements, case structure and dial layout – including that lovely moon-phase display – are unchanged.

Two models are being introduced at this time:

·         Reference RK-AY0005A has a silvery-white MOP dial, and will go into regular production.

·         Reference RK-AY0006A has an interesting looking dial which, in the style of MOP, appears to be a mix of greenish and bluish hues, and will likely have a cool effect in changing lighting conditions. It will be a limited edition of 700 pieces, considered to be part of Orient Star's 70th anniversary releases, of which 500 are reserved for distribution in Japan.

Prices are about 100 USD higher than the standard versions, which appears to be a reasonable premium. Availability is scheduled for June 3.

The blog's verdict: The contemporary moon-phase watch is already an impressive piece, offering a high level of watchmaking. If you like the basic design and the moon phase complication, and are fond of MOP dials, the new releases should get you excited.