Did You Fall For "The Bambino Trap?" 

Everything looks good in low light. I learnt that the hard way at several bars at 3am in the late nineties

These issues you bring up are only noticeable by people who own high-end watches. For the rest of us, who have only seen those on RU-vid or through the glass display of fancy stores, the Bambino is affordable perfection :)

I got trapped into the best $125 I’ve ever spent, trap me again please!!

I still wear my Bambino II from time to time. A very tidy, businesslike little watch. There's no Bambino trap - there's watches we wear and watches we don't .

As far as I can tell, no one was asking for a larger Bambino. A smaller 36-38mm version would get them a few new customers though.

The bambino saved me from getting a Mvmt when I was looking for a watch for my wedding and started learning. I got the rose gold white dial version which I like but still haven’t found a strap I truly love on it.

It’s a gorgeous watch (especially at the price point). Personally, it’s a trap I am happy to have fallen into!

Well if there is such a thing as a Bambino trap, then there has been one massive Rolex trap for decades. Orient is a great brand and the Bambino is a great watch for the price. Not convinced about the higher size, nor Orients new hipster marketing and move to open hearts on anything. But still a great brand. I have the Orient star classic so won't get one of these. But if you are looking for a nice affordable dress watch it's definitely worth a look

I'm still in the Bambino trap 3 years later. And I never regretted it :) 3 of these beauties, and they are wonderful, and most affordable for the amazing and classy watches they are

38 x 11 x 20 x 45 Give it a decent leather strap and sapphire crystal. Charge $250. People will line up for them. I don’t get what’s so difficult about that..

I have the exact same watch and never wear it. It is just too big. I am going to give it away to a MVMT wearing vegan girl to make the world a better place.

I recently purchased this same Bambino in green dial as my first mechanical watch and first steps inside a horological approach and i am quite happy with it. I don’t find it noisy. It’s elegant and comfortable. There’s no trap.

I have one with the green dial. I really like it in the sun and my wife (who could care less about most of my watch collection) insists on me wearing my Bambino to any outings that are more dressy in nature. It's her favorite, so that makes it a win in my book. She even prefers it over my Breitling Navitimer!! Thanks for doing the review!!!

Exactly!!! Got one last year after reading, watching all the love heaped on it. I loved looking at it, never wore it, then sold it. A bit too big, lousy strap and it was the last mineral crystal watch I'll ever buy.

I swapped out the crystal for an aftermarket double domed sapphire with blue AR coating. No more worrying about scratches and totally elevates the look of the watch. Really easy to do with some basic watch tools.

How is it a trap? At its price, it's pretty much perfect whether you use it everyday to work or hardly ever wear a dress watch. Think about it. If you hardly ever had the chance to wear a dress watch, why would you waste a thousand dollars on a Max Bill automatic that will sit in your box 99% of the time when you can have the Bambino that only cost a fraction of it. And if you wear a dress watch everyday to work, again the Bambino would make a perfect beater watch that you don't care about scratching.

I bought that same Bambino 9 months ago, today is one of my favorite watches! Occasionally my wife uses the watch as well😁

I have this same watch and I like it a lot, I just wish that they did go smaller. I would have loved to seen it in a 38- 40 mm.

You really should make a video called The Diver Watch Trap - clunky, heavy and people don’t dive with them.

The only thing I'm disappointed with is that it wasn't called the "Bambino Bamboozle".

I picked up my version four blue dial on sale for 109 bucks USD believe it or not my only qaulm with the bambino is it's a bit big for a dress watch at 42mm. I feel like my sarb035 is perfect size for that not small not big and still casual enough to wear everyday if someone wanted to. The bambino also looks great on a lot of different straps just not perfect size for a dress piece. But does the job for someone on a budget that needs to dress up every once and a while in my humble opinion. You get a lot of bang per buck with the Orient for sure,

