Orient Star Sports Outdoor review
- Posted by Shaun Seah
- On 10/03/2022
- 0
If you’ve read my review on the Orient Defender II you’ll know that I love field watches, even more so than dive watches. So it’s no surprise that the Orient Star Sports Outdoor is in fact my favourite Orient Star watch, especially the model that I am reviewing today which is the blue dial PVD model.
This particular watch was actually a gift from someone who knew I had been eyeing it for quite awhile which I am very grateful for. Having had it for several months now, it’s finally time to give my opinion on it.
Specs
Case size: 41.0mm
Lug to lug: 49.0mm
Lug width: 21mm
Thickness: 12.1mm
Case material: Stainless Steel
Glass: AR-Coated Sapphire Crystal
Caseback: Screw Display Caseback
Movement: F6N43 (Automatic, Hacking, Hand-winding)
Complications: Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Date, Power Reserve Indicator
Power Reserve: 50 hours
VPH: 21,600
Jewels: 22
Water Resistance: 100m
RRP: S$1083
Reference: RE-AU0207L
Overview
The Orient Star Sports Outdoor or “Outdoor” as I shall call it in this review, is a line of flieger inspired outdoor watches with field watch characteristics. Quite a departure from the conventional Orient Star line which consists mostly of dress watches, dressy sports watches and dive watches. Featuring the premium quality and finishing typical of Orient Star watches, the Outdoor range presents a very interesting field watch that rivals the offerings of other Swiss and Japanese brands.
This watch comes in seven different models with quite an assortment of dial colour and strap combinations. Two of which come in a stainless steel case with a leather strap having either a black dial with white indices and a black strap or a blue dial with white indices and a brown strap.
Another two come in a stainless steel PVD case with brown leather straps of a slightly different shade, one having a green dial and the other having a sort of faded brown dial. Both feature vintage lume style indices.
Another two also come in a stainless steel PVD case but this time with a nylon/leather composite NATO strap. One comes with a blue dial and white indices paired to a blue strap while the other has a texture dark grey dial with vintage lume indices matched to a khaki colour strap. Both options are provided with an additional black nylon/leather composite NATO strap.
There is also a limited edition model which comes in a stainless steel PVD case and brown leather strap. This one features a cream coloured dial with vintage lume indices but it appears to be no longer available.
Since I love blue, obviously I went for the blue dial, blue strap version so that’s what we’ll be reviewing today.
Case
On my 6.25” wrist, this 41mm watch wears very comfortably and nicely. I actually find 41mm coupled with a 49mm lug to lug distance to be the perfect in between size for me when it comes to wearability and having a large dial. While the lugs do curve down quite a bit, they do still end up a bit higher than the exhibition caseback. The NATO strap does further add to how high it sits on my wrist but the watch itself being 12.1mm thick helps to make it feel pretty acceptable.
The case itself is made of stainless steel and PVD coated to give it a very nice stealthy look. If you are worried about wear however, the non-PVD version would be more durable. Even so, having knocked it about quite a bit more than I would have liked so far, the coating has yet to show any signs of wear. I can’t say the same for the strap hardware but we’ll get to that later.
In terms of case finishing, this is easily my favourite in my collection. While the bezel, sides and top of the lugs are very nicely straight brushed, the bevelling between them is mirror polished with very clearly defined edges. Along the lugs, this bevelling maintains an equal width all the way along the curve of the lug giving it an extremely clean look. I’ve yet to see this level of finishing on another field watch in this price range.
The back of the case is also PVD coated and mirror polished however the exhibition caseback is a circular brushed steel piece. One inconvenience of going with the NATO strap version is that you’ll have to remove the strap in order to admire the movement through the glass display back. It is worth doing so every once in awhile though as this movement is quite a lot more decorated than you would expect. You won’t have this problem with the leather strap version though.
At the 3 o’clock we have a large chrysanthemum shaped screw down crown. Very flieger like and easy to operate even with gloves on. The top of the crown is flat and signed with the Orient Star Logo. To top it off we have a large flat AR-coated sapphire glass which does sit ever so slightly above the bezel.
Dial
The dial gives off Explorer-like vibes and is in fact the reason I was drawn to this watch in the first place. That and the blue dial and strap. Actually to be more accurate, the 12, 3, 6 and 9 numeral dial is even more like the Tudor Heritage Ranger which I just so happen to prefer over the Rolex. Combined with a slightly larger size and the flieger-like crown, you get a nice mix of field and pilot watch styling and practicality in this watch.
The dial is very legible as a result of its clean layout. We have a flat sunburst blue dial that is quite subtle as it isn’t the very reflective type. On it we have thin long pill shaped indices along with the numerals all covered in a pretty white lume. We also have a very simple chapter ring printed around the edge of the dial.
A beveled date window at the 3 o’clock obscures nothing thanks to the large dial and we have a power reserve indicator printed in white beneath the 12 o’clock marker. At the 6 o’clock we have the Orient Star logo, name and a line of text that says “Automatic” also printed on in white.
The semi-skeletonised sword hands are very well chosen for their simple and clean look and so is the very long seconds hand. The sword hands are brushed silver at the edges while the counter balance is painted in black with lume generously filling the inner surface of the hands.
The lume on this watch is one of the best I’ve seen so far, as is with most Orient Star sports watches. It charges up very quickly and shines very brightly which is more than I can say for some other popular field watches including Orient’s own Defender II which I reviewed previously.
Movement
As many of you already know, I love Orient Star movements. They are very accurate and well made for the price. It hacks, hand-winds and self-winds, has improved shock protection over the standard Orient movements and it has a 50 hour power reserve. I also love having a power reserve indicator as I tend to rotate my watches around quite frequently. For a field watch, this particular movement also does seem to be excessively decorated in my opinion which is actually quite lovely to look at on the days I actually bother enough to remove the strap.
Strap
Don’t be fooled by this strap though, it is not your ordinary NATO strap. This is a composite leather backed strap and it is very well made. I am not too sure about the short inner bit though as they decided to have the canvas side on your wrist instead of the leather side. I’m not sure if this was done on purpose or not but I would have preferred the feel of leather on my skin. Perhaps they felt it would help absorb sweat better. Now I’m wondering how I’m supposed to wash this part leather strap. Luckily it comes with an identical second strap in black.
The hardware and signed buckle are PVD coated to match the case and while the case has yet to show signs of wear, I am already seeing some wear on one of the keepers. This keeper tends to be in contact with the surface when I am typing out scripts like this so it shouldn’t be any surprise.
Do take note though that these are 21mm lug widths that Orient has a tendency of using so aftermarket options will be slightly more limited though they have become quite a bit more available in recent years.
Final thoughts
So what’s my verdict on this watch? Well to be honest this is currently my favourite watch from Orient and definitely one of my top 3 favourites in my collection at the moment.
As a tool watch, it ticks all the boxes by being well sized, highly legible and built to handle outdoor usage. All that along with a level of quality and finishing that easily matches or you could even argue exceeds that of similarly priced Swiss offerings.
It is also a highly versatile watch that can be worn in plenty of situations from sports to casual and even certain office situations especially if you go for the leather strap version.
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