# Accuracy of Orient Star movements



## mcfrede (Jul 10, 2015)

So, finally I thought to myself that I was ready for an automatic (I own several quartz watches) and really liked the look of the Orient Star WZ0031JC (World Time).









After doing a bit of research, I discovered that the rated accuracy seems to be +25 / -15 s a day.

I am aware that automatics won't normally approach the accuracy of quartz watches, but this rating has made me reluctant to buy. In a worst case scenario I would be ahead almost a minute in just two days.
Is this accuracy range normal for watches of the Orient Star brand (I thought the Orient Star was the mid-level and the Royal Orient the high-end)? It seems to be the standard rating for the Orient Star movements, not just the World Time.

*What are your personal experiences with accuracy, how well do your watches perform?*

I guess moving from quartz to automatics is a mental barrier to overcome. :think:


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## Skeptical (Sep 14, 2012)

Most automatics do better than advertised. The Seiko 4R36 is only rated at +45/-35, but I think in practice +/-10 seconds would be unusual. The Orient Star Standard I had was about -5 seconds, and My Orient Mako (my oldest automatic) is about +5.


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## mcfrede (Jul 10, 2015)

OK, thanks.

Less than +/- 10 Seconds would be acceptable I guess, though still quite a lot more than I am used to.
This would be an interesting acquaintance to make since I am used to just setting my watches and forget about it (one is radio-controlled and another bluetooth-enabled so they synch with either radio signals or the phone's GPS), whereas this would have to be cared for and wound every other day.


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## MadMrB (Jun 7, 2015)

"this would have to be cared for and wound every other day" this to me is part of the appeal and charm of mechanical watches, you have to physically interact with them. The Orient watches I own have proved to be surprising accurate, some are almost spot on like my GMT which only gains about 1 second every 2-3 days, but I would say the average I have experienced is +/- 5 seconds a day.


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## dimman (Feb 10, 2013)

Mine have all (3 of them, standard Orient) been either a minute fast (2 of them) or minute slow (the other one) per week. A minute off is about my personal limit for watch accuracy tolerance, so setting them once a week was good for me. (That's ~8-9 seconds per day).

My watches now outnumber my ability to keep them all wound so it's become a bit of a moot point...


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## Desirider (Aug 27, 2015)

You'll get used to it. My Seiko SKX007 loses about 5 seconds during the day. I place it face down in the nightstand, and it gains the ~5 seconds back overnight. Over the week it is almost spot on. If it drifts more during the week, I try to make it up over the weekend.

That is the fun part of owning an automatic.


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## Dan83bz (Jul 6, 2008)

I have had and still have a few Orient Star pieces including a WZ0021JC.

All of them have been better than +10/-5 per day, with some veering towards the ridiculous side, like WZ0081EL that was about 10 seconds fast....per month. No special positions or treatment either, just worn anything between 9 and 16 hrs per day and let it rest crystal-up on my desk at night. And no, it has not been "hacked" with a quartz movt. inside, has the simple, usual, run of the mill Orient "stuffing" inside :-s

The last thing I would worry on an Orient Star is accuracy. 

P.S. My WZ0021JC runs a very consistent +6s per day, so around 3 minutes per month, which is acceptable for me, especially since I usually rotate pieces weekly at most.


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## mcfrede (Jul 10, 2015)

Thank you everybody for your feedback, it is appreciated.

I guess I can live with the accuracy you have experienced, or thereabouts.

As often happens, the more I visit the Orient website the more watches I grow fond of. I'm only looking to buy one currently, so I will continue the hunt (the GMT also looks nice).

I will then have Seiko, Citizen, Casio and Orient represented, are there any other asian brands worth looking into (I really like the level of craftmanship put into some watches from the before mentioned brands).


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## conjurer (Jan 15, 2008)

Interestingly, I have the very same watch. It's gained about 3-4 seconds per day, although I haven't worn it every day--Orient movements tend to become somewhat twitchy when they drop below half-wind.

I plan to do one of my tiresome reviews of this watch pretty soon. It's very fine indeed, although the strap sucks. Other than that, it's superb.


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## jupiter6 (Jan 8, 2015)

mcfrede said:


> this would have to be cared for and wound every other day.


It's an automatic. Wear it and it will wind itself with nothing else required on your part. That's the whole point of them.


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## arogle1stus (May 23, 2013)

mcfrede:
I own 4 Orients of varying styles. Divers, Dress, and Aviators
Not one of them runs in the range of accuracy of your Orient.
IMO Orient regulates their watches to run + from their factory.
Most accurate of the 4? The Mako +6 to 9 secs pd. Then the
Flight 8 to 10 Sec + per day.
Accuracy is important as you make it.

Lou Snutt


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## AceRimmer (Dec 28, 2013)

My Orient Star Standard is within 5 seconds a day.


