Orient casino

BlackrazorNZ said:

Hi there,

at least not at cursory glance.

So my questions is : Are they worth the price premium? Given that in the price bracket the Orient Stars sit in you can buy a Melbourne WC or Chris Ward watch, which are absolutely beautiful.

I like Orient and if the Stars are genuinely a lovely product I'll buy one, but I am just struggling to see the value proposition at the moment.

To be fair, I also struggle to relate to the design cues on Grand Seiko, but at least they've got the amazing Spring Drive in their favour.

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1. You need to see them in person to judge the quality. Failing that I'd say the second best is to check tanaka's videosCursor glance won't cut it. I'd suggest buying at least one, from an AD local to you that accepts returns...although I doubt you'll need it;

2. Melbourne and Chris Wards...I can see what you mean by being nice by the looks of it. Haven't handled a Melbourne yet but I did Chris Ward pieces and I can tell you from my personal opinion, albeit that of a big fan of OS is that Chris Ward does not approach the finishing quality exposed by the Orient Stars...not even by far. Of course it also depends which models/budget we're talking about but all things being equal I'd say the OS is pretty hard to beat in terms of VFM

3. OS are not at all flashy pieces, they fly extremely low below the radar, its one thing I like about them. What they excel in is the very good finish, spectacular dials, good, honest movements that can take a lickin' as they say and lots of JDM design cues.

4. You are right that many pieces look like similar cheaper "normal" Orients but believe me, they look different up close Like Seiko, they have the 3 price tiers (or more like 4-5 in the case of Seiko), with increasingly better finish

5. Not all Grand Seiko's have SD movements...far from it. Most have "plain" automatics but with superior accuracy, power reserve (in most) , beat rate , finishing etc. And, again, like with the Orients, you really have to see one up-close before you judge. I'm pretty sure with GS being a bit more mainstream you should have at least on reseller in your country/area (I hope?).

6. Funny enough, 2 of the most fanatical and frenetic collectors of Orient Star timepieces are also from Down Under as yourself, anzac1957 (NZ) and kew (OZ) so maybe there's some magnetism down there that'll get you hooked for good as well :-d

Joking aside, as long as you can afford them, and you probably can since you came here to ask, just buy 1-2 models, try them for a while, see how you like them (and tell us also!) ,worst case scenario you'll flip them after a while and move one. No biggie, part of the journey of the WUS.