Orient

Founded 1950 · Tokyo, Japan (origins in the Ueno district; historic manufacture in Hino and later in Akita Prefecture) · Shogoro Yoshida

Orient is a Japanese watch manufacture descended from the trade of Shogoro Yoshida, who opened a watch shop in Ueno, Tokyo, in 1901. The brand as it exists today was constituted in 1950 during the post-war rebuilding and established itself as one of the few Japanese makers with automatic movements of its own. It now belongs to the Seiko Epson group and remains a benchmark for affordable mechanical watchmaking, valued for what it gives for the money and for its high-end Orient Star line.

History

The story begins in 1901, when Shogoro Yoshida opened the Yoshida Watch Shop in Ueno, Tokyo, selling imported pocket watches; by 1913 he was making cases, and in 1920 he founded Toyo Tokei Manufacturing, which began producing wristwatches in 1934 and built the Hino factory in 1936. After the post-war collapse, the company was refounded in 1950 and formally took the name Orient Watch Co., Ltd. The prestige line Orient Star appeared in 1951. The decades that followed brought technical models such as the Dynamic (1956), the Grand Prix 100 (1964) and the Fineness (1967), presented as the thinnest day-date automatic of its time. In 2001 Seiko Epson took a majority holding, and in 2009 Orient became an Epson subsidiary, fully folded into its watch business in 2017. In 2004 the house showed its ambition with the Royal Orient and calibre 88700, while Orient Star has kept innovating with silicon escapements in recent editions.

Iconic models

Orient Bambino
A dress automatic launched in 2012 with a retro domed crystal; it became the brand's most popular affordable mechanical.
Orient Mako
The reference diver (200 m) that appeared in the mid-2000s; it turned 20 in 2024 as one of the best-loved affordable divers.
Orient Ray
The Mako's sibling diver, with classic luminous markers; the Ray II and Mako II were renewed together in 2016.
Orient Star
The house's high-end line since 1951, with fine finishing, a visible power reserve and refined calibres.
Orient M-Force
A rugged professional diver with a power-reserve indicator, the brand's sporting badge.

Worth knowing

Orient is one of the few watchmakers in the world that designs and builds its own automatic movements end to end — rare at its price. Its calibre production is concentrated in Akita Prefecture, in northern Japan.