Orient World Map Diver review – A surprisingly functional dial!

Like the Weekly Auto Orient King Diver I reviewed awhile back, here we have another watch from Orient’s Revival Collection, the Orient World Map Diver. If you aren’t aware, the Revival Collection is Orient’s 70th anniversary commemoration series which pulls some of their most iconic models out of the archives. 

These reissues were made to be as close as possible to the originals while also producing several other variants and employing a modern take on the design.

This Orient World Map Diver is one such model that is truly quite unique in its design as we shall see further into this review. For clarification, this is not a sponsored review but this watch is a review unit that was kindly lent to me by BigTimeSGP, my local Orient AD, big shoutout to them.

Specs
Case size: 43.5mm
Lug to lug: 46mm
Lug width: 20mm
Thickness: 13.9mm
Case material: Stainlesss steel
Glass: Mineral crystal
Caseback: Screw stainless steel
Movement: F6922 (Automatic, Hacking, Hand-winding)
Complications: Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Date, Day
Power Reserve: 40 hours
VPH: 21,600
Jewels: 22
Water Resistance: 200m
RRP: S$563
Reference: RA-AA0E01S

Overview
The original Orient World Map Diver was first introduced in 1969. This came at a time when Japan had only recently lifted their heavy travel restrictions on their citizens.

The original watch featured a multi-coloured world map drawing on the dial with a 24 hour inner rotating bezel. The revival series that this reissue is part of features four different designs, one of which featuring the original multi coloured artwork on the dial(limited to 1200pcs worldwide) with the other three recreating the world map in a more modern way.

The other three variants comes in a blue, green and ivory dial. All models come in a stainless steel case with the ivory model sporting a two tone design by having a gold bezel and gold crowns. 

All four models come with decorated stainless steel bracelets to match the case.

Today I will be reviewing the two tone ivory dial version.

Case
So while we do have a not very petite 43.5mm case diameter, do not let that size fool you. With the lugs being concealed beneath the case, the lug to lug distance comes in at a very palatable 46mm which fits my 6.25” wrist very nicely. Quite similar in vein to the Seiko Tunas which despite their large case size, still manage to fit smaller wrists very comfortably.

Now this is not a modern tool watch by any means given how the case is entirely mirror polished all around. While it does attract smudges and finger oils, for a review unit it is surprisingly devoid of scratches. I will not be testing out its scratch resistance in any case.

On top of the case we have a fluted gold bezel in a mirror polished finish as well. A domed mineral crystal sits on top giving it a very nice vintage style. 

At the side of the case is a 3 o’clock crown for winding the movement and setting the day, date and time. True to the times of the original, this is not a screw down crown. There is also a 4 o’clock crown that controls the internal rotating 24hr bezel. Both crowns are signed and are also in gold and mirror polished matching the fluted bezel.

On the back we have a simple screw case back with the standard Orient markings. Like the rest of the watch, it is also mirror polished.

Unlike your typical lug design, this watch doesn’t have any real lugs as the springbar is tucked underneath the case itself. While it does greatly help the wearability, it also means that there isn’t much space for thick straps. I don’t think this is a big issue as the included bracelet is pretty nice itself.

Dial
The dial is where things get really interesting. Like the name suggests, the face is literally an illustration of the world map. Unlike the model that pays homage to the original, the dial on this watch features a more modern take on the world map using thin lines on an ivory canvas instead of multicoloured sections on a sea blue backdrop.

With the world map face being the signature feature of this watch, very little has been added to the dial, likely in an attempt to keep the world map visible and unobstructed. The reason for this is surprisingly more than just aesthetics as there is an actual function to it which I shall explain in a bit.

There are no numerals apart from the date wheel as the hours are denoted by very tiny round gold markers. In keeping with the theme, the day-date window is framed by a mirror polished gold bezel.

We have gold hour, minute and second hands that come in basically the same shape and length as the original. The minute and second hands extend nicely beyond the gold hour markers to reach the chapter ring printed around the edge of the dial.

The remaining dial decorations are an applied Orient logo at the 12 o’clock with printed text saying “Automatic” and at the bottom indicating a 20 bar water resistance.

The bezel is an internal one that is controlled by the 4 o’clock crown. As the idea behind this watch was to promote world travel, the bezel is designed to help you quickly reference the different timezones. I originally thought it was a GMT style bezel until I got stuck trying to figure out how to use a 24hr bezel on a 12hr dial. When I asked BigTIme about it, their answer literally blew me away.

So this bezel actually is not meant to correspond to the hour markers on the dial but rather the world map drawing on the dial itself. The map is actually divided up into 24 different sections which act as time zones. So you basically set the bezel time to correspond to the timezone on the map that you know is correct and it will show you what time it is in any other timezone on the map.

Now this does require a good knowledge of how to actually identify your location on this map but I assume people were much more attuned to this sort of thing in 1969 as opposed to today where we just use Google maps for everything.

It is still a pretty interesting function to me that I’ve not seen in other watches elsewhere before. Let me know if you happen to know of any.

Now at first glance it may seem like the only lume on this watch is found on the hour and minute hands, however they have actually painted lume all around the bezel on all the hour markers making this quite a well illuminated watch. Although not quite at the level of full on dive watches but still very respectable.

Movement
Those of you who follow me would probably know by now how much I love modern Orient movements and this one is no exception. Very affordable, made in-house, has hacking, hand-winding and self-winding, and is accurate to -15/+25SPD. 

These movements have proven to be very reliable and robust and often run well within their stated accuracy, more often running fast rather than slow.

Bracelet
While Orient aren’t exactly known for providing the highest quality bracelets(and neither should you really expect it at this price point), they do tend to make them pretty comfortable.

The included bracelet is actually one of my favourite parts of this watch. It is well decorated to match the polishing on the case with the side and middle links being very evenly straight brushed and the inner 2 links being a mirror polish. 

The links used are solid and also of the shorter variety. This helps to make the bracelet very supple and comfortable and quite easy to get a good fit. I do wish there were more than just two micro adjust positions however.

Like the links, the signed clasp is also of the shorter variety. The clasp is stamped instead of milled but that really shouldn’t be a surprise at this price point.

The straight end links are a common 20mm width but given the small amount of space created by the lack of actual lugs, you will be limited to using straps that are thin enough to fit in should you want to replace the stock bracelet.

Final thoughts
Before this review, I would never have expected this Orient to be one of the most interesting watches I’ve ever handled. 

Apart from being surprisingly comfortable and wearable on a skinny wrist like mine, I really like how there was a story behind the original piece that it pays homage to. Also, the utilisation of the actual map on the dial to reference the different timezones totally caught me by surprise.

While the style of this watch definitely isn’t for everyone, if you are looking for an interesting and quirky watch, this is definitely one to consider taking a look at.

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