There is no Bambino Trap - it's all about the knowledge and expectation of the watch enthusiast at an early stage of their watch collecting journey. The Bambino is what you run across when you first start getting interested in watches and people get it because it has some very strong positives - it is cheap, has a reliable automatic movement and it looks stylish. Around $200AUD for a watch isn't going to break the bank so it's an easy buy-in for the novice looking for something with genuine horological chops. It's only after that that they actually start to discover what their true preferences are and if going onto watchuseek has taught me anything, dive watches are the king, pilot watches are popular and dress watches are anomalies. Personally, I love "dress watches" and I wear them but stylistically they are an echo of a bygone age (like the Madmen TV show). I wear them in an office environment with ties, Italian shirts and polished shoes but how much of the young generation, navigating through the "gig economy" are in this kind of environment? Is the Bambino a daily watch AND a weekend watch? Not really. People soon discover this when they realise that they don't wear the Bambino very often and then sell it. And technically speaking, the Bambino is not a dress watch - the seconds hand and date complication disqualifies it as such. It is closer to what used to be called "day watches" which is the place where watches like the SARB033 and 035 also inhabit. That is, too utilitarian for a dress watch but too refined for a tool watch.

got this exact watch for crimbo last year and I've got to say i'm pretty happy with it. I'm always kind of attracted to dress watches even though I have absolutely no need for one, but I think this particular model can be worn with anything. i'll probably wear it today with my rubber onesie, matador cape and Christmas party hat. perfecto!!!

Love it ,anything less than 42 mm looks tiny on me so perfect dress watch and love the colour scheme on this one .Price is great too and noisy movement is a conversation starter lol

“Fell into the Bambino trap and I like It”...sounds like a song title!!! I like mine not a scratch on it...had it for 1 year...wear it a couple of days per month...I have a large watch collection...I have the green one love the color scheme...

Am i missing out on the "trap" thing? This looks like a beautiful watch for the price

I'm in the "just one more watch" trap

After this vid I decided to get mine out for the evening. Wore it to a local fete and then out to dinner. I have the black and rose gold 2nd Gen. roman numeral version. I was surprised by how large it looks on the wrist as a “dress watch” when I first purchased it. I feel this watch is part of the “all you can eat, “McMansion” , Invicta generation where more and bigger was thought to be better. I am also glad this is changing to a more minimalist smaller more elegant size. I still like it though just the right amount of rose gold and it will stay with my collection. I’m thinking of trying a green Colareb with it to see how it looks.

Don’t bother if you’re in Bambino trap or even if such a thing actually exists. You are undoubtedly together with any owner of more then three watches (me included) in another trap - watch trap 😃

No, I fell for "the Hamilton Khaki field" trap instead...

My girlfriend loves her! I gave her this one exactly for your year anniversary and she has been wearing it non-stop!

I've got a blue dial V4 and absolutely love it! It was my first automatic watch and have been really impressed with the quality that Orient provides for the price, so much so that I purchased another Orient recently, the white dial Gen 3 Sun and Moon. I have some micro scratches and scuffs on the crystal though, but it's only noticeable if you're trying too hard. Orient makes really elegant watches with top notch finishing and their in house movements have good accuracy. Both my Orients are around +5 secs per day :)

I really enjoy my open heart bambino and mine is 40.5mm (case) and 46mm (lug to lug) and I think it’s a fine size for a dress watch. However, I purposely did not get the version 4 bambino because its size is 42mm (case) and 48.5mm (lug to lug), which is personally too large for my taste. So I would definitely recommend the bambino series 1-3 as it’s a beautiful watch at a great price. I also really enjoy the Timex Marlin, which is 34mm and a beautiful hand winding piece.

I feel as some have commented here... I went for the TGV review and bought the watch about 2 years ago. I got the same V4 you show here. Its a great watch for the suits and I ondly wear it on a Camel colored ostrich strap that seems to pull out the rose gold nicely. I usually am sporting a grey suit with the belt and shoes matching the watch camel coloredostrich strap. Get some compliments from the guys from time to time, even still. Have to say though, its not part of my regular rotation as I have higher end watches to wear to justify the investment. I may even sell it or gift it if I want to get another higher end piece. This is a watch you get along the road of watch collecting. Still a great bang for the buck watch in my 18 years of watch repair, collecting and reselling experience. Great video and glad you gave this watch a second glance. TGV or other reviewers weren't too far off the mark in their videos years back. Glad for the hack, wind and 22mm strap too....

I have the v4 with the green dial. I immediately changed out the strap for a more casual one. Though the watch is a little large for my taste, I wear it more than any other. It has been perfect for wearing to the office m-f and cheap enough that I don't worry about banging it around. The design and interesting color get a lot of compliments. The sound doesn't bother me either..I enjoy the experience of shaking it and listening to the movement! :) If I had one wish to be granted it would be a smaller size.

