A saluted bezel on a sub-£100 twerp, let down by a wobbly, unsaluted crown
The lesser-known Orient diver
Tonight, the Orient Kano, RA-AA0010B19B. Kano, or 'Kah-no' as my American friends like to call it. The lesser-known Orient diver. A large watch, but not too big for me. Bought by my good friend Mr Jun, and a big thank you has to go out to him, the only benefactor and supplier of multiple twerps to this channel.
Specs, because you love them: 44 mm case, 12.9 mm thick, 22 mm lugs, quite acceptable, and 49.8 lug to lug, so call it 50. 200 metres water resistance. Not ISO certified, but that should not matter to us. In-house F6922 calibre, three hertz, 40-hour power reserve, hacking and hand winding, rated minus 15 to plus 25 a day. Orient makes all its parts in the house, from straps and bezels to dials, handsets, indices, crowns and crown guards. Quite a rare feat in today's market.
The bezel is saluted
One of the most wonderful features of this twerp is the bezel action, which is absolutely superb. Superb, and saluted he is. Look at the state of that. A highly well-finished coin edge, and it really turns well. You can't get away from the quality of it.
Unfortunately there is no loom pip. An omission that has not been missed by myself. Get rid of it.
Dial: vintage diver, plus two disgusting markers
You can see where it takes its inspiration: it's a vintage dive watch. Applied indices, and look at that double rectangle at 12, fully applied. It is quite special. Printed sword hands, fully loomed and quite nicely done. No minute track, only printed seconds round the dial. Mineral crystal, not sapphire like his cousin the Kamasu, but the clarity is excellent so we'll forget about it.
Then the day-date, with these disgusting white markers above and below it. It would have been better without them. Get rid of them.
The crown is the absolute weakness
Signed crown, etched not engraved, and bigger crown guards than the Kamasu. But one of the many flaws of this watch, and there are a few: the crown is the absolute weakness. Look at the state of it. It hacks and it winds, but it's wobbly, and when you screw it back in it doesn't get any better, bros. The winding action is not saluted. Orient, are you listening? You fall under the Seiko Epson umbrella. Couldn't we have done it a bit better than this?
Screw-down caseback with the usual Orient dolphins, high-polish flanks, no bevelling, because this is a cheap watch, and some concentric brushing on top. The silicone strap is rather underwhelming. For the price you would expect nothing less than mediocrity, and that's exactly what you'll get. Not the best, but wearable.
Verdict
In conclusion, this watch is quite good. This one's gaining 40 seconds a day, which is unacceptable. But you pick these up used for less than 100 pounds, and that bezel is saluted. Stay freaky, bros.
