Orient Star RE-AZ0005S Classic Skeleton Review

This time we have got a chance to talk about high-end watch from Japan with quite a long name – Orient Star RE-AZ0005S Classic Skeleton. This title also hints on the main feature of the timepiece – sophisticated dial with exposed movement. Price tag is also something what makes you think twice, but for me it was interesting to see what is actually offered in this nice product. Keep in mind that this is a production version, and you will get exactly the same watch.
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As usual, first I recommend to watch this video-review where you will see timepiece even closer.

Dial

This element actually makes up the whole image of the watch. Skeletonized design opens up some of the movement parts and adds a bit more action on the watchface. Overall color choice is fixed around silver and blue tones. This design works nicely and doesn’t look cheap in real life.

As you can notice on the photos and video, all hands are supplied with nice blued finish. This looks elegant and adds “value” to perceived cost of the watch. Note that not only hands are blue, but also some of the movement parts. This is a nice small touch which is not that easy to notice at first sight. Hours and minutes hands are quite large, so it is not difficult to find them on the dial.

Seconds hand can be found on the small subdial which is placed at 6’hours mark. This dial and power reserve indicator are the only spots where you will find digits. Main dial has large silver indices only, but this is not a problem in my opinion. Such design actually helps to focus attention on the movement and achieve a bit more balanced look.

I mentioned power reserve indicator – that’s the scale which you will find in the top section. At first I thought that it was a date indicator, but 70 and 50 hinted that this dial is used for slightly different purpose. Well, it will come handy as today’s watch is hand winding one. As for the date indicator, don’t try to look for it, because Orient Star RE-AZ0005S Classic Skeleton doesn’t have one. In my opinion it is a good choice which helped to keep the overall design clean and consistent.

Other interesting elements here include screws which hold various “levels” of the dial and emphasized with silver color. Note that writings are also reduced to possible minimum and you will find manufacturer logo at 3″ mark. As I said before, overall legibility is great, but don’t expect any luminous inserts here or some other diver quirks.

Case

I think this part is done in a classic Japanese styling, where you don’t have any extra lines, just pure simplicity and necessary edges. This helps watch to stay in reasonable borders of sophisticated, yet elegant design, which has all the chances to stay timeless. In my opinion this is a great advantage over other competitors, and it might attract some people who would like to have such timepiece in their collection.

Whole case comes with mirror-polished edges, so you will have to be extra careful while wearing this masterpiece. Yes, it is something what is given for a dress watch, but it will also make Orient Star a bit less of daily timepiece. Dimensions measure 38.8mm for the case size and 10.6mm for the thickness. It is definitely not a large timepiece, so it will be suitable for any wrist.

Crown doesn’t feature screwdown design here, and it is actually good, because this watch stays classic without adding some unnecessary things. On this part you will find “S” engraving, which is a logo of Orient Star brand. Crown is easy to operate, and as you remember, you will have to do it quite often thanks to manual winding.

Water protection is just 50m, but I wonder who and why would expect more from this watch. Both sides are enclosed with sapphire glass, which should be quite resistant to scratches.

Strap

Orient Star RE-AZ0005S Classic Skeleton comes with black smooth leather strap on the clasp buckle. This is a classic choice, and leather quality is top notch. It is quite flexible and easy to wear. Polished buckle also feature manufacturer’s logo.

What surprised me a bit is that there are no alternative options in the package. This design should work nicely with plenty of different strap types, but you will have to buy them separately. Note that there is no quick-release bars either.

Movement

As it was mentioned above, today’s watch features manual winding caliber – Orient F8B62. Thanks to skeleton dial, you can appreciate the beauty of this movement, some parts feature special engraving. Power reserve equals to impressive 70 hours, what is more than enough for everyday use. Note that manufacturer’s logo can be found on movement plate as well.

For the power reserve, it will be easy to track this with help of the dial. Movement itself is quite silent, and you can’t hear it even when there is no noise around you.

In Use

For a disclaimer I have to say that I decided not to go outside with this watch, but rather see how it feels on the wrist. Nevertheless, it is not difficult to answer the most probable questions which might come after seeing this watch.

First of all, dial is still easy to read, even with the skeleton design. Yes, it might get a bit of time to get used to find those large hands, but this is not a problem in my opinion. I want to say a separate praise for the power reserve indicator – it is simple, yet very cool feature, which will be handy with this watch.

Second, watch size is just right, and I think Japanese brand did a great work by deciding to keep dimensions in reasonable numbers. Orient Star RE-AZ0005S Classic Skeleton doesn’t look like some monstrosity on your wrist, and easy to wear with business attire.

Third is the case finish, mirror polishing is a great scratches magnet. It is not a question of “if”, but “when” you will get first scratches. Either you decide to live with this, or you will have to be extra careful with your watch.

Leather strap turned out to be surprisingly good. Yes, you might say that this is something expected in such price range, but some brands still manage to find stiff leather straps. Luckily this one is not the case. It is also a good candidate for trying out some other strap types, so be sure to find some decent aftermarket.

Orient Star RE-AZ0005S Classic Skeleton – Price

Here we come to the question about the price. Well, this watch can be bought for 3300EUR right now, and it is very competitive market area. There are plenty of different players, and you might even find some well-known Swiss brand here. You should also keep in mind that today’s watch is not a special or somehow limited edition.

Nevertheless, this is one of the points about Orient Star – the brand itself is not that widely spread around, so you don’t need to have Limited Edition. I highly doubt that you will see another watch like this on somebody’s wrist, and that is actually a good point to remember. Today’s skeleton timepiece might turn out a good choice if you would like to go against mainstream picks and have something a bit more sophisticated.

This design has all the chances to survive the test of time and be a nice dress choice in your collection. Yes, some of us just like to have a production numbers on their watch, but it is not necessary here. Orient Star managed to keep classic Japanese design with very impressive movement inside. If you are not in the pursuit of having some hyped brand on your wrist, then it is definitely something that you should take a look at. Who knows, maybe it will be a good one-watch-collection pick too. 🙂