I have two, the gold/green and black/silver versions. Still absolutely love them for formal dinners / meetings and for a nice night out with the wife. I wore both during my wedding day, gold/green for my wedding day and black/silver for the evening with a tuxedo and they both got really positive comments, as they have when entertaining customers. They'll remain in my collection for sure :)

I have the root beer dial of same model. Dark color dials is a curse in Bambino as in the indoor light it has annoying light reflection. However outdoor is exact opposite very pleasant to look at The Rose gold case is a cheap quality with poor polish quality. If I am to buy another one I will only get the white dial. 42 mm has elegant presence on the wrist so not an issue. The rotor thrill feeling and sound is something that I enjoy an even try to trigger intentionally with arm swings when I walk. Omar from Dubai

0:57 And that is why you're one of the few best watch reviewers on RU-vid!

I've had my Bambino V4 for a few months now and still do enjoy it. I got it for around $130 USD and wear it at work (retail). For a cheaper nice looking watch you really can't go wrong. On a normal day you would never really notice the noise coming off of it and for me the large size is pretty perfect as I have large wrists. Personally I wouldn't wear it out at night because the hands definitely are small compared to the face. As you mentioned they "get lost" is a perfect way to say it, they can when it's in a darker environment. Other than that I have enjoyed owning and wearing the Bambino V4 and for me it fits into the general style of watch I normally like.

I have the bambino small seconds and it's the perfect affordable dress watch for my collection. I don't wear it often but when I do need a dress watch it more than does the trick.

Was thinking you meant trap by getting the 21mm lug ones and realizing the provided strap sucks and it's very difficult to find a good 21mm strap

I hate to say it, but the return of The Kittens of Rotor Noise Doom was perhaps my favorite element of this video. But, regardless, excellent as always, Jody!

thank you so much for that link on top value watches !!! some really nice picks on there.

Got this exact beauty for about a month now. A true jewel; you'll constantly look at it. However, it keeps you rather paranoid not to scratch that gem of a dome. Even washing your hands will keep you on edge not to wet that slick suede strap. Thanks for your great video! Really well made and documented.

Jody..Forget the "Bambino trap"! Your already knee deep (And sinking fast Kid!) in the T shirt vortex! And mate mentioning the crystal scratch and then moving smoothly (?) into that "I thought it was high time I gave the Bambino a 2nd crack" was the 2nd worst pun I ever heard!! (I'd tell you what the first one was...but you ain't said it yet!) Anyway mate, delighted to hear you try & read all the comments...cause it makes us "Nutters" feel wanted! You know I too almost brought a Bambino purely on the amount of positive reviews about them.......fortunately I got side tracked by a 105 year old Omega pocket watch. Consider something like this Jody...it has a lid that covers the crystal! Cheers mate!

Yes, bought it. The IV 42mm was too big for a dress watch so I sold it.

Have the same watch with anthracite face and rose gold. Like most say, it's a great value and gets considerable use in my budget rotation. Biggest gripe is that it's virtually impossible to read at night due to the lack of contrast between hands and dial. And yes, the hands are too short. Beautiful in good lighting though. Who cares about loud rotors? I like being reminded that I'm wearing an incredible little machine on my wrist, and I find it kind of soothing.

i fell for the gold cased green/black dial model myself ,lovely looking watch, teamed it up with a hand made padded green cracked leather strap. lovely combo

I love my Bambino, cream dial with blue (not blued) hands, it's my only dress watch probably wear it a maximum of six times a year.

I have always been a huge Orient fan, I own two. A Mako XL as well as a Ranger. I am enamored with the Bambino line of watches, but like you, I do not have an occasion to wear a dress watch. I do not work in an office. I do attend my wife's office Christmas party once a year, but that doesn't justify the need to own a dress watch. Besides my Orient Ranger does kind of fall into the dress watch category. I would absolutely love to own a Bambino but it is hard to justify it. I feel the same way about the Seiko Pressage. It absolutely mesmerizes me and I adore the looks of it, but I will probably never own one. They just don't fit my lifestyle. The green dial Bambino reminds me of the Alpinist and that is the Bambino I am most attracted to. I think the next watch in my cross hairs I think is the new Seiko srpc51 although you may have talked me into the Cadison. I love your work on the channel and am jealous of you. As I have said before, you are living the dream.

