ORIENT "President" Classic Automatic Sapphire Watch EV0J003B - A homage most regal, A Review (plus Video)

A famous Roman soldier called Marcus Aurelius (121AD - 180AD) was accredited to have said, "To refrain from imitation is the best revenge". Unfortunately, in the world of horology, making a homage is rather common and reflects a strong respect to iconic designs that appears evergreen throughout the ages. Although Orient is one of the few watch manufacturers in the world with the complete production capabilities including in-house movements, it did not stop the brand from creating homages. Of the homages created, one stands out. The Rolex Day-Date, also known as the "President" is a fitting iconic piece for a homage and Orient nailed it perfectly.

There are eight models with different tones and colours for the dial, watch casing and bracelet as part of Orient's homage to the Rolex "President". I chose the reference EV0J003B with clean stainless steel casing and bracelet with black dial. Bought it from Amazon for USD339.00 plus USD25.00 for courier which totals to RM1,582.62. A discount was given by the retailer in the form of a shipping refund of RM108.70 and an item refund of RM43.48. Overall, the net total cost was just RM1,430.44. Below was the email that I received.




I received the watch 48 hours after making the order. Surprisingly, the package originated from Malaysia! Now it made sense why they were generous enough to give me the special discount.

An interesting observation is that you can't find this series being highlighted in Orient's official website. It is as if this series was not sanctioned by Orient. Nevertheless, I am not surprised at all as Japanese watchmakers tend to have a different way of promoting their products unlike the Swiss. Case in point is the way Seiko treats its Seiko 5 line of watches.

Having the fan base to promote one's product is the cheapest and most effective way to get traction. The endorsement of a purchaser is a known marketing gem and works wonders for the promotion of the brand. In fact nowadays with a lot of social media platforms available, "Influencers" are a bred of normal people where their tastes can influence the wants of a lot of their followers. I guess, I am one of them for Orient 😀



The Watch

The watch is a proper dress watch. Measuring just 36 mm across the dial (39.5 mm including the crown), it has a length of 44 mm lug-to-lug with a thickness of 11 mm. Lug width is 20 mm. Apart from the 3-hands, additional complications include a long day aperture at 12 o'clock and a date aperture at 3 o'clock.



Made out of stainless steel, the surface of the face casing as well as the bracelet is polished.

Making a homage is easy from a design and manufacturing point of view. However, on the flip side it is also dangerous from a brand franchise point of view. If not properly managed, the brand reputation can be sullied to a level just next to "replica" manufacturers. This is also could be the reason why the brand did not want to advertise too obviously about this model. In this particular case, Orient is not in any such danger as the homage was done with taste.

The dial is black with five lines of texts and logo. The brand and its logo are positioned at the upper quadrant while the words "Automatic", "SAPPHIRE" and "100 m" are located at the bottom quadrant. The fonts are rather small which makes it harder to read offhand but helps create the feeling of space on the small dial.

The chapter ring is a polished vertical wall. On the other perimeter of the dial is a set of minute markers on a railway-track-style scale in silver. The main hour markers are multi-faceted glass crystals set in metal square placements except for 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock. At 12 o'clock is a long curved day aperture where the days are spelt in full. At 3 o'clock is a date aperture. Both the day and date wheels have the days and numbers printed in black over a white background.

The hands are thin yet faceted rectangular polished rods. Meanwhile, there are no luminous paint used on the watch. This limits the use of the watch in the dark.

Everything on the dial is protected by a flat sapphire crystal and just above the date aperture is a magnifying cyclops eye. There is no AR coating on the crystal which is expected considering the price point of the watch. Personally, I am not that hot for the cyclops eye. A domed crystal would be a better alternative in my view.



The fluted fixed bezel is a key design copy on the EV0J003B. Orient was able to balance it nicely. Another design copy is the screw-down crown located at 3 o'clock. The crown is sterile without any etchings. It has 4 positions; the first when screwed down; the second is the initial position after unscrewing; the third to adjust the date; and the fourth to adjust the time and day.



The watch casing is paired with a jubilee style bracelet. The links use a simple split pin to keep it all together. There is also a two stage micro adjustment points on the clasp. The clasp uses a double push button system with the brand stamped prominently on the outer part of the clasp.

Close examination of the links on the bracelet indicate that each one is solid and is either pressed or machined (I suspect more like pressed) from a steel billet. Due to the price point, I half expected it to be so. If it is just stamped sheet metal and folded on itself, the pricing would be much lower (perhaps even half of what I paid).



The movement is protected by a solid screw-down case-back. Very simple in design with no graphics apart from some information about the watch stamped in the centre. The movement is Orient's in-house automatic 21 jewel 46E40 caliber, This is part of Orient's workhorse movement that is non-hacking and non-hand-winding. Power reserve is approximately 40 hours.

An important point to note is the method to adjust the day function. Pulling the crown at the first position only adjust the date function. To adjust the day, you would need to pull the crown to the second position and move the hour hands back and forth between 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock to have the desired effect on the day function.

The watch is water rated at 100 meters. With a screw-down crown, I guess swimming in it should be fine. However, I would not recommend anything more vigorous in the water.


The Wearing Experience

The sub-40 mm width is perfect for a dress watch. It sits perfectly on my wrist and the polished stainless steel surface gives that additional shine that belies its true commercial value. Everywhere angle you look at it, the watch looks regal.



Below is the watch on my wrist.




CONCLUSION

This is one homage that I have no qualms getting. It was done properly and the production quality is classic Orient. Coupled with the asking price, it is also very affordable. Instead of having a flat sapphire crystal with cyclops eye, I suggest a dome sapphire crystal instead. This would make the dial visual more perfect in my eyes.


The Packaging

The packaging on this Orient is as more elaborate compared to the standard Orient watch boxes. The outer white cardboard sleeve is white with the logo and brand printed in silver at the top. Inside, is the main watch box made out of hard board. The same logo and brand is also printed on the top in silver.



The watch box opens by flipping the top upwards as well as flipping down the front wall. Internally, it is padded rather luxuriously with cushioned velvet with the log and brand printed prominently on inner surface of the top wall. The watch sits snugly on its pillow.





The Series

There are 8 models under this series. The all gold painted examples are the EV0J001G (with gold dial) and EV0J001B (with black dial).


Then there are the dual tone gold and silver painted models EV0J002B (with black dial), EV0J002C (with golden dial) and EV0J002W (with white dial).

 
Finally the three silver painted models EV0J003B (with black dial), EV0J003W (with silver dial) and EV0J003DY (with blue dial).
 
All eight models come with Jubilee bracelet.


Specifications

​Model Number: EV0J003B
Case Material: Stainless Steel
Band Material: Stainless Steel
Band Width: 20 Millimeters
Bezel: Fixed Fluted Bezel
Case Back: Solid
Case Diameter: 36 Millimeters
Case Diameter: 39.5 Millimeters with Crown
Case Length: 44 Millimeters
Case Thickness: 11 Millimeters
Lug Width: 20 Millimeters
Crown: Screw-down
Clasp: Double Push Button
Crystal: Flat Sapphire with Cyclops Eye
Case Back: Solid screw-down
Dial Color: Black
Features: Day Complication at 12 o'clock Position, Date Complication at 3 o'clock Position
Movement: Orient Automatic 21 Jewel 46E40 Movement, Non-Hacking, Non-Hand-Winding
Power Reserve: 40 Hours
Water Resistance: 100 Meters



Photo Gallery