This is my first Orient watch. So that my point of reference is clear, my other two watches are a Seiko 5 that I wear as a beater, and a very nice Citizen perpetual calendar chronograph with the atomic clock syncing feature. For the enjoyment of the watch as both a functional object and a piece of art, the Sun and Moon easily has both of them beaten.I had already decided I was going to buy *a* watch, and set out to purchase a more traditional dress watch as I don't have anything that really fits the bill. I saw the Sun and Moon early on, but moved on because of its relatively busy face and large size. But, after reviewing many different models (mostly Swiss-made brands like Tissot and Hamilton, with heavy consideration for the Orient Bambino line for the value) I kept coming back to this one. The patterned dial with its great depth and the vintage-inspired design really speak to me. Obviously I ended up being convinced to make this purchase, and I haven't regretted it. A boring, traditional dress watch will have to wait for another time - I get much more everyday enjoyment from the Sun and Moon.I'll break this review into visual/qualitative aspects of the watch, and a short discussion of the watch's movement.Visual=====The Sun and Moon is beautiful; in my opinion the only watch near its price point that can compete is the cocktail time line from Seiko.- Dial: The dial really steals the show. You can see the patterning and the depth in photos, but it pops in person. The guilloche texture of most of the dial goes from looking like quilted fabric when light is directly on it, to a much more sharp-edged scalloped texture with light from an angle. There is a nice radial sunburst design in the day and sun-and-moon subdials. Flanking the ring with the roman numeral indices, there are two thin stripes of an alternating light-dark pattern -- these totally jump out at you in certain light. The material that the whole dial is made of is slightly pearlescent so that it shines a bit without being glossy; due to this, I can read the time in low light despite lack of any lume. My only complaint is that the material of the date wheel is not matched to the dial; it's a pure white that looks very flat by comparison.- Hands, indices, etc: The hands, roman numerals, and minute markings are jet black and very easy to read. The five-minute dots are slightly larger, which helps lend visual interest. I did notice that on my example, the dot at 39 minutes is partially missing; I expect this is a one-off, tiny manufacturing defect and I don't feel it detracts significantly from the watch as a whole. Like others, I enjoy the Breguet-style seconds hand. The "Sun & Moon" text and the days are a clear, classic font. I think Orient could have left "TUE" on the ring of the day subdial and partially obscured it for a better effect than having it printed inside the dial, but that's just a personal preference. Also a personal preference: many people have complained that Orient's logo looks tacky, but I think it goes very nicely with a vintage design like this. Another design decision that I feel neutral about, but that you should be aware of, is that the roman numerals at 7, 8, and 10 are truncated to fit the day and date complications. It's clearly a design decision, but might bother some people.- Case and band: The design of the case is nothing unusual, but it feels solid and is polished to a high shine. It seems to pick up hairline scratches somewhat easily; there's not a great hardening process employed in its manufacture. A nice touch that you can't see in most of the pictures is that Orient has engraved their logo on the crown; this is a pretty nice finishing touch for a watch at this price point. Do note that this is a *large* "dress" watch. The diameter could pass in a dress watch in modern times, but it is also very thick. It won't easily slip under a shirt cuff. However, the effect of the thick, polished case and slightly domed crystal is eye catching. It does have a display caseback so that you can see some of the inner workings of your watch. The band seems to be decent quality, although I don't have a standard for comparison as my other watches are on bracelets. It is quite comfortable after a few days' wear, and the deployant clasp is a nice feature so that you can set the tightness and forget it. The buckle has an Orient engraving on it.Movement========A big part of the appeal of Orient's watches to me is that they produce all of their movements in-house; entry-level Swiss watches can't say that. With that said, if you buy a watch with an ETA movement you can be pretty sure it will run reliably and be easy to service.I actually received a defective Sun and Moon at first; after wearing for about 8 hours I timed it at something like +90s a day. Orient states that the movement's accuracy should be -15/+25. I took the defective watch to a jeweler to make sure it didn't become magnetized during shipping, and after demagnetizing the watch he confirmed that it had a manufacturing defect that would require completely rebuilding the movement to correct. I exchanged the watch for a new one through Amazon, rather than send it for warranty service with Orient. The watch I got had obviously been worn and returned; it was missing some of the original packaging and had hairline scratches on the buckle and case of the sort that would be acquired just through daily wear at a desk. Everything works perfectly on this one and all of the correct papers were with it, so I decided to just keep it rather than make a complaint.On my (correctly assembled) example, the movement now does a little less than +8s/day. This is very good accuracy for an automatic watch at this price point; chronometer certification (which will only come on significantly pricier options) only guarantees less than +6s/day. I'm very pleased with the accuracy.The winding action is hardly noticeable; I can occasionally feel the rotor make a revolution on my wrist if I try. When the watch is run down the hand-winding is nice and easy. Having a hacking seconds hand (this means that it stops when you pull out the crown, so that you can set the time precisely) is a really nice feature to have; again, this is especially true at the price point.The frequency of the movement is (I believe) only 3 Hz, meaning the second hand moves 6 times per second. A 4 Hz movement is more standard and provides a noticeably smoother movement. I'm sure this is primarily a cost-motivated decision; raising the frequency requires a larger mainspring to provide the same power reserve, and presumably a few other beefed up components (I'm not a watchmaker). 3 Hz is still smooth enough, and the same as found in budget Seikos IIRC. The sweep of the seconds hand is certainly pleasing enough, especially if you're accustomed to the ticking of a quartz watch.Orient even went to the trouble of putting nice engraving on the rotor of the automatic movement (visible through the case back). Other movement components are not finished (polished or decorated), but I'd be very surprised if they were in a < $300 watch. The balance wheel and part of the escapement can be seen beating through the caseback so that you can marvel at the tiny piece of engineering on your wrist (well, in your hand if you're looking through the back).The day and date change over quite slowly; the date does so between 10pm and midnight, and the day moves between roughly 2 and 4 am as far as I can tell. The date does make its final click into the next position within 5 minutes of exactly midnight, which is nice attention to detail by Orient. The sun and moon dial, as noted by other reviewers, is *not* a moonphase, but rather a stylized 24-hour dial whose function is just that of an AM-PM indicator. A proper mechanical moonphase movement is probably 10 times the price of this watch.Summary=======The Sun and Moon V3 is an excellent buy for the price! For less than $300, you can own a wristwatch with a movement especially designed for it and produced in Japan by the manufacturer. It keeps excellent time, has day, date, and 24-hour dial complications, and even has a bit of decoration on the movement (the rotor). It hand-winds and hacks, which can't be said of most Seikos in the price range. Most of all, it's drop-dead gorgeous, and I never get tired of looking at the deep, textured dial and watching the sweep of the delicate seconds hand. The only con, really, is the size of the watch; otherwise, if the Sun and Moon disappoints you, I think you have unrealistic expectations.I deducted one star from this review because I originally received a defective watch. The exchange process was prompt, although I received a watch that had clearly been returned by another buyer. That confusion is on Amazon, not Orient. The new watch does work perfectly and only had very minor cosmetic blemishes.