Ive got one and i love it. I also have the rose gold version and it gets a lot of positive feedback

Just got a Bambino open heart and love it so far., I’ve been looking for a white face watch with blue hands and found this. I bought it immediately. Now I have a dress watch that looks expensive but isn’t.

No Bambino Trap sufferings here. I was teetering on the edge for nearly 2 years. I looked at my needs and realized that I only have a use for a true dress watch 3 maybe 4 times per year. I have lots of watches I can dress up (or down) with a simple strap change. However, I will tell you that I am stuck in low- to mid-range quicksand. Just too many $150-$500 watches that I thought were what I had to have at the time, but now I’m having trouble thinning out my collection. I’m well over 15 pieces and I’d love to get down to like 4-5 and free up enough money to add something nice to the collection. Maybe an Oris, a Tudor, maybe even a vintage piece (a decent tool watch that I would find useful). As always, I enjoy your videos and your unique perspectives. Keep up the watch video magic, Jody! 💪🏼💥🍺

"About time I gave the Bambino a second crack..." Perhaps not the best choice of words after how your first experience with the Bambino went. 😄

You make absolutely the best videos!! So well-spoken and entertaining. And informative! Love your channel

Hi Jody, I am really not a dress watch guy, but when I saw this particular Bambino in a watch store in Manila, it spoke to me more than any watch had ever done and I said I have got to have this watch. Haven't bought it yet but it is now in my bucket list.

I own 2 Orients, including the Bambino V2 with the crème dial/blue hands. After a year ownership, it is still one of my favorite watches to wear. I did change the strap however. One quality I admire(?) about Orient is the horribly cheap bands making me feel their focus is on the actual watch. At this price point, that is not a negative to me.

if you only wear t-shirts you won't need dress watches

I just fell into the bambino trap today ... glad I did... it looks and wears freaking awesome...

I like my Gen 2 for the same reasons you seem to like yours but I rarely wear it too. You've got me thinking of flipping it. Luckily even though I am a klutz I've managed to avoid scratching it so now may be the time.

The value is @ your wrist, regardless of how much money you've spent on the piece. Aș for the mineral crystals, I've scratched a couple the very first day I wore those watches, therefore, I believe sapphire is underrated. I would not buy another mineral unless it's a very very impressive looking watch.

I got the less dressy cream dial version in June. Still love it since barely any watches have cream dials anymore with blue hands

Just bought this Bambino, thrilled skinney with it , great informative video.....watch them all ! Best wishes for christmas from a dismal grey & cold U.K

I have the same one and I dig it since I have a larger wrist. I'm a church Gower so ever Sunday it goes well with a nice suit. Other than than that it stays shelved at the the price you really cant beat it for certain occasions.

1:19 gosh!! I was so surprised ahhahaha

"...half of you are nuts and I get a lot of entertainment from reading what it is you have to say!". Love this guy...

I have this watch in the gray dial and love it. It does require about a larger wrist and is very comfortable. I love the color scheme for the office during work.

Bought my gen4 Bambino years ago. Still wear it. The blue sunburst is amazing in the light.

I have one of the mark 3 Bambinos (blue dial, 40.5mm) and I love it. Just 2 days after I received it I started seeing ads for the Bambino Small Seconds, and I kicked myself for a few weeks. If they'd released a blue dial small seconds I would have flipped the mark 3 in a heartbeat. Have you checked out Parnis watches? They have an IWC Big Pilot homage with a 6498 and sterile dial for around $60 USD that I picked up on ebay a few months ago. It's taken the Bambino's old place as the watch I couldn't seem to take off.

Own a couple. Great watches. Considered the small seconds version as well. I've got a lot of orient watches and love them all

I actually bought two: V2 with the cream dial that I wear suited up, and V4 you have here. I like both of them a lot, but don't really get as much use of the V2. I find the gray dial and rose gold quite fetching, though the strap started showing its again almost immediately and had to switch it out. Still think it's a great entry level automatic...

