Orient watches

Sitting here browsing the Orient website. Since you can get 50% off I was thinking of ordering. How are they? Are they better than the big I for instance? What is the connection to Seiko (I thought there was one)?

Are they worth the money or is it better to just pop for a Seiko?

WC, I've owned one, their new diver. Nice watch in every respect. Keeps great time, hardly any stutter to the second hand sweep. The watch just didn't sing to me so I sold it. But I think it's a far better brand than Invicta, though I believe some guys around here have some issues with the brand. But if you see one you like, I wouldn't hesitate to buy.

What type of issues...problems with the watches or service?

AO wrote:

WC, I've owned one, their new diver. Nice watch in every respect. Keeps great time, hardly any stutter to the second hand sweep. The watch just didn't sing to me so I sold it. But I think it's a far better brand than Invicta, though I believe some guys around here have some issues with the brand. But if you see one you like, I wouldn't hesitate to buy.

Don't know. Just heard a couple of folks not talk too warmly about the brand. BTW, Orient is owned by Seiko.

Here's the one that I owned

Ok...I got a day to think about it...going to stare at the one I want for a while and if I still have the urge for it in the morning I will give it a shot.

I still have a couple of the big I Pro Divers and as much as I like them, I simply refuse to put the big I on my wrist anymore...I tried, but just cant stand to look at them.

AO wrote:

Don't know. Just heard a couple of folks not talk too warmly about the brand. BTW, Orient is owned by Seiko.

OK, guys, weigh in with your comments about this one...I've had my eye on it for a while, never could get past the $825 pricetag...at 50% off, it's a definite "maybe".......and BTW, keep all stiltifying speech about the "woeful" size to a dull roar — if I wanted to hear about how nothing but manhole covers was good enuff, I'd ask them folks over at the Dark Side........however, I did notice that while the stats call it 44mm, the video says it's 42mm, 44mm with the crown...any better choices for the same price?

http://orientwatchusa.com/watch.php?id=40

I owned 3 Makos. All were purchased from OrientUSA with 50% off Coupons. The Pepsi was terrific and for $85 shipped a steal. I got it on rubber so it fit fine. No problems.

Ordered the Orange for $105 on SS. The, finally, the Yellow was available and ordered it too with 50% off. Both on SS. They arrived and both were far too short to wear. Contacted OrientUSA and asked politely about links. No reply. Wrote again and got a note saying that they were in HK at some trade fair and would get back to me by X date. No follow-up. Wrote again and was apologized to and told $6 per link. Ok. Here's $24 for 4 links to add to my Mako bracelets. 10 days later a package arrived. Inside were 4 links. They were the permanent links from the part near the lugs and could not be detached from each other. Wrote to the guy that had apologized and was lectured and told to just send the 2 watches in and his watch tech would install the links for me. Wrote and told him A) I'm not an idiot, B) I've installed hundreds of links, and C) he'd better learn something about his product if he wanted to actually continue in business. OldeCrow stepped in and sent me the 4 links. Never heard from the moron at OrientUSA with any kind of apology for their error or his condescending tone with me. Sold off the Makos and have not looked back.

LOADS of really bad CS stories on WUS. Just go to the SCO forum and look.

Nice watches. Kept good time. Really well made. Great bargains. Just couldn't look at them on my wrist without getting really annoyed.

Does Seiko OWN Orient or was it started by some guys who LEFT Seiko?

I'm no expert, but I'll give this a shot:

Orient has been around for along time. They were the number 3 watch company in Japan after Seiko and Citizen, that was until the quartz revolution. They still focus on mechanical watches, built in-house. They have some quartz watches, I think using Seiko movements. Quality ranges from cheap for their sub $100 quartz to excellent for their beautiful mechanicals up to several thousand dollars. You generally get what you pay for. Most popular are their excellent watches for several hundred dollars. They are well known in Japan and also popular in the middle east. They have not had good representation in North America (and I assume Europe) so I feel their designs are very Japanese. I love to see their full line when I visit Japan (a couple times per year). I am very impressed with their Royal Orient line, their equivalent to Grand Seiko.

Seiko invested some money into Orient several years ago. But they still operate as a separate company and separate brand.

I bought a couple of Orient watches in Japan. Orient has their own staff working in some of the larger retail dealers locations there. It is typical in Japan to have a manufacturer's rep on hand in the store for many major brands of products like cameras, electronics, and watches. It's great to talk to reps from Seiko, Orient, to get info direct from the source. Through those interactions I became an Orient fan.


Puritime is the official distributor in the USA: http://www.puritime.com/
They also run this web site: http://www.orientwatchusa.com/
Some models, especially higher end lines, don't seem to be available here, sold only in Japan.