I usually do not write a review for a product. But I feel like I need to for this one. This watch is absolutely gorgeous. It looks even better on wrist! I would definitely pay the extra for v3 instead of v2. Just put hacking and hand winding a side, the v3 let you set the day of the week easily that alone worth the extra. The delivery was quick I got it over the weekend without prime. But they dropped the price 2 days after I ordered but im still happy with what I got.

It was this or a seiko presage. For the same price with seiko you get rough finishing on the indices and hardlex. Gross. With the orient you get sapphire glass with hacking and hand winding. I wanted the blue dial but got the black dial because it was less money. I think it is stupid that Amazon charges more based on color, but I guess they can do that due to demand. The deployment clasp is elegant but sometimes digs into my wrist if I don't keep it lose enough. Any color you get in this watch is a winner. I have a Squalematic Atmos 60 that is beautiful, but this right now is my favorite watch out of a 12 watch rotation. I highly recommend this watch or anything from Orient for that matter.

Outside of a few specialized applications, very few people truly NEED a watch any more. Pretty much any watch, be it a $75 G-Shock or a $15000 Rolex, serves roughly the same purpose... to broadcast to the world something about the wearer. Most 200m dive watches never get submerged further than 6 inches under water when you're doing dishes, most chronographs do not get used to time laps on the track, and nobody's wearing a Bulova Moonwatch to the moon these days.So what does the Orient Sun and Moon series say about the wearer? Is he a racing driver? a deep-sea diver? an astronaut? I've been thinking about this and I have come to the conclusion that the Sun and Moon v3 tells the world that you are, in fact, a Time Lord.Really, this watch looks like it controls time rather than telling it. That the sun, as it moves across the subdial window, causes the actual sun to move across the sky and if you spin the crown backward it will cause night to fall again.The aesthetic is truly classic, more so than previous versions of the Sun and Moon. The white dial isn't plain white, for example... it's a matte pearl white that shows off the delicate play of textures and layers of the different complications. The chunky case is simple but elegant, with nicely-rounded sides and fluted lugs that disguise the thickness of the case a little (more on that thickness later).The presentation caseback is a nice touch, and Orient has seen fit to engrave/etch the rotor with a decorative pattern to add a little visual interest to an otherwise workmanlike movement. That movement in the v3 features hacking and handwinding, which is a step up from previous versions of the Sun and Moon.The titular "Sun and Moon" display is a bit of horological frippery that basically amounts to an AM/PM indicator, but it is what makes the watch special... the constantly-changing position of the golden sun and moon as they chase each other around the sub-dial is charming and draws the eye in. The case is thicker than a "dressy" wach should be, which is largely down to the layered effect of the subdials for the date, day and sun/moon that sit at different levels on the movement. I'll take the layering and depth of the dial over a thinner case any day of the week. It's a tight fit under a button cuff, but just slides under a French cuff. The slightly-domed sapphire(!) crystal adds a little to the thickness as well.Complaints? Not really, no. Sure, I'd prefer the hands be blued instead of black. The rotor is more noisy than I'd expect in a Japanese automatic these days. And the strap and its accompanying deployant buckle are the definition of "adequate". The wrist shot with this review shows the watch on an auburn bomber leather strap by Clockwork Synergy, which plays up the vintage character of the watch.In terms of value, it's impossible to fault this watch. At list price the combination of movement, complications and sapphire crystal is hard to beat. It's more accurate so far, and better-made, than my more expensive Seiko Cocktail Time, which is probably this watch's closest competition.In conclusion, the Orient Sun and Moon v3 represents an excellent combination of amazing value, vintage modern style and impressive quality. Your wrist deserves nothing less.