Very informative. I know I'm late to the scene watching and responding to this video. I'm considering getting the Orient Bambino V4 in blue for my wedding. The blue face and black band would look great with the midnight blue tuxedo with black trim and onyx/silver cufflinks. Any thoughts if it would be more worth it to get the Seiko Presage/Cocktail Time over this? Nearly triple the price but I wonder if the Seiko would wear better over the years. I too am rather clumsy with my watches and fear the Bambino would end up scraped and flipped right after the wedding. Thanks in advance!

Personally, I wish they would give in and make a 34mm or 36mm version. These vintage-styled watches are basically all dial and wear larger than they are, even at 40mm. I agree about the size direction Jodie, and hope they'll take the market into consideration. Heck, if it's a flop for the male demographic just market them as women's watches and let the fellas who like smaller watches read between the lines lol.

Was all set to get this version until I saw they were 42mm. No way now.

Thank you for making this. I almost bought something on impulse that I realistically wouldn't use haha! Love your videos

In the past few months I have bought a blue dial and a green dial version 4 Bambino and I absolutely love them. So many compliments.

I already have a version 4 blue faced and seen this and found a version 3 grey like this and was onsale new for $80. I had to buy it. Just one more watch is going to make me broke lol. I had to buy a few straps, but at 21 mm it's hard to find on Amazon. I put a mesh on my Blue version 4 and love it. I seen a grey Ostrich strap and it's on the way. Thanks for the video even though my wallet is empty hehe

There is a certain advantage with buying more affordable watches. I travel a lot for work and feel safer wearing a cheap understated Orient/Seiko to countries with high crime rates.

I have been considering a Bambino or a Marlin for a while. The price point is right as I wouldn't wear it too often . The size is never an issue for me as I have 8.5 inch wrist so I can wear anything as long as I can fasten the strap. The smallest watch I have is a 34mm Omega from the 1970s, that wears well too. Great video again

Love catching up on the older reviews. I love love love the way a double domed crystal looks on these types of cases.

They look good... Work good... and they are well priced... so if it’s a trap, I’ll jump in it Btw, your choice of V4 is, imho, the best looking. If I had some available cash, it would be for that one!

Hi Jody, I didn't fall but there's definitely a trap and I've circled the edge so many times. Bambinos are just so pretty it's easy to fall for them on looks alone; that v4 with sunburst grey and rose gold is just beautiful. However, each version of the the Bambino was a near miss of the perfect watch, like meeting Goldilock's less attractive sisters; I balked at the 40.5mm so the 42mm clearly wouldn't do for me. I'm interested to know if there is a supplier of Sapphire crystals for all watch sizes which could replace any watch glass? I only buy sapphire now which is why the Junghans Max Bill has stayed in the shop but if I could change the glass on that, like you did on the SKX, I would be very much more inclined to buy.

I was looking at Bambino a few months ago. Got a few watches since then. Had been hesitant because of the 21mm. Found out last week the 4 is now 22, so I just ordered this exact one :) Like hmmm, dinky quartz fashion watches, or established brand...

I've always had really cheap watches and I don't remember ever scratching the glass on any of them. Bought one of these for the office, was really careful with it and after 2 weeks noticed it had a small scratch in the glass 🙄. I think it's just the dome shape that makes it too easy to catch on things, plus it's only mineral glass. It's only noticeable if you look really close, but now I know it's there it annoys me. I still wear it but disappointed. I haven't noticed any noise though, maybe I need my hearing tested. Any suggestions for a similarly priced dress watch? I don't like anything below 40mm, I feel they look too small even on my skinny wrist, just my personal preference.

Interesting video Jody - nice to hear someone not simply pouring love on these watches. It feels balanced. I wanted this very watch for years, and then recently I saw one in the metal and was actually a little unimpressed. I still think that for the money it's a great watch, but when I was actually looking at it with my eyeballs rather than on a screen, I found the watch lacked a bit of "pop" and the strap (one of the things I loved about it in the photos) just looked a bit weird in person. It's also (as you mention) really, really large for a dress piece, and my wrists aren't. So I didn't fall into the trap! But there's one other thing here; a couple of years ago I bought a SARB065, and it has ruined me; I love it so much, I find I (unfairly, in this case due to the price difference) compare everything to it. Would I put the Bambino on when the Cocktail Time is sitting there? No. I wouldn't...

