FAA02005D9 Orient Ray II Men's Watch

The Orient Blue Ray II is a landmark watch for me, on many levels. It is my first "diver," my first watch native to Japan, and my first timepiece from the Orient brand. Suffice it to say that despite several more expensive rivals in the collection, it immediately became my favorite everyday watch. There is something about it, in fact, a lot of "that something" that makes it impossible to take your eyes off it. The way the light plays on its dial and the comfort of wearing it has changed my attitude towards "diverts" precisely. Before, I simply ignored them. It didn't stop there - on its own, it single-handedly rubbed the necks of several stereotypes and woke me up from the snobbish lethargy in which I had miserably lingered for years. And what a wake-up call it was! It was because of him that I bought another watch from the brand at www.zegarownia.pl and am already thinking about a third. The value for money ratio only pales in comparison with the fact that Orient belongs to a rare, especially in this price class, genre of watches powered by an "in-house" mechanism. In an era of a deluge of timepieces differing only in appearance, the superficiality of which conceals the same common and PRC-made mechanism, Orient, powered by a Japanese in-house mechanism, made me stop being interested in the designs of many well-known manufacturers. It is with them that bland, third-party mechanisms, for which one pays crores anyway, are the scourge. The Japanese, faithful to tradition, simply do it better and are honest about it - the buyer knows exactly what he is buying.

My rating is a full 5 stars, although it should be obvious that I took allowance for the affordable purchase price. In this price range, the Blue Ray II is second to none. With its functionality and build quality it outclasses its peerless rival - the archaic Seiko SKX007, remaining, in principle, without competition. It's no wonder that outside of Poland, the Orient brand is held in high regard by mechanical watch enthusiasts, among others, thanks to the improved Ray II precisely. Keeping in mind the price, which in itself is a big plus, this watch really has nothing to be ashamed of next to much more expensive "Helvetas". Last but not least, despite the inevitable similarities to the classics of the genre (vide Submariner and Seamaster), it has its own character and does not pretend to be much more expensive competitors. I highly recommend it, especially to people who want to buy their first automatic watch and don't want to ruin their home budget. It's a very versatile design that will work well on a daily basis and won't be out of place with moderately formal styling.

Advantages: powered by a Japanese-made automatic "in-house" mechanism; beautiful blue dial with multiple facets (the so-called. sunbeam dial); contrasting red seconds hand ending with the dial; day of the week indicator in two languages (English and Spanish) and day of the month; relatively precise mechanism with hand-winding capability; screw-down crown marked with the manufacturer's logo; water resistance, the limits of which most buyers will never put to the test (200 m); stop second; precise bezel with 120 clicks; applied, rather than printed, hour markers; excellent luminescence; precise, impressive finishing of the dial elements (markers and day-date window); compact design - although this is not its territory and application, the Ray II fits comfortably under a shirt cuff; solid, nice bracelet with three-stage micro-adjustment; overall high quality of workmanship and fit (the watch gives the impression of being much more expensive).

Disadvantages: the small crown is not comfortable to operate and can create difficulties when tightening.

Features that are not so much disadvantages as they are due to the affordable price, which are worth mentioning: mineral glass and hollow end links of the factory bracelet. Both can be upgraded on one's own if one feels the need.

Oh, photos do not do justice to the charm of this watch, and if you like it already in photos or videos, it can only be better in person ;)

In person it looks meeega!!!! The best Diver in this price class!!!

Elegant for everyday use and functional underwater. What more could you want?