The Orient Contemporary line features many elegant watches at an affordable price.
And when it comes to the contemporary line, one of the most popular is Orient’s Bambino watches. And for today’s watch review, I will be reviewing the Orient Bambino Gen 2, Version 2.
For those not familiar with Orient, Orient is a Japanese watch company that is part of the Seiko Epson group, which is under the Seiko Group umbrella.
While under Seiko Group, Seiko watches are under Seiko Holdings, Orient watches are under Seiko Epson. Both work independently from each other, so you can think of Seiko as big brother and Orient as little brother. Similar to how there is Rolex and its little brother Tudor.
You can read more about my explanation of Orient’s history here.
The Orient Bambino line has been around since 2012 and to be truthful, I have no idea where the name “Bambino” came from, because it’s typically not a word that I see from Japan (aside from the reference to a Yoshimoto Kogyo comedy duo). But it’s been fully accepted as the name of this style of watch and since then, there have been numerous versions.
When it was first released, the Orient Bambino Generation 1 watches used an automatic caliber 48743 Japanese movement and had “water resist” on the bottom. With Generation 2, they moved to the F6724 movement which featured hand-winding and hacking seconds (the second hand stops ticking when you pull out the crown) and had “water resistant” on the bottom.
There have been Orient Bambino version 3, 4 and 5 watches sold since then and also other variations of the Bambino, so one has many choices.
But why would one want to go back to a Version 1 or Version 2? Well, while I do prefer the newer Orient Japanese movements, the reason why I still purchased a version 2 (after I purchased a version 4), was primarily because of the display.
If you want an Orient Bambino with Roman Numerals for even hour sections on the display, the version 2 is the only way you are going to get that.
The version I purchased had a brown leather strap, rose colored hands and second mark and numerals with a silver steel case. And right around the edges are a train track chapter rings, which is very cool.
Now, I went for this watch because it had the rose gold hands and second mark and numerals, but I did have regrets at first because I didn’t realize they sold one with a cream dial with blue hands (and silver case with brown strap). Which I probably would have went for. The other is a gold case with white dial and gold Roman Numerals, hands and second mark.
But now, I’m kind of glad I went for this version, as I would get a cream dial short seconds Bambino and Sun & Moon watch and I like the overall look and why I purchased it immediately, due to that first gut instinct, when I first saw it before looking at other color variations.
The version 2 is smaller than the version 4 which is at 42mm, this is 40.5mm. For me, anything between 40-42mm case diameter is a plus for me. 38mm or under is really pushing it because of my bigger wrists.
The watch strap uses an alligator skin style of darker brown leather strap with a lug to lug length of 46.88mm.
Crown is easy to pull out, no problems changing time or date. As mentioned, Orient Bambinos have Orient caliber mvmt. allows for hacking seconds, so you can set the time much easier as pulling out the crown stops the second hand.
But these do feature the Caliber F6724 Japanese movement which is made in-house by Orient and features 22 jewels and 21,600 bph (vibrations per hour) and is hand windable, seconds hacking and utilizes a Seiko Diashock. The F6724 movement has an accuracy of -15/+25 seconds per day. I have not had any significant loss of time with my Bambino V2. (NOTE: Of all the Orient watches I own, I’ve had no major loss of time. The only movement I found somewhat sporadic was the Orient caliber 46A40 which is used by my Orient Metro.)
The watch is water resistant up to 30m (100 ft.). Granted, I don’t swim or shower with my automatic watches.
Now while the retail price is $300, Orient Bambinos typically go for under $130. I got this for around $112 (add another $8 for shipping) from an official watch seller that sells Orient watches on eBay. But average price is around $150 online, but again, you can often find it for under $130.
Overall, the Orient Bambino Generation 2, Version 2 is a wonderful watch for its style, its movement, its price. It’s an elegant watch and the fact that it can be purchased under $125 is fantastic.
If you want an Orient Bambino with the Roman Numerals, I definitely recommend the Orient Bambino Generation 2, Version 2.