I won a "name that watch" contest run by Puritime. I was awarded a free "Metro" series watch. Through that process I have found Puritime to be poor at communication. I'm not surprised that Doc found Puritime to be less helpful than he rightly expected, it matches my experience with Puritime. Like Doc, I am soured to the brand. I still have 2 Orient watches that I like. I try to associate them with the Japanese manufacturer and the great experience I found in Japan. If I didn't have that experience in Japan, I would see Puritime as Orient and I would probably be soured enough to get rid of these watches. I hope that one day Orient (Japan) wakes up to the fact that their US distributor is not representing their company well. I like Orient a lot and am disappointed with Puritime. I'm still waiting to see if Puriime addresses the disappointments I have.

I like Orient (Japan) and I like their mechanical watches. But for now, I'm not buying any more Orient watches.

Anomaly wrote:

Does Seiko OWN Orient or was it started by some guys who LEFT Seiko?

For many years Seiko was a silent partial owner of Orient (49% or some such) and then within the past 24 months they purchased all the outstanding stock. Orient continues to operate independently for design and production purposes.

Many of their automatics in the mid to lower range use older (1970s) model Seiko designs they purchased the rights to and which they have made modifications to over the years.

Good to know this about the company, I wouldn't mind getting a couple Orients but probably buy used and at a better price.

WOW !!! I never knew about a connection between Orient
and Seiko !..It's cool to see the history of brands like this. Now
if someone asks..we will know ! Excellent info..Thanks.

I asked the question a while back on why it seemed OrientUSA had a 50% off sale every month. The answer I received was that they wanted to show forum members their appreciation and get more exposure to the brand. I just deleted my last email from Joey basically saying the the subject title that this will absolutely be the Last 50% off sale. I guess only time will tell. After reading some of the first hand feedback experiences here, I am doubtful.

WatchNoob wrote:

I asked the question a while back on why it seemed OrientUSA had a 50% off sale every month. The answer I received was that they wanted to show forum members their appreciation and get more exposure to the brand. I just deleted my last email from Joey basically saying the the subject title that this will absolutely be the Last 50% off sale. I guess only time will tell. After reading some of the first hand feedback experiences here, I am doubtful.

They had to build a certain volume under their contract with Orient Japan to keep the distributorship in the US. Buy selling them just above cost they built their volume to a level that allows them to be ongoing distributors. Not sure if they will be able to maintain that level without serious discounts, particularly with the economy and their horrible CS, but only time will tell.

Docrwm wrote:

WatchNoob wrote:

I asked the question a while back on why it seemed OrientUSA had a 50% off sale every month. The answer I received was that they wanted to show forum members their appreciation and get more exposure to the brand. I just deleted my last email from Joey basically saying the the subject title that this will absolutely be the Last 50% off sale. I guess only time will tell. After reading some of the first hand feedback experiences here, I am doubtful.

They had to build a certain volume under their contract with Orient Japan to keep the distributorship in the US. Buy selling them just above cost they built their volume to a level that allows them to be ongoing distributors. Not sure if they will be able to maintain that level without serious discounts, particularly with the economy and their horrible CS, but only time will tell.

Thanks for that info Doc.

I also see another problem that has plagued other brands. People are now used to buying OrientUSA at 50% off. They have been doing it for the past several months, so when the sales stop, will they be willing to pay full price? Not to compare brands here, but I do like the old school Renato. I was able to buy the Stallion direct from Renato when they had their direct savings offers out there. I purchased it at such a great price that it's hard for me to see paying double now for the same watch.

WatchNoob wrote:

Docrwm wrote:

WatchNoob wrote:

I asked the question a while back on why it seemed OrientUSA had a 50% off sale every month. The answer I received was that they wanted to show forum members their appreciation and get more exposure to the brand. I just deleted my last email from Joey basically saying the the subject title that this will absolutely be the Last 50% off sale. I guess only time will tell. After reading some of the first hand feedback experiences here, I am doubtful.

They had to build a certain volume under their contract with Orient Japan to keep the distributorship in the US. Buy selling them just above cost they built their volume to a level that allows them to be ongoing distributors. Not sure if they will be able to maintain that level without serious discounts, particularly with the economy and their horrible CS, but only time will tell.

Thanks for that info Doc.

I also see another problem that has plagued other brands. People are now used to buying OrientUSA at 50% off. They have been doing it for the past several months, so when the sales stop, will they be willing to pay full price? Not to compare brands here, but I do like the old school Renato. I was able to buy the Stallion direct from Renato when they had their direct savings offers out there. I purchased it at such a great price that it's hard for me to see paying double now for the same watch.

