In 2017, Seiko Epson fully acquired Orient, making the affordable Japanese watchmaker a distant corporate cousin to its traditional rival, Seiko. That also meant that Orient Star, Orient’s more luxurious sub-brand, was now related to Grand Seiko.
Just as Orient watches tend to be more affordable than their Seiko counterparts, so too are Orient Star watches when compared to Grand Seiko, offering those interested in higher-end Japanese watches a cost-saving alternative to the latter’s ever-increasing prices.
Orient Star launched in 1951, just one year after Orient itself, which means the sub-brand is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. It has already released a number of watches commemorating the occasion, including the most literal take yet on the brand’s impressive, Grand Seiko-esque M34 F8 Date.
Shooting star
Last summer, Orient Star launched the M34 F8 Date: a versatile everyday sports watch with good proportions and a pair of striking dials that took a page out of Grand Seiko’s book, not only for their textured finishes but also for their origin, as the brand used the natural world for inspiration when creating them.
While Grand Seiko tends to stay local when sourcing its dial inspirations using the landscapes around its Japanese studios as its muse, Orient Star looked further afield when creating the dials of the M34 F8 Date, using the Perseid meteor shower for inspiration.
