“What’s this? New Orient divers? Nice!”
Sorry to burst your bubble, mate. While the ‘new’ part is true, Orient claims that the four new ‘Sports’ models you’re about to see are strictly “vintage-inspired diver design” watches. So, they may look like it, they’re not ISO-standard dive watches. Still, I’m pretty sure everyone here won’t be too bothered. I mean, look at the Seiko 5 “dive” watches and how well they’ve being received by the public.
If anything, Orient is just looking for a slice of what looks to be a pretty lucrative pie.
“So, what have we got here?”
Four new models, each with their own signature colour gradation dials. I should mention earlier that of the four, one is a limited edition model. The references are RA-AA0810N, RA-AA0811E, RA-AA0812L and RA-AA0813R. In sequence, the dial colours are grey, blue-green, blue and burgundy. Additionally, the unidirectional bezel inserts are also bi-coloured for added visual impact. The grey variant sees the bezel coming in with a lighter shade of grey for the 15-minute marker while the rest of the bezel features a darker grey-black hue.
The blue-green model has a green-black bezel while the blue-dialed variant spots a very familiar ‘Pepsi’ bezel. The burgundy dial model, which is the limited edition one, has a red-wine bezel. While we’re on the subject of the limited edition burgundy model, other differentiating cues include a bronze-plated steel case, a brown leather strap and a ‘Limited Edition’ and serial number-engraved caseback. Limited to how many units, you ask? Two thousand pieces worldwide is the answer.
“What’s ticking within…?”
Right, on to the tech specs. Mind you, the limited edition variant has exactly the same innards as the other three regular run models so the differences are all surface level essentially. The stainless steel case measures 41.8 mm across and stands at 12.8 mm. A sapphire crystal (nice!) is featured while a solid caseback with a dolphin motif is to be found on the rear. Inside the watch beats (at 3 Hz) Orient’s 22-jeweled F6922 automatic calibre with 40 hours of power reserve. Other features include a hacking function, day-date display and a quoted accuracy of +25/-15 secs per day. Water resistance stands at a solid 200 m rating.
In keeping with the dive watch theme, there’s lots of lume here. On the hour markers, the hands and even a pip at the 12 o’clock marker on the bezel. On all but the limited edition model, a stainless steel bracelet with a deployant buckle comes as standard. Finally, lug width is 22 mm.
“But wait! Orient has more!”
More? Yes, and this one is for the ladies. For 2022, Orient has unveiled five new variants under its ‘Contemporary’ collection for the fairer sex. The highlight here is the inclusion of eight rhinestones substituting the hour markers at 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 11 o’clock along with a mother-of-pearl dial.
The latter comes on two references (RA-NR2006A which has a gold-plated case and RA-NR2007A) while the other three feature a black, white and pink-hued dial (ref no. RA-NR2008B, RA-NR2009S, RA-NR2010P, respectively). Inside beats Orient’s automatic 55744 calibre with 40 hours of power reserve. Case dimensions include a diameter of 32 mm and a thickness of 11.1 mm. A sapphire crystal is featured along an exhibition caseback and all variants come on a five-link steel bracelet.