I agree. Their strategy worked in the SHORT term but I believe has undercut the perception of the brands value to such an extent that it is a LONG term looser IMHO. Add to it their incredibly boneheaded mistakes and lack of follow-through in basic communication and I think they're DOA. Not wishing but just predicting.

Orient was the first non mainstream brand I was introduced to at WUS when I first joined, I had only heard of 10 or 15 brands of watches my whole life. I really liked them, unique designs, bright colors, cool non-standard day-date complications, and virtually none in the USA. I bought a couple very cool 'older styles' from HK. Then I got a 'Planet Orient' what an awesome watch on Overstock.com!! My newest one is the 'Racing Zebra' and you can tell the quality of Orient has gone down a couple of steps since the Seiko takeover.

Here my thoughts, just a made up story really with no proof....
Seiko has moved upscale big time in the last few years and they are using Orient to fill in some of the lower areas it has moved out of. They still sell Pulsar, but those have moved up in quality as well. Orient would never even think about making a quartz watch until Seiko provided a drop in solutuion. Orient still makes quality watches with in-house mechanical movements...but you need to be careful some of then new stuff is uncharacteristically junky.

The 50% off deal, I think is permenent, Seiko and Citizen sell at 25%-35% at the retail level, and up to 50% off on the internet....so how is 50% off on Orient any different? I am probably going to sell off some of these, but will keep the Planet Orient if I could only pick one.

Here are some photos of my Orients:

Excellent watches overall...the Japan only models are just awesome...one of the best accuracy out of the box I have ever seen

I have owned three Orients, none of them from OrientUSA. The watches are good and I believe that the standard Mako movement is better than the Seiko 7S movement because it seems to keep better time. I bought from Island Watch and received the watch promptly, didn't need anything else. The others are Orient Star models which were purchased from a Japanese dealer and a WIS in Australia. Now I have heard some unsatisfactory things about OrientUSA, especially the delayed response. I wouldn't over look the watch, but it does not look good when the official US distributor has bad CS.

userfriendly wrote:

I have owned three Orients, none of them from OrientUSA. The watches are good and I believe that the standard Mako movement is better than the Seiko 7S movement because it seems to keep better time. I bought from Island Watch and received the watch promptly, didn't need anything else. The others are Orient Star models which were purchased from a Japanese dealer and a WIS in Australia. Now I have heard some unsatisfactory things about OrientUSA, especially the delayed response. I wouldn't over look the watch, but it does not look good when the official US distributor has bad CS.

The "standard Mako movement" is a Seiko 7000 series movement from the 1970s that Orient purchased the rights to use. The 7s is an updated model. The main difference is not in the design, although there are differences, but in the assembly and final inspection of the movements. Orient actually makes an attempt at regulating their movements in the Makos.

Docrwm wrote:

userfriendly wrote:

I have owned three Orients, none of them from OrientUSA. The watches are good and I believe that the standard Mako movement is better than the Seiko 7S movement because it seems to keep better time. I bought from Island Watch and received the watch promptly, didn't need anything else. The others are Orient Star models which were purchased from a Japanese dealer and a WIS in Australia. Now I have heard some unsatisfactory things about OrientUSA, especially the delayed response. I wouldn't over look the watch, but it does not look good when the official US distributor has bad CS.

The "standard Mako movement" is a Seiko 7000 series movement from the 1970s that Orient purchased the rights to use. The 7s is an updated model. The main difference is not in the design, although there are differences, but in the assembly and final inspection of the movements. Orient actually makes an attempt at regulating their movements in the Makos.

Aside from the Orient 469/Seiko 7000 based movement..Orient consistently had beat Seiko(and Citizen) in accuracy in the low end renditions, hands down .... basically for years and long before the Seiko take over , their low end offerings were consistently within COSC specs, an amazing feat considering the entry level pricing and most likely like Doc is stating, attention to details on the final stages of production have made a difference...
Here is some good info...
www.watches.zsebehazy.com/orient_movements.htm

eddiea wrote:

Aside from the Orient 469/Seiko 7000 based movement..Orient consistently had beat Seiko(and Citizen) in accuracy in the low end renditions, hands down .... basically for years and long before the Seiko take over , their low end offerings were consistently within COSC specs, an amazing feat considering the entry level pricing and most likely like Doc is stating, attention to details on the final stages of production have made a difference...
Here is some good info...
www.watches.zsebehazy.com/orient_movements.htm

Eddie,

Thanks for the link, I had it at one point but could not relocate it the last time I needed to find it.

Well it is ordered. Dont know how long it will take to get...hopefully next week? They only had one shipping option.