You’re probably looking for a new watch, but don’t know which one to buy. You might be feeling overwhelmed with the amount of brands and models that are on the market today.
Orient vs Seiko is a hotly debated topic among watch enthusiasts because both companies are reputable in their own right.
In this blog post will go through the Orient vs Seiko watches, and help you decide which is brand right for you.
We’ll cover the best dive watches, sports watches, dress watches, and chronographs from each brand. Focusing on affordable timepieces that will last.
For us Seiko watches are the best of the two.
Scroll down to find out why…
Orient vs Seiko Watches: The Winner
Seiko is the winner of this Japanese watch brand showdown. However we think both Orient and Seiko have some brilliant timepieces on offer.
Here are our results from the Orient vs Seiko Watches showdown. Listed below are the best watches that these brands have to offer.
Best Seiko Watches
Seiko beats Orient in terms of their name recognition and some of their iconic timepieces over the years. Here are some of our top picks from Seiko in all the top watch categories:
- Prospex Dive Watches: Seiko’s dive watches are legendary. Really of their watches from their Prospex collection will make a great choice for a dive watch. You really can’t go wrong. Learn more in our review of the best Seiko dive collections.
- Seiko 5 Sports Watches: If you’re after an affordable mechanical sports watch. Then a Seiko 5 watch is one of the best on the market. Great quality, so much choice, and affordable price. It’s a big collection so take a look at a breakdown of our favorite Seiko 5 watches to help you choose one.
- Beautiful Dress Watches: Seiko are known for releasing some gorgeous dress watches. The Seiko Cocktail Time dress watch collection is quirky as each watch is inspired by a cocktail. Plus these are fairly affordable, and yet look more expensive than they are.
- Affordable Chronographs: Chronographs can get pricey, however, Seiko has a very affordable chronograph collection called the Seiko SSB chronograph series. With a big selection of styles to choose from.
Best Orient Watches
Orient aren’t the overall winner of this Orient vs Seiko showdown.
However, we still love Orient. They are one of the best affordable watchmakers from Japan.
Here are our top picks from Orient:
- Orient Kamasu Dive Watches: This affordable Orient diver is hard to beat. They look fantastic, come with an automatic movement, and even come with a sapphire crystal too. All for a really affordable price. You can’t go wrong with this dive watch.
- Legendary Orient Bambino Collection: Super affordable, so much choice, and loved by watch collectors. This affordable automatic dress watch is a great addition to a collection. Why not check out our review for the Bambino Gen 2 collection.
- Retro Neo70s Chronograph: Finally Orient have a few cool retro looking chronographs inspired by watches from the 1970s. the Neo70s panda style dial really stands out and has a 70s feel to it.
Orient vs Seiko Watches
- Orient vs Seiko Dive Watches
- Orient vs Seiko Sports Watches
- Orient vs Seiko Dress Watches
- Orient vs Seiko Chronographs
- Where To Buy These Watch Brands?
Orient vs Seiko Dive Watches
Dive watches are hugely popular today. Both Seiko and Orient provide some excellent automatic dive watches.
Seiko’s dive watches win overall, due to their quality and also their big, big range.
Yes, Orient has some beautiful dive watches. However, Seiko pushes the boat in the dive watch market. By providing so many different styles.
Here are our top picks from the Orient vs Seiko dive watches.
Seiko Prospex
Seiko has a humongous dive watch range called the Seiko Prospex collection.
Seiko also has a rich history in the dive watch market. They even released Japan’s first ever dive watch all the way back in 1965.
Since then Seiko have been leading innovators on the dive watch scene worldwide.
With famous Seiko dive watches like their Samurai, Monster, and more. All given memorable Seiko watch nicknames by their fans.
If you’re looking for a watch that can handle a scuba diving trip then the Prospex range is ideal. As all these watches have at least a water resistance of 200m (660ft).
Seiko Samurai
The Seiko Samurai dive watch collection has been going since 2004. They’ve become a favorite, automatic dive watch from the Seiko Prospex collection.
The Samurai Seiko watches pictured above are from the third generation of this collection.
Samurai Gen. 3 dive watches come in a range of colorful dials to choose from. The bright orange dial being a firm favorite, along with the sea blue.
From the picture above the codes are:
These dive watches have a water resistance of 660ft (200m). With a case size of 44mm.
These timepieces are ISO 6425 compliant. Meaning that they can be worn while swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving too.
You can find the Seiko Samurai collection on Amazon.
Seiko Monster
The Seiko Monster is another chunky timepiece from Seiko. The teeth like marks on the bezel and case is where this Seiko watch gets its nickname.
Since its first release in 2000, the Seiko Monster has had so many special edition releases. That it’s hard to keep up. So many crazy color combinations on offer.
One of the more understated Monster dive watches is their SRPD25.
It still has the teeth marks, and the chunky shape. Yet, it’s a bit more streamlined. It’s bright blue dial is gorgeous. A really cool looking dive timepiece.
It’s a thick timepiece, with 14mm of thickness. Plus it has a domed shaped Hardlex crystal too.
This watch is suitable for scuba diving.
You can find the Seiko Monster collection on Amazon.
Orient Kamasu
A contender from Orient for Seiko has to be Orient’s Kamasu dive watch collection.
It comes with an in-house Orient automatic movement. It also has a sapphire crystal! Sapphire crystal is scratch resistant and the best crystal you can get.
This diver also comes with a 120-click unidirectional bezel, and a water resistance of 200m (660ft). However, unlike Seiko’s Prospex range, these watches aren’t ISO compliant.
This range does look great. Coming in a wide range of dial and bezel ring colors. From the popular grey, to green, and a gorgeous deep red.
You find the Orient Kamasu dive watch collection on Amazon.
Orient vs Seiko Sports Watches
We had to just include Seiko in this review, as the Seiko 5 range really is just too tough to beat.
Seiko 5
Seiko have a range of affordable, automatic sports watches that you’ve probably all heard of. That is the legendary Seiko 5 collection.
This watch collection has been running since 1963. Running for almost as long as Orient has been around (Orient started in 1950)!
All Seiko 5 watches include an automatic movement, a water resistance of at least 100m. This won’t be as good as Seiko Prospex.
They all have a date complication, and they are tough, durable timepieces.
These watches are also affordable too. We’ll include two here that have been lovingly nicknamed by the Seiko fans. The Bottlecap, and the Sea Urchin (Rolex Sub lookalike).
Seiko Bottlecap
You can probably understand how this Seiko watch got its nickname. Thanks to its bottle cap shaped case.
This is probably one of Seiko’s quirkiest Seiko 5 watches. It’s a watch that gets a lot of love from the Seiko fans. For it’s uniqueness and for its price tag.
This watch is a chunky sports watch, coming in at a case size of 44.5mm.
The price is fantastic. For that price you get 100m of water resistance, stainless steel case and bracelet, along with Lumibrite lume.
We think the Seiko Bottlecap looks best when fitted with a NATO strap. The bracelet on this timepiece is fine for the price, but not amazing.
You can find the Seiko 5 Bottlecap collection on Amazon.
Seiko Sea Urchin
The SNZF17 has got another nickname. This Seiko watch has been nicknamed the Sea Urchin. Due to its spiky case, around the bezel.
This watch has the look of a Rolex Submariner. Except it has a much more affordable price tag.
A really good looking sports watch. With a water resistance of 100m (330ft), and a case size of 42mm. The SNZF17 was launched in 2009, and has gained a strong following since then.
Again this Seiko 5 watch looks particularly cool when paired with a NATO strap. Giving it the James Bond NATO vibes.
You can get the Seiko 5 Sea Urchin on Amazon.
Orient vs Seiko Dress Watches
This was a tough showdown for Orient vs Seiko. As both of these watch brands provide brilliant choices when it comes to dress watches.
Here we’ll review our top picks for the best collection from each watchmaker.
For Seiko that’s the Seiko Cocktail Time.
And…
For Orient it’s the Orient Bambino.
Seiko Cocktail Time
Seiko’s Cocktail Time collection was created in collaboration with Japanese mixologist Shinobu Ishigaki of the famous Ishinohana Bar, in Tokyo.
The Cocktail Time automatic dress watch line was introduced a decade ago. Since then it has joined the Seiko Presage lineup. Presage is the home of Seiko dress watches.
The watches in the Cocktail Time collection are designed each with a cocktail in mind. It’s a fun collection where you can choose a dress watch to match your favorite drink.
Classic cocktails like Espresso Martini, an Old Fashioned, or not so well known tipples like the Skydiving. Make up the cocktails for your wrist.
You can find Seiko Cocktail Time dress watches on Amazon.
Orient Bambino
An Orient Bambino is considered one of the best value automatic watches you can buy right now.
The Orient Bambino Generation 2 comes in 8 Versions so far.
Each version comes with a domed mineral crystal. Giving the dial a cool distortion. Plus each watch is fitted with an Orient in-house automatic movement.
What sets each version apart is the style. With the popular Version 3 taking on a Bauhaus style. While Version 2 has a beautiful vintage aesthetic.
We did a whole review on the entire collection, read our Orient Bambino review here.
There’s an Orient Bambino dress watch to suit most styles. They’ve even released a smaller case size for smaller wrists. In the form of the Version 5S, with a case size of 36.4mm.
You can find the whole Orient Bambino Gen 2 collection on Amazon.
Orient vs Seiko Chronographs
Seiko has to be crowned king when it comes to chronographs. Due to Seiko’s innovation and long history designing chronographs.
Remember a chronograph is a watch with a stopwatch function.
Seiko has contributed to the development of chronographs. Seiko built and released Japan’s first chronograph watch in 1964; the 1964 Crown Chronograph.
They were also one of the first watchmakers to release an automatic chronograph movement to the market in 1969, the Caliber 6139.
Seiko even has the title for the first automatic chronograph to reach outer space. The Seiko fans nicknamed the chronograph the Pogue. Named after NASA Astronaut Colonel Pogue wore it.
The Pogue is a really popular and funky looking vintage chronograph right now. So keep on the lookout if you like this style.
So Seiko are seasoned pros when it comes to chronographs.
Compare them to Orient, and there isn’t a comparison in terms of the heritage and the iconic chronographs on offer. Seiko wins every time.
However, Orient has come out of with a few chronographs of their own that deserve a mention. We will mention the cool, retro Panda style chronographs from Orient.
Seiko SSB Chronograph Series
Chronographs are known to be more expensive timepieces.
However, Seiko is known for being an affordable watch brand. So they provide a collection of chronographs that look more expensive than they are.
One of the best inexpensive chronographs you can buy is one from Seiko’s SSB Chronograph Series.
This series has a wide range of chronographs to choose from. Whether you like a more classical look with a leather strap, or you’re after a sporty chronograph. Seiko SSB series will have a chronograph for you.
However, these chronographs don’t come with a mechanical movement. Instead they use a quartz movement. Which makes it super accurate, and low maintenance. However, you do miss out on the magic of a mechanical timepiece.
But for the price, the Seiko SNDC31 is a great choice as an affordable chronograph.
The Seiko SSB Chronograph Series is available on Amazon.
Orient NEO70s Chronograph Series
Orient’s NEO70s collection are a cool line of affordable chronographs. These watches really have retro vibe to them.
The contrasting colored dials on the white sub dial was first popularized by Rolex with their legendary Daytona chronograph back in the 60s. The Orient NEO70s Panda chronograph really is a nod to that legendary chronograph.
At least this Orient will gives you the same look, but for a fraction of the price.
These chronos come in with a 42mm diameter, and an 11.8 thickness. So fairly standard size that’s popular for a chronograph today.
They are solar powered chronographs from Orient. So it’s a low maintenance timepiece.
The NEO70s line have come out with even more cool color combinations. Like the red and black dial, among others.
You can find the entire Orient NEO70s Chronograph collection on Amazon.
Where To