Like the looks but the "Weekly Auto Orient" is kind of weird looking and busy to me. "Orient" and "King Diver" underneath would have been better (my opinion). I also think I would prefer a 40 mm for myself.
I got one of these (the maroon one) from Orient awhile back. Very much like it. I'm pretty much only buying day-dates now, and this one fit the bill. The bezel rotates really easily, and I'd appreciate a little more friction on that, frankly. Very comfortable to wear. It's a good watch. 22 is the # of jewels, by the way.
They stayed pretty faithful to the original, looks wise. I'm sure there will be people who dislike the text on the dial. For me, reproducing the original look is more important on a re-issue. There's also a limited edition with a black and gold gradient dial. Very nice!
I bought the black version about a month ago (been awhile since I've bought a watch) I kinda regretted it after pulling the trigger on it because the "Weekly Auto Orient" looked very busy but having received it looks great. I have a 17cm wrist and it's about as large as I would want to go. Tis a nice watch, I paid around £220
That side profile is gorgeous. I love the way the crystal sticks way out and captures the light. Also love the internal bezel and the 200m water resistance achieved without a screw down crown. The dial text is quirky, but overall I like this watch a lot.
The "Weekly" refers to the day of week complication just above the 6. Orient had a date only version with "Full Auto Orient" on the dial. The 20mm lug width is in keeping with the proportions of the original, which had a 19mm lug width in spite of its large diameter, a common strap and bracelet width in the 1960's. Be glad they upped it to 20mm in this reissue, which makes straps and bracelets much easier.
The lume dots on the dial remind me of the three star Orient. Must be a heritage thing. I'm not sure what they were going for with this one, but good looking watch.
While the "Orient" company name originated in 1951 with a name change to the post-WWII company started a year earlier. However, the company's history dates to 1901 when Shogoro Yoshida opened his Yoshida Watch Shop in Tokyo.
What can you say about Orient ! Top notch watches from a great company ! My type of look ,very sharp looking dial ! Cheerio Mark! you really do have the best watch tube show out there !👍
Mark, great video. Did you ever come across the KING MASTER from Orient? It was a reissue of another 1960's King Diver, like a model a couple of years older than the 1965 model you mention. It was a JDM model and they sold it around 2014 and 2017. Almost same case design, but with elements in the dail that start to feel like the 70's. The model # of the reissue that I mention is WV0011AA (there are 2 others for color variants) Best regards and be safe!!
A very cool concept indeed! King Diver reissue! Love the Day Date format! However yes they have dropped the ball on a couple of points. 1. The Bezel should be fully lumed. 2. A dive watch with no lume on the seconds hand is basically stupid! 3. Poor orientation at night (can't tell where 12 O'clock is). 4. Why is the rotating bezel BLACK on the coloured dials. These watches would look WAY better with matching coloured bezels. The handset looks GREAT (apart from non lumed seconds hand). And I reckon the 20mm bracelet actually works despite the 44mm case size. Must be something to do with the dial size and the lugs. - Aesthetics. PS: My fully lumed Islander Pepsi Bezel arrived and I've put this on my SKX and it looks HOT! Cheers man!
I have a 6.5" wrist and this watch wears very well. Wears smaller than you think. Keeps really good time. I have the US limited edition and the green JDM version limited to 500 pieces.
Not bad looking but a little smaller case with a 22 mm bracelet and some lume at least on the bezel triangle would be better. Thanks for sharing it Marc! 👍🏻👍🏻🇺🇸
@@chataclysm2112 true but everything is so much about the branding and catering to modern tastes (they made it a different size for example) that you would think they wanted to shove it in somewhere.
Hi Mark ! Is there an option to put a sapphire crystal in this KD model? I bought it recently and I love the heritage and the fit of the watch on my wrist. The best affordable super compressor style diver in the market for sure :) Best regards from Brazil 🇧🇷
The limp wrist crowd is furious, I'm sure of it. Lovely looking watch, especially in green! Side Note: Mark, have you done a review on the Orient Retro Future Camera?
Nice! Shake about the lack of lume on the bezel, but can live with that. I would however have loved more presence on the seconds hand; a proper counterweight and made it longer to go all the way out to the edge of the dial would have done the trick.
I got 2 of the 70th anniversary limited edition one from japan (1000 pieces) and the international one (1700 pieces, the one I use) and both are amazing! *-*
The name does sound a verbatim translation from Japanese but still wider than Google Translate “Automatic winding with day of the week” from 曜日付き自動巻き. It’s a big watch but the original model was also 43mm with 19mm lug width. At least it was good update to 20mm
Why did they go and write in capitals WEEKLY AUTO ORIENT on the dial, do they think we are half blind or stupid, nice watch ruined by the marketing department.
1965 Japanese "Showa" marketing on the originals.These were all over the place in display cases on the Tokyo Giza when I was on R and R from the Nam, as I recall.
The only thing I don't like about Orient watches normally is the crest or logo they use. This dial is a bit busy with the whole model name written on it, but I would rather have this than their normal crest. Also, an internal rotating bezel is something I need in my collection. Beautiful watch.
