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Hello friends, today I present to you a little marvel that I had the chance to receive 3 weeks ago: The Orient Bambino Day Date – Classic and Simple Style. I’m a big fan of the Orient watch brand because I think the value for money is just perfect when you want to start in mechanical watchmaking. This is a brand that I recommend very often.
Orient Watch Company, which is more often nicknamed Orient, because it is much shorter, is the largest Japanese company in the production of mechanical watches (automatic and also manual). The watchmaking house founded in 1950 by Shogoro Yoshida is known for producing its calibers “in-house” from A to Z.
I loved the style of the first Orient Bambino, which was simple, refined and full of elegance. Reasonably sized cases and a beautiful automatic movement, all for about 200€.
The Bambino collection dates from 2012 and version number 2, the Bambino V2 was released in 2013. This year, the Japanese brand is back with a new version that remains faithful to the DNA of the collection but with a few more complications and all this once again for a very low price of less than 300 €.
The design of the Orient Bambino Day Date
The Orient Bambino Day Date is the “dress watch” par excellence. With its vintage and elegant style, it can be worn with a suit for a formal evening as well as with shorts and a casual shirt in the middle of summer.
The watch case
This new East has a stainless steel case of 40mm in diameter and of 13mm thick. Relatively reasonable dimensions for an automatic watch. However, I would have loved to see a 38mm version for an even more confident retro style. The case of this toddler provides waterproofing 3ATM and is surmounted by a domed mineral glass. Unlike the Bambino V2 which had a steel back, here we also find a screwed back in glass. This offers a very nice view of the movement of the watch.
For the price, there’s a pretty cool level of finish with alternating polished and brushed surfaces. There bezel is polishedunlike the sides of the case entirely in brushed steel.
Regarding the crown, I am sometimes a little disappointed with too small watch crowns which are complicated to handle. Here, the size is perfect and allows the movement to be easily wound. There is an engraving of the Orient logo.
The dial of the new Orient Bambino
Now let’s move on to the watch face. This new collection Bambino Day Date (Classic and Simple Style) consists of 4 new references:
- The East RA-AK0701S with a pure white dial.
- The East RA-AK0702Y with a dial with a beautiful cream dial.
- The East RA-AK0704N with a black dial.
- The East RA-AK0705R with a super nice burgundy dial.
These relatively simple dials for a dressy and elegant style retain the DNA of the Bambino collection. There are two railroads: one for the seconds and one for the minutes. Applied Roman numeral indexes reinforce the classic style of this piece. For the rest, a date window is present at 3 o’clock, a 24-hour sub-dial is housed at 4 o’clock and finally, a counter located at 10 o’clock indicates the day of the week in english please.
The hands have a simple shape but are made of blued steel, a detail that I particularly appreciate. The only black point on this dial are precisely the blue hands: let me explain. For me, the blued hands are a double-edged sword. I’m a super-fan but on this Orient Classic and Simple Style, I find that they lack elegance and that the blue looks a little cheap. Orient should have worked a little more on this point to have a more subtle and better realized blue.
The bracelet
If you have been following me for a long time then you must surely know that when I do a watch test, I attach a lot of importance to the packaging and the bracelet. Here the packaging remains rather simple but of good quality. There is a valve box with the logo of the watchmaker. The watch is laid out flat and a small East tag is attached to the buckle of the bracelet. This tag brings a nice and serious little style to the whole packaging.
Regarding the bracelet, I was relatively surprised because it is really good quality. A genuine leather strap with a crocodile leather effect, a little detail that I love. It’s a little hard at first but once the leather is done it’s super comfortable on the wrist. Unfortunately there is a small black dot here too because the bracelet does not have a quick release system (presto pump). So when you want to change the bracelet, you will need a small bracelet tool.
The movement of the Orient Classic and Simple Style
Now let’s move on to the movement that animates this East. As I told you at the beginning of the article, Orient is one of the rare brands in this price range to manufacture its watch calibers from A to Z. We then speak of an “in house” caliber. Here, the 4 new versions are powered by the F6B22 automatic movement. This caliber is entirely manufactured and assembled in Japan. It offers 40 hours of power reserve which is average. It is a relatively robust movement which oscillates between +25s and -15s per day. In terms of decoration, the movement remains simple but there is still an openwork mass with an engraving of the Orient logo.
Having worn the watch for more than a month now, I can tell you that the movement remains super reliable and precise. The power reserve lasts well for 38 to 40 hours and another important point is that the movement is not noisy, which is a good point.
My opinion on this Orient watch
If I had to conclude on this new release from Orient then I must admit that the brand is once again hitting the bullseye with an affordable automatic watch that offers the time, day and date. This is once again the logical continuation of the evolution of the collection. The watch is super easy to wear and in all circumstances. I’ll give you a little summary of the pros and cons. You will find this Orient Classic and Simple Style at the price of 269€ approximately, it depends on the sites.
The pluses and minuses of this show
✅ A super nice style
✅ An affordable price
✅ Hour, Day, Date, 24H function
✅ Orient Automatic Movement
❌ No interchangeable strap
❌ Mineral Glass
The characteristics of the Orient Bambino Day Date
| HOUSING | 316L Stainless Steel |
| DIAMETER | 40mm |
| THICKNESS | 13mm |
| BOTTOM | Screwed back steel and mineral glass |
| GLASS | Mineral curved glass |
| FUNCTIONS | Hour, Minute, Second, Day, Date, 24h |
| MOVEMENT | Orient Automatic Caliber F6B22 |
| POWER RESERVE | 40 Hours |
| WATERPROOFING | 3 ATM (30M) Daily Use |
| BRACELET | Genuine crocodile-effect leather, Pin buckle |
