Orient Defender II review

Given the number of dive watches that I’ve reviewed here so far, you might be surprised to know that I am actually a bigger fan of field watches. I am a sucker for the highly legible dials at a glance that field and pilot watches tend to provide so when I was searching for an everyday automatic beater watch, the Orient Defender II came up high on the list. Having had it for quite awhile now, here’s what I think about it.

Specs
Case size: 42.4mm
Lug to lug: 49.4mm
Lug width: 22mm
Thickness: 12.2mm
Case material: Stainless steel
Glass: Mineral Crystal
Caseback: Screw stainless steel
Movement: F6B22 (Automatic, Hacking, Hand-winding)
Complications: Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Day, Date, 24HR
Power Reserve: 40 hours
VPH: 21600
Jewels: 22
Water Resistance: 100m
RRP: S$353
Reference: RA-AK0403N

Overview
So the Orient Defender line actually began with the version 1 that was released quite a number of years back. This watch featured a unique take on the field watch utilising a number of sub dial complications in place of static printed markers traditionally found on many popular field watches. The Defender proved to be a success but because it ran on the older 46B40 movement which lacked hacking, hand winding and quickset day changing, it did leave something on the table to be desired.

Enter the Defender II. This appears to be Orient’s response to these complaints which are now solved by using their new generation F6B22 movement along with a slight redesign to the dial arrangement. This watch comes in five different styles, a blue and green dial steel case version on a metal bracelet, a dark brown dial PVD case version on a green NATO strap, a black dial steel case version on a black NATO strap and a cream dial steel case version on a leather strap.

The one that I am reviewing today is the PVD case version on a green NATO strap though I do tend to wear it on a canvas khaki two piece strap instead. I purchased this watch myself from BigTimeSGP and this is not a sponsored review.

Case
The case is a bit large for a field watch at 42.4mm but it wears surprisingly well on my 6.25” wrists. This is probably due to the short 49.4mm lug to lug distance and I have to say it is actually one of the most comfortable watches I currently have especially  when worn on my 2 piece canvas strap. 

The case construction is a simple milled out block of stainless steel but boy does it look and feel solid. It is a no nonsense case with a no nonsense brushed finish all around the top that screams utility and durability above all else. Curiously though they have gone with a polished finish in between and under the lugs. It makes me wonder what the motivation behind that was. Not to mention that the case back is a very simple circular brushed screw case back with the typical markings and Orient logo etched into in. Unlike the case, the case back is not PVD coated.

Now I am probably not the most careless person around when it comes to watches but I do still get the odd knock and scrape every now and then especially around the workshop. Even so, the PVD coating on this case has been impressively durable so far and I’ve yet to see any signs of wear(touches wood).

The straight signed crown at 3 o’clock is nicely sized and grooved for easy operation with no crown guards to get in the way. It’s also nice that they made it a screw down crown despite only being rated for 100m of water resistance.

This watch also features a very minimal bezel with a large flat mineral crystal covering the top showing off the highly utilitarian dial. The crystal does extend a bit over the chamfered bezel and although the edge of the crystal is also chamfered, this might still be something to keep a lookout for.

Dial
So without a doubt the dial is one of the most important elements of a field watch and Orient have gone with a rather unique design here. On the flat matte brown dial we have big applied rectangle indices all around except for the 12 o’clock which has two trapezoid indices. Printed minute markers with sub-minute marks run in the between the indices all the way round.

There are no numerals at all for the hours but the angled rehaut surrounding it does have 5 minute increment markers printed all around. A simple date window cutout sitting at the 3 o’clock marker is about as conventional as complications get on this watch. We have a large printed 24hr sub dial at the 5 o’clock and a smaller day of the week sub dial at 10 o’clock. The Orient crest is applied between the 1 and 2 o’clock markers with a single line of “Automatic” text beneath it to complete the dial.

Now these are the same dial complications as the previous generation Defender, just with a different arrangement. Opinion is still split on which one is better looking but I personally prefer the new arrangement along with the 3 o’clock crown as I feel it gives a more balanced look as opposed to the previous arrangement with a 4 o’clock crown.

For the hands we have long semi-skeletonised hour and minute hands and a very long seconds hand with a red tip that extends all the way to the chapter ring which is very nice. 

Legibility on this dial is excellent but without any hour numerals and only a 12 o’clock marker to provide orientation, it does need a little bit of getting used to. Now although Orient does not indicate AR coating on the crystal, it has a pretty huge window and you shouldn’t have much trouble reading it even if there were some reflections on it. 

Lume on this watch is also generously applied on the hands and indices making it very visible in the dark however the longevity of the lume does leave a bit to be desired. Now I didn’t actually time how long the lume lasts but in my experience it does start to fade noticeably sooner compared to some of my other tool watches.

Movement
Inside this watch we have the F6B22 movement which is part of Orient’s new generation of in-house movements. It features automatic winding, hand winding and hacking along with the other complications that we discussed earlier. Really nothing much to say about it except that it is a solid performer with a rated accuracy of -15/+25 spd. The impressive thing about it though is that when placed in the 12 o’clock up orientation, this is actually the most accurate watch in my collection at +0.5 to +1 spd.

Strap
It comes on a green nylon NATO strap with matching PVD hardware and a signed buckle, very similar to the Triton that I reviewed earlier. The strap isn’t the most exquisite around but it is very well made and perfectly fit for the intentions of this watch.

I do however think that this watch is kind of a strap monster and I really enjoy wearing it on a two piece canvas khaki strap that I ordered from Nomad Watch Works(Not sponsored but I do think this is a great strap that I would recommend checking out). This pairing makes this watch easily one of the most, if not the most comfortable watches that I currently have in my collection as well as the most “field-like” looking of the bunch.

Final thoughts
So there are definitely many field watch options on the market, plenty of iconic ones too at various price points. But if you are looking for an automatic watch that you wouldn’t worry about knocking around, the Orient Defender II is definitely one of the top choices even rivalling the Seiko 5.

I primarily use this watch as the one I switch to when I am entering the workshop or about to do some hands on work. I’ve also tested wearing it for downhill mountain biking and it never once felt out of its depth.

At a very affordable price for an automatic field watch and with a case that is so plain yet beefy looking that even adding a few scuffs to it would almost certainly enhance its looks, it is hard to overlook this watch if you simply want a reliable beater. 

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