Orient Watch Giveaway – February 2012

The 12 Months of Orient: Orient Union – $112.50 w/ DapperedFebruary ($225)

The Orient Watch Company has a dedicated following for good reason.  They’re the only watchmaker whose foundation is a wide range of incredible looking yet affordable automatics.  They’ve also partnered up with us to give away a watch a month for an entire year.  Each month we’ll review then give away a different featured watch, plus you’ll also get a new promo code good for 50% off any watch (except for their “star” line) at OrientWatchUSA.com.

UPDATE:  As of late February 2012, Orient has decided to no longer honor codes that delivered 50% off.  Those codes are now worth 30% off.  This is a new regulation that affects all of their promotional agreements.

So apparently not all of you want your workday wristwatch to be able to take your 40-yard-dash time, measure how fast your yacht is going, and/or convert dollars into yen.  This one is for those that prefer something more simple and free of subdials.  But at the same time, it’s not boring at all.  Add on top of that the automatic movement, and you’d be hard pressed to find a better looking business ready watch for the just over $100 price.

Equipped with both a day and date window, the designers at Orient decided to move those functions from the traditional 3 o’clock position, down to 6 o’clock and Noon.  That gives them more room to play with, and instead of the abbreviations for the day of the week, you get the full name of the day sweeping between 11 and 1 o’clock.  Not bad.

They could’ve just put a small, single day window at 6 o’clock, but instead they balanced the whole thing out with a window that shows yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  Load all that on top of a textured dial with the Orient logo and some script, and you get a design that looks much more expensive than the $112.50 w/ code price.

The crystal is mineral, the case is a pretty standard shined up stainless steel, and the burgundy leather band doesn’t feel stiff on your wrist.  It’s lightweight, but it certainly doesn’t feel cheap.  There’s no transparent case back on this one, but you can feel the automatic movement inside spinning away.

41mm in diameter if you count the crown, and when set next to the 44.5mm Orient Explorer it holds its own.  Water resistant to 50m, so you’ll want to keep it out of the ocean, but it could become just about any guy’s office workhorse.

Here’s how to win the Union seen here: Send your first and last name in an email to contests@dappered.com with the subject: Orient February.  One entry per person.  Deadline for entry is 11:59 pm ET on 2/3/12.

UPDATE:  Congrats to Chris M. who won the drawing for the Orient Union.  Three more months of watches to go.