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## rfortson (Feb 18, 2012)

MadMrB said:


> "this would have to be cared for and wound every other day" this to me is part of the appeal and charm of mechanical watches, you have to physically interact with them. The Orient watches I own have proved to be surprising accurate, some are almost spot on like my GMT which only gains about 1 second every 2-3 days, but I would say the average I have experienced is +/- 5 seconds a day.


Exactly, I've always considered this a feature, not a bug. I LIKE messing with my watches, plus I rotate watches everyday anyway, so I'm always setting them. My Speedmaster is one of my few manual wind watches, and I wind it every morning, regardless of if I'm going to wear it that day or not.

But, to each his own. If this bugs the OP, then there are lots of great "set and forget" quartz watches out there.


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## oak1971 (Aug 19, 2013)

We really don't know what time it is anyway. Just educated guesses.


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## Ahriman4891 (Oct 18, 2008)

My Orient Star was losing about 10s on the wrist when new, but then it settled very nicely. Last year I spent several weeks timing it, and arrived at this after averaging:


*Position
**s/12h
**spd
*On the wrist-2.7-5.4Dial up3.36.6Dial Down0.91.8Crown up-8.2-16.4Crown down-5.6-11.2
I am providing both spd (per 24h) and s/12h - IMO the latter is more useful as usually you'll be wearing the watch for ~12h and then resting it for 12h.


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## HUF (Jan 6, 2014)

Ahriman4891 said:


> My Orient Star was losing about 10s on the wrist when new, but then it settled very nicely. Last year I spent several weeks timing it, and arrived at this after averaging:
> 
> 
> *Position
> ...


Good job. Thank you for sharing. Is not it great to be able to keep the watch within a few seconds over a year by proper overnight positioning? You may also try 12 mark up and down.


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## Ahriman4891 (Oct 18, 2008)

You are welcome. I thought about the remaining two positions, but figured they require too much effort (cannot be achieved with only the watch and a flat surface) and so won't be of much practical use. Maybe I should test them just for academic purposes...


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## HUF (Jan 6, 2014)

Ahriman4891 said:


> You are welcome. I thought about the remaining two positions, but figured they require too much effort (cannot be achieved with only the watch and a flat surface) and so won't be of much practical use. Maybe I should test them just for academic purposes...


Yes, the remainig two positions would complete the picture. I see you have a researcher's mindset. Could you please add some experimental data to this thread
https://www.watchuseek.com/f410/power-reserve-measurement-1867802.html ? Rotation around any horizontal axis will work.


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## swissgmt (Jun 18, 2013)

Been a consistent +7 per 24hrs on the wrist since I got it this summer. It is worn 3-4 days at a time when selected from the watch box, it may improve a little over time.


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## TheBigBadGRIM (Aug 6, 2015)

As an owner of multiple automatics, I swap watches 1-2 times a week from the watch case to wear so I never wear them long enough to time and I have to wind them when I start using them. This is why I never cared about accuracy since I could always use my atomic Protrek if needed. HOWEVER, in order to help future buyers out there, I'll keep the Orient King Master 2015 and this Orient Star WZ0351EL running for a week and try to note the results.


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## Tseg (Mar 29, 2014)

When I bought my first Orients there were lots of posts that they could keep time nearly perfectly. Now I have 2 Orients, one at -8 SPD and the other worse then that. Since my purchases I've seen a lot more candid posts about Orients being close (+/-10 SPD), but not perfect. If better then that, then luck of the draw. If worse then that, unfortunate.


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## TheBigBadGRIM (Aug 6, 2015)

I'm back to post the results of the 7-day accuracy test on both my Orient Star WZ0351EL and Orient King Master (2015 release) which I said I would do in the previous thread page. For the conditions, I left both watches inside my watch case stored upright for seven days and ONLY taking them out daily to wind them. I set both watches to sync with time.gov to the second and compared the results with the same website. In the most stable condition here are the results:

*Orient Star WZ0351EL:* + 1 min, 29 seconds (averaged 12.7 seconds per day)
*Orient King Master:* - 1 min, 3 seconds (averaged 9 seconds per day)

I'm okay with the standard Orient brand watch getting -9 per day, but should the $360 Orient Star's accuracy be like this or should I expect better results?


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## Pedro Reyes (Oct 29, 2015)

I just bought a Orient Somes DK02002F witch is running around +20 sec per day.


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## Samwatch (Jul 15, 2007)

That's very much. 
My worst OS runs about 10s fast a day.



My first series Orient Star Somes WZ0041FR can be easily adjusted by positioning face up (faster) or crown up (slower), nearly all the others are similar.



Michael


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## Ahriman4891 (Oct 18, 2008)

Pedro Reyes said:


> I just bought a Orient Somes DK02002F witch is running around +20 sec per day.


Give it a month or so to break in.


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## Dan83bz (Jul 6, 2008)

One thing I've noticed and after 4, 5 newer OS if I count the departed GMT, I guess I could call it a pattern, is that the newer OS are worse in accuracy than the older models, but on the positive side, they all seem to be adjusted to run faster because I've had maybe 20 different Orient Star pieces and all that were/are super accurate are models older than 2011 or so (launch date I mean), so maybe they changed something in the way they adjust them. After all, it does make more sense for a watch to be sligthly fast than to be slow. And still, none of the OS pieces I had were ever more than 15s off, whereas I've had many other watches from other brands and similar price range and overall OS is still the best, this including their "cousin", Seiko.

So, if you go out to buy an Orient, pay 2-500$ and expect +/- 1 second per day, then due yourself a favor and buy a quartz. Or add at least one zero to the purchase price and then you'll be able to get a chronometer grade piece and have an average of -4/+6s per day. But that same money could buy you a helluva nice Orients :-d


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## HUF (Jan 6, 2014)

It's been my impression that Orients under $100 are as accurate as ones worth several hundreds of dollars. Right overnight positioning is a great tool to keep them within a few seconds +/1 in months. Try that with a quartz watch!


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## Dan83bz (Jul 6, 2008)

HUF said:


> It's been my impression that Orients under $100 are as accurate as ones worth several hundreds of dollars. Right overnight positioning is a great tool to keep them within a few seconds +/1 in months. Try that with a quartz watch!


Well, that might be very true, since Orient uses very similar movements across it's ranges, with the more expensive ones having added hacking/hand-winding or better regulation, but often it's the exact same base movement, which is often touted as a reason by some why Royal Orient is not such a great value range, since, with a few exceptions (the Cal. 88700 & 88A00 hi-beat), the rest are 3HZ and besides a better finish and regulation, the same you would find in an Orient Star or even "regular" Orient at 10x less. In my opinion, their finish alone still constitutes enough reasoning to buy if money is no object, since they are pretty much on par with Grand Seiko when it comes to fit, finish, quality of bracelet thus still a good price, since a Royal Orient is usually the same price as a quartz GS.

To each his own I guess...


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## Pete26 (Feb 17, 2006)

Dan83bz said:


> One thing I've noticed and after 4, 5 newer OS if I count the departed GMT, I guess I could call it a pattern, is that the newer OS are worse in accuracy than the older models, but on the positive side, they all seem to be adjusted to run faster because I've had maybe 20 different Orient Star pieces and all that were/are super accurate are models older than 2011 or so (launch date I mean), so maybe they changed something in the way they adjust them. After all, it does make more sense for a watch to be sligthly fast than to be slow. And still, none of the OS pieces I had were ever more than 15s off, whereas I've had many other watches from other brands and similar price range and overall OS is still the best, this including their "cousin", Seiko.
> 
> So, if you go out to buy an Orient, pay 2
> 
> I agree that the finishing on higher end Orients is very good.


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## Pete26 (Feb 17, 2006)

Dan83bz said:


> One thing I've noticed and after 4, 5 newer OS if I count the departed GMT, I guess I could call it a pattern, is that the newer OS are worse in accuracy than the older models, but on the positive side, they all seem to be adjusted to run faster because I've had maybe 20 different Orient Star pieces and all that were/are super accurate are models older than 2011 or so (launch date I mean), so maybe they changed something in the way they adjust them. After all, it does make more sense for a watch to be sligthly fast than to be slow. And still, none of the OS pieces I had were ever more than 15s off, whereas I've had many other watches from other brands and similar price range and overall OS is still the best, this including their "cousin", Seiko.
> 
> So, if you go out to buy an Orient, pay 2
> 
> Yes possibly around the same price as quartz GS, but most RO's have added complications. If you add those features to a GS you are looking at serious money.


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## jacer35 (Jul 10, 2017)

Wondering if you ever bought an Orient and if so how it is behaving? After reading all your replies I was persuaded to buy an Orient Star Classic but so far accuracy is disappointing - a consistent +18 to +19 secs per day and unable to stop it gaining less than 6 secs when resting crown up. I missed one of your replies which said the newer versions tend to run faster than the older ones. Hoping mine might improve as it’s only a couple of weeks old.


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## allanzzz (Nov 5, 2012)

Look on the bright side, at least it's not doing minus 10 sec

Sent from my MI MAX using Tapatalk


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## Splash777 (Dec 5, 2021)

mcfrede said:


> So, finally I thought to myself that I was ready for an automatic (I own several quartz watches) and really liked the look of the Orient Star WZ0031JC (World Time).
> 
> View attachment 5444186
> 
> ...


This is an old post...but I pain stakenly adjusted my Orient Ray II. My watch currently gains about 1 second a day. This is not a fib. I LOVE that watch. I have had it in a watch winder for x1 week and still stays 1+ seconds a day. I'm super impressed. I gently tapped the micro regulator and kept checking it. I used silicone grease ---small amount to minimize any torsion damage to the O-ring.


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