The Orient Star M45 F8 Mechanical Moon Phase Hand Winding is the brand’s first manual-wind moon phase, and also the first in years with a solid dial, making it a refreshing change of pace from the brand’s usual fare that leans towards open-worked and occasionally over-designed styling.
Initial Thoughts
Excepting the vintage inspired Diver 1964, the M45 F8 moon phase is the most attractive watch in the Orient catalog to my eye. Most of the brand’s designs are too busy for my tastes, so these entries are a welcome departure that will certainly appeal to enthusiasts with more classical tastes.
The moon phase disk itself, with mother-of-pearl inlay, is a highlight. And the absence of a seconds hand is a pleasant surprise, though the moon phase sub-dial feels naked without the traditional co-axial small seconds hand. Since the small seconds version of this calibre is not compatible with the moon phase module, Orient could have moved the Orient Star logo onto the sub-dial for more visual balance.
Most importantly, this is a manually wound watch – with a competent movement – in a price segment where such things are hard to find. Looking at Japanese watches in particular, manual wind options from Grand Seiko and Credor are significantly more expensive, while Seiko, Orient, and Citizen dropped their entry-level manual watches years ago.
Pleiades
About two years ago, Orient Star reorganised its catalog by launching M Collections, a family of watches each named after astronomical objects cataloged by French comet-hunter Charles Messier. The M45 refers to the Pleiades star cluster and is the most formal of these collections with its simple case outline.
Besides being the first manually wound moon phase in the collection, these new M45s sport relatively austere dials compared to the rest of the line.
Orient equipped the limited edition variant with a grey gradient dial stamped with a subtle star motif to represent the thousand or so stars that compose the Pleiades. The regular production white dial has a soft sun-ray finish meant to evoke the moon and blue hands for contrast.
Both are equipped with an up/down indicator at 12 0’clock, a staple of the Orient Star brand, and a moon phase aperture at six.
Movement
Inside is a new movement, or rather an existing movement with a new complication. The F8A62 is essentially the longstanding Orient Star skeleton movement sans skeletonisation, but with a moon phase added. With that comes improved movement finishing over Orient Star’s current automatic movements, and an extended 70 hour power reserve that’s partially thanks to a lightweight silicon escape wheel.
Movement decoration is decent considering the price. The striping appears to be done via a cutter instead of a wheel, resulting in a gleaming, iridescent finish that’s also seen on many high-end Seiko movements.
Slightly iridescent but less obvious is the silicon escape wheel. While silicon escapement components are fairly common in the Swiss watch industry, in Japan it remains the sole domain of Orient, or rather Seiko Epson, owner of the Orient brand and a distant sister company of the company behind Grand Seiko.
The silicon escape wheel is of a proprietary design. Metal escape wheels are typically press-fit or riveted into place, which is problematic for comparatively brittle silicon parts. Rather than gluing the escape wheel into place, which is the most common Swiss solution, Epson engineers designed a series of flexible arms into the escape wheel that tightly hug the escape pinion.
The vivid blue comes from an oxide surface treatment. Image – Seiko Epson Corp.
The moon phase module is very conventional, using 59-tooth disk, which advances one step each night. Once set using the pin-pusher in the caseband, the moon phase will only accrue an error of one day in two and a half years.
On the front, two mother-of-pearl disks model the moon against a dark blue backdrop on the moon display.
Key facts and price
Orient Star Classic Collection M45
Ref. RE-BW0004S (White dial)
Ref. RE-BW0005N (Grey dial)
Diameter: 39.5 mm
Height: 11.9 mm
Material: Stainless steel
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 30 m
Movement: F8A62
Functions: Hours, minutes, power reserve, moon phase.
Frequency: 21,600 beats per hour (3 Hz)
Winding: Hand winding
Power reserve: 70 hours
Strap:Leather with folding clasp
Limited edition: Grey dial limited to 140 pieces; white dial unlimited
Availability: At retailers and the Orient online store
Price: US$3,040 (white dial) and US$3,280 (grey dial); excluding taxes
For more, visit orient-watch.com.
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