Ask a bung of guys to name some watch brands that spell quality and I bet you, Orient will be one of the brands they name.
In fact, 40 years ago, when I was a little kid, we knew of only three watch brands; Orient, Seiko and HMT. The first two spelt class and quality. Wearing a watch from either Seiko or Orient meant you had “arrived”.
What was common about the Seiko and the Orient? Well, the most important point was that, they were both made in Japan and anything ‘Made in Japan’ spelt quality, style and class. It set you apart from the rest of the crowd that sported brands like HMT and so forth. Back in the day, Seiko and Orient were two different companies. Today, Orient is owned by Seiko Epson.
From the time it went into production, Orient has created and marketed many iconic wrist watches including the Dynamic (1956), Royal Orient (1960), Grand Prix 100 (1964) and Fineness – this was the world’s thinnest automatic wristwatch with day and date display.
In 2003 Orient began producing luxury wrist watches. In 2004, the high-precision caliber 88700 movement was introduced and two years later, the Orient Star Retro-Future collection was launched. In fact, innovation has always been the hallmark of Orient watches.
Today, Orient makes wrist watches for everyday wear, party wear and also watches for professionals such as their famous ‘dive’ watch series. Despite the numerous brands in the Indian market, thanks to its watch-for-every-occasion-and-budget, Orient continues to maintain a formidable presence in the urban watch store.
It’s presence can also be seen in the online retail stores. Websites such as the https://www.citywatches.in and amazon sport hundreds of models from the Orient brand and if their brisk sales are any indication, Orient wrist watches continue to enjoy the same popularity today as they did 40 years ago. Even today, Orient wrist watch is synonymous with class and quality. With its enormous presence and name recall, the urban Indian knows that to gift or receive as a gift an Orient watch means the friendship or relationship is valued. Open any airline magazine and you will find an advertisement for the latest Orient watch.
It is not just the latest in Orient watches that are in high demand in India. Vintage pre-owned Orient watches too are a hot buy for any serious collector. There is no shortage of wealthy Indians who own a large collection of vintage Orient watches be they wrist watches, wall clocks and desk clocks.
The number of dealers for Orient wrist watches in India keeps increasing and the brand will continue to have a place of pride in all urban watch stores for the foreseeable future. So, if you are planning to gift a watch to someone dear to you, whatever your budget, gift an Orient and you will be remembered for as long as the watch continues to tick which will be for a very long time indeed.