Unfair... I bought my first bambino 2 or 3 years ago, fell in love with the watch, ended buying 2 more. I wear suit and tie to the office and they fit so well into the enviroment. No scratches so far and, as I stated before, I wear them everyday. Maybe it is you who have an active lifestyle or maybe you're just clumsy and scrath them. The bambino is just unmatched for the price, you can't find anything similar on the market, inhouse automatic movement on a classic design for a true dress watch under $150? For that money you can either find "dress like watches" or quartz movements. I had no problems buying straps on ebay, and the only negative I've found after owning 3 and wearing them every day, is that the strap that comes with the bambino is a lower quality leather...

Have the same piece. Love it, my only gripe with it is the mineral crystal glass. Wish they had a underside anti reflective coating. The glass is way too reflective, so much so that the hands and numbers aren't legible at wide range of angles.

haha, love the bambino trap sequence - gold as always! keep up the good work sir!

Why do people get caught up in hacking in a watch that loses 20 seconds a day anyway? Immediately following setting it to the second it is no longer accurate. I do want hand wind though as I don't wear my watches every day and don't own winder boxes.

They've just announced 36mm Bambino!

Not a trap for me! My cream dial V3 is my favorite ‘dress up’ watch for church or special occasion. Love wearing it! Great vid as always!👍

I did fall into the Bambino trap. I just ordered the new version 8. My first automatic watch was the Orient Maestro white dial. I also just received the Kanno. Both are great and now I’m getting the vintage looking Bambino to make my third Orient watch.

I think it's a great watch ! It's certainly well made compared to everything I've seen in the 100-200$ price range!

I fell into the trap I liked the way TGV said Bambino in an Italian accent, and bought a black v2 about 3 years ago. However I swapped out the band to a brilliant high quality tan leather and the thing just pops, granted in those 3 years it has had wrist time about only 50 times but man it looks good at work but competes with my more understated yet equally popping German Bahaus inspired models like the Max Bill, My Aristo and my Nomos at work, that said I guess I fell into the Bambino trap as I may pull the trigger on blue version v4 but agree I wish it was smaller, I like Orient you can always sell them and I usually have a few in my collection, still kicking myself for selling that blue Marshall, may replace it in green though as I just found one, great video keep up the good work!

It was a tossup between this and the Bulova Precisionist 96B158 which was on sale for about $70 more than the Bambino. I ended up with the Precisionist because of the movement smoothness (and it barely loses or gains time) but this Bambino represents a great value when it comes to unique style and a quality automatic movement. I actually like the idea of a clacky sounding movement which would suit it's retro style.

I bought two, based on all I had heard and am very, very happy with what I have. They live up to all that was said that was positive, unbelievable value. I even found the strap, though stiff doesn’t therefore crease easily and is just fine for me. Why second guess your first judgement which was right on the mark, ie you have very good instincts. Yes its wind and tick are a bit louder than some but face it, you have to listen in a quiet room to really notice it. Scratches will come but only very slowly if you look after them. Lets not nock a great thing, there are others out there more deserving of critique. Agreed a 38 mm is they retro way to go on size an your summary is as always fair and right on the money.

Still prefer the Orient Star classic. Yes it's twice the price but over twice the watch I feel. Size feels a lot more coordinated too.

Even at 40.5mm, the Bambino Trap was a bit too large for me to fall into. Never quite got the hype. Great conversation!

I LOVE MY V4!!!! I have the green one with gold hardware. It’s currently my daily, simply because of its simple and elegant design and easy readability. I do not agree that it’s noisy. I’ve had the watch up close to my ear while leaning on my arm and I could barely hear the ticking, even in a dead silent room. However, sometimes I feel the movement ticking away, particularly close to the top of the hour when the minute wheel passes its starting point. That being said, it’s usually unnoticeable if I’m doing another task. I have not had any issues with the mineral as of yet. Going on 3 years and not even so much as a scratch. Even so, I buff it regularly (about once a month) and it holds its shine really well.

Been happy with Bambinos.. Had a v2 in black - then gave it to a friend and promptly picked up a RA-AG0005L10A (Blue dial/open heart/hand-wind-hack movement/40.5mm case) .. The wind/hack was attractive to me - as well as the open heart design. While I don't wear it much, it's a cool piece of horology I'm happy to have in the collection. Cheers-