You Probably Can Afford It is the sister series to our earlier series YPCAI- You Probably Can’t Afford It, which highlighted watches in the more money than sense price bracket. But for those of us who haven’t had quite as successful a decade as Simon Cowell, – and let’s not forget that the first X-Factor didn’t air until 2004 – this series uncovers watches that represent excellent value for money, and cost under £500.
One of the brands known well to watch connoisseurs on a budget is Orient. Orient’s origins date back to 1901, but the wrist watch side of the business began in 1950. Today the brand is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seiko Epson.
The Orient brand name is not as well known as some of the other Japanese watch giants, but they have a wide range of good looking and reliable watches under three main ranges, Orient, Orient Star and Orient Royal, the last of which is an exclusively Japanese range.
The emphasis is on mechanical movements. In fact over half their annual output is dedicated to mechanical watches. The Orient automatics offer top notch quality – sapphire crystal, steel cases, superb in-house movements and great accuracy.
Orient Star Power Reserve Automatic Open Heart
This quality stainless steel watch runs on an in-house Orient FH01-CO-CS in-house automatic movement. The watch is 38mm in diameter, not huge, but then watch sizes are starting to recede in line with skinny jeans and tight fitting suits. The watch features a second hand at 6 o’clock, a power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock a cutaway, or open heart as they like to call it, to the movement is at 9 o’clock and there’s a see through caseback. The watch has a 40 hour power reserve when fully charged. Shop around for this model and you can get it for around £200.
Orient EV0R001W
This 40mm watch with a beautiful silvered dial takes some of its inspiration from Rolex Day Dates, but at only £200, the price is very un-Rolex. It runs on an automatic in-house Orient calibre 46E40 movement. How good are these movements? Well parent company Seiko has produced certain automatic movements that have outperformed Swiss automatic movements, so it’s likely that calibre 46E40 is extremely reliable. There’s a rolling date wheel at 6 o’clock and a wide 3-day indicator above the 12 o’clock position.
Orient Star WZ0011EH Dynamic 55th Anniversary
This watch was brought out to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the brand. It’s a little more expensive at around £665, but a beautifully elegant watch nonetheless. It was developed purely for the Japanese market but now there are several outlets online where you can get hold of it. It’s a gold plated stainless steel three hander with an in-house movement with a 50 hour power reserve. Flip the watch over and you can see it functioning through the sapphire lens on the caseback.