I like these. For the price though I rather have a Triton/Neptune. Have you seen the new Orient divers that are similar to the Triton but a bit thinner and without a power reserve indicator? I keep trying to find info on them but the only place which lists specs is Orient Japan and I can’t read Japanese. I’d be interested to see if they came to the US since so many people complained about the power reserve and logo placement on the Triton. They seem to be available on eBay though
Wow that's a cool looking watch Dude I'm going to end up braking the Bank on my watch collecting but what the hell i love watches and I only have one Orient Diver's watch the Neptune. Mark you do a very good job on all your reviews. The maroon dial looks great. that's the one for me!
I love the watch EXCEPT that horrible looking “Weekly Auto Orient” it’s looks like the branding you see on trade show swag. Where they just hastily force the name of the company on Everything. Maybe I could get used to it but that initial view was WHAT IS THAT SENTENCE ON THE DIAL!
Nice watches. I was choosing between this and the Kamasu a few weeks ago. Ended up going with the Kamasu, which I really like, but still keep coming back and looking at the Kings
Jayson, wise choice on that Kamasu. I too went with a Kamasu (blue) about 3 months ago and I'm crazy satisfied about it. To be honest, I've been looking at the Kamasu (red) since getting the blue one. I love me some Orients. Fabulous watches.
@@islandwatch Marc I'm in my hobby room tinkering around. Today is a wood working day, making picture frames. Just curious what are the dimensions of those Long Island posters? Just curious, that's all. Have a great day brother 👊 Peace ☮️
The best looking one is not shown here, it is the gold gradient limited edition. Better looking dial, bronze IP coating case and looks better on its brown leather strap too.
Very nice Mark. Can't say I like the dial font look and amount (too much), lack of the Orient logo, and the internal bezel would be MILES better if the knob/stem had clicks or fine detents- Seems it rotates way too freely. Sure it performs well however. Thank you.
@@islandwatch I really like this king diver but I have the Triton/Neptune and that's my daily. Wearing a SKX009j today with faded bezel and the diver 200 almost looking like tangerine color not red anymore.
Looks similar-ish to the Longines Legend Diver but i guess that was a re-issue so looks to be the styling then. Looks good and was excited for the green dial. Oh wells the case size.
I agree with most of the people here. If it was smaller, 42mm at least, lumed inner bezel, and screw down crowns, that would be such an awesome diver, true to the name of "King"!
Really like this one, particularly with the black dial. Yes, at least a luminous pip on the timing bezel would've added to its functionality. But...a *raised* mineral crystal? Am I the only one who'd feel just a tad nervous about knocking this puppy around given how exposed that crystal is? (And, am I the only one thinking that maybe somebody, somewhere, might see fit to make a sapphire crystal for this model? Hint, hint.)
@@islandwatch Agreed, but even as a desk-diver, I'd dig a sapphire crystal on that. (Probably wouldn't stop me from getting one, but I think an Islander is coming first.) 🙂
44mm (especially with a 20mm lug) kinda kills it for me. I'm a huge fan of internal bezel divers. Problem is all the ones I like are $$$. Was hoping this might be the one when I saw the thumbnail, but alas it's just too large :(
Maybe they need to make it this large to fit the movement and it's not too big for me but the lug length is a mistake, it's just too long and that is a shame, I think it is a really great looking watch.
Epson is a company wholly owned by Seiko. However it looks like Orient is not too proud to reissue a (larger it's true) of a historic watch (with colours) ! Well done indeed.
Man, Marc, they dropped the ball again. First, when I heard you say "mineral crystal" I cringed, but, then when I saw ZERO lume on the bezel, I dropped my head in dismay. These companies start off on the right track but end up in cartoon land somehow. WTF are they thinking? I can learn to live without the screw down crowns...maybe even compromising on a sapphire crystal, but having a diver without bezel lume (not so much as a pip) is more ridiculous than negligent. Just my opion, maybe even a rant. That being said, notwithstanding aforementioned detractors, they are beautiful watches, especially the green and maroon.
VzDkz I have the Red Kamasu which comes in under this price wise and has Sapphire. Nice watch and I’m not ruling it out but Sapphire would have hooked me.
@@n1968m I would've owned that red Kamasu by now, but have a Blood Moon Direnzo coming this month... I still think the black Kamasu to be one of the most attractive divers out there. At any price...
Pity the bezel does not match the colour of the dials. And the day date windows could have been at 3 and 9 to make the dial look more symmetrical. Not sure if they need all that writing on the dial. Like the lume. I would probably buy a Long Island watch first
I was of the belief, based on one of your "'watch and learn" series, I think, that a watch could not have the word "DIVER" on it's face if it were not ISO approved. Have l got it wrong ?
Hands & dial are class but all too much unnecessary font (yeh i get its a re-issue) , they could use the hand/dial set up to make a really nice watch in a more vintage style ,no crown guard,with screw down & external uni bezel or fixed brush/polish to bring it into better proportion of 39-41mm, a watch that has a lot of potential.As much as i love my kamasu the crown operation is a real PTA & have gone through one in a short period & replacing orient parts is no easy feat trust me.
Is the bezel on the green one also green? Looks black on video, but on the website it clearly shows green... did they change the spec? A blue one would be drool worthy :P
I love bigger size watches between 38mm-40mm or slightly bigger diameter because it's looked more appearance than smaller one tbh. SEIKO 5 of all models are way too small and i don't really like small watches as it looked like ladies watch to me.
I think the reason why the name doesn't make sense is that the Japanese sentence structure is different than the English sentence structure. An example is that English would have a sentence structure of Subject, Verb, Object; while Japanese would be Subject Object Verb.
