ORIENT WATCH CO., LTD. was established in July 1950 in Tokyo as a manufacturer of wristwatches. Its predecessor dates back to 1901, when Shogoro Yoshida, the founder, opened a wholesale store of watches in Ueno, one of the commercial districts in downtown Tokyo. For more than 50 years since their foundation, they have been passionately promoting ORIENT brand throughout the world with their intensive global marketing efforts.
For the Japanese market, they are concentrating on their prestigious high-quality mechanical watch lines, such as “Royal Orient”, which can guarantee the consumers to wear with satisfaction for many years.
For overseas markets, they have been introducing different lines of watches such as “World Time 2005 Edition” and “Orient Star Retro-Future collection” which represent their current sophisticated technology standards.
Furthermore, their micro-precision technology, cultivated through 50 years' experience in the manufacture of timepieces, has enabled them to expand the scope of their activities to other industry segments such as IT-related products including printer components, quartz oscillators, silicon wafers and other electronic devices. They intend to improve their precision technology further and to strengthen cost competitiveness, so that they will be able to increase sales turnover for high value-added products.
In coping with the relentless market competition, they will continue their efforts to make their business structure more solid in the three core business segments - watches, IT-related products and electronic devices.




Factory in 1970’s


Company History (ORIENT WATCH CO., LTD.)
1950 ORIENT WATCH CO., LTD. (under the name of Tama Instruments Co., Ltd.) was established and started operation.
1951 Tama Instruments Co., Ltd. was renamed ORIENT WATCH CO., LTD.
1955 First export contract of the watches to China was concluded.
1958 Contract to export watches to Iran was concluded.
1959 Annual Export contracts for big amount to USA and Canada was concluded.
1960’s-70’s Overseas sales and service network was expanded to over 70 countries worldwide.
1986 Akita Orient Seimitsu Co., Ltd. was established in Akita prefecture, Japan
2001 SEIKO EPSON CORP. became 52% share holder of ORIENT WATCH CO., LTD.
2003 Orient Technical Center, specialized for creation and preservation of mechanical
watch technologies, was established in Akita prefecture, Japan.

Merchandising Topics
1951 First “Orient Star” brand watch was launched.
1967 Ultra-slim automatic watches, “ORIENT Finess” collection using Cal. 3900 (thickness: 3.90mm) was launched.
1970 “ORIENT TENBEAT” using 10-beat automatic movement Cal. 9980 was launched.
1971 Reliable automatic base movement Cal. 46940 was developed, which has been improved and modified, and now is produced as Cal. 46 series (46943 and its family calibers).
1970’s-80’s Various Analogue and Digital quartz calibers were newly developed and introduced.
1997 Original automatic movement with power reserve indicator was newly developed.
2000 Automatic Power Reserve World Time, Millennium Edition was launched.
2003 “ORIENT Star” hand-winding solid silver model was awarded Gold Prize of Standard Watch of the Year in Japan.
2004 “ORIENT World Time, 2004 edition” was launched. Cal. 88700, new slim automatic movement with high accuracy, was developed by Orient Technical Center, and launched as the high-end collection, “Royal Orient”.
2005 “ORIENT World Time, 2005 edition was launched. “Orient Star, Retro-Future” collection with totally innovative design was launched.

Company Profile

 Trade Name: ORIENT WATCH CO., LTD.

 Head Office Address: 4-4, 2-Chome, Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

 Foundation: July 13th, 1950

 Capital: Japanese Yen 1,937,000,000.-

 Sales and Service Network: Over 70 Countries Worldwide

 Production and Distribution of Watches: Over 2,000,000 pieces per year

 Sales Turnover in Total: Over Japanese Yen 34,000,000,000.-
(approx. over US$290,000,000)

 Business Activities:
1. Manufacture and Sales of Wrist Watches
2. Manufacture and Sales of Information Processing Equipment Related to Printers
3. Manufacture and Sales of Quartz Oscillating Units and Relative Products


ORIENT -STAR RETRO-FUTURE COLLECTION by ORIENT WATCH CO. LTD., JAPAN





The Europe of the 1950s saw a boom in industrial designs focusing on “Dreams of the Future”. Looking back to the “Retro” designs, we remain fascinated and moved by the progressive inspirations that have inspired a generation before.
Automatic watches are suitable for symbolically expressing the “Retro” and the “Future”, because of its long history and newly developed technology.
The “ORIENT -STAR Retro-Future Collection” was developed and successfully merges the two ideas using industrial design motifs from classic 1950s Motorcycles, Cars, Cameras and Airplanes.





The Motorcycle Model
Inspired by the design of the 1950s Italian motorcycle.
The image of a gasoline tank is conveyed by incorporating smoothly curved parts on the dial. The second hand resembles a tachometer, which displays the number of revolutions of the engine, and various indicators that give the impression of a power-reserve indicator that shows driving time. Also, the design of the balance section at the heart of the automatic watch expresses an appealing mechanical image through its movement, inspired by the motif of a motorcycle sprocket. This watch demonstrates the unique and magnificent combination of the 1950s motorcycle and the automatic watch.

The Car Model
Inspired by the image of the 1950s Italian sports car.
ORIENT WATCH CO. LTD. has created this nostalgic and original design by skillfully blending a gentle retro effect and the futuristic sharpness of the bodyline of the cars of that era into a tonneau-style case.
The image of the sports cars that were seen everywhere at that time is created by the power-reserve indicator displaying driving time, and the design of the balance in the central part gives the impression of a steering wheel.

The Camera Model
Inspired by the image of the 1950s German-made camera.
We ORIENT WATCH CO. LTD. have incorporated the intricate design and ruggedness of the cameras of that era in this exquisite watch. The balance in the central part has the image of the lens, the crown and the crown cover look like a camera shutter and the bezel has been crafted in the image of a camera lens aperture. This unique design conveys the feel of the cameras of the 1950s.

The Airplane Model
Inspired by the image of a 1950s American- made airplane.
The design of the dial and watch hand gives a vivid impression of an instrument panel in the airplane cockpit that everyone adored as children. In addition, the circular case looks like an engine cowl and the features in the middle of the dial give the image of a spinner. This combination gives the watch the overall appearance of an “airplane engine”.
The lagging that joins the case to the wristband is in the shape of the tail fin and the design of the wristband incorporates the design concept of wing flaps. These intricate details give the definite impression of the distinct features of an airplane.
Even with the passing of time, people who are fascinated by the airplanes of the 1950s can enjoy the luxury of wearing a watch that conveys the feel of that era.



Source: Europa Star February-March 2007 and Europa Star April-May 2007 Magazine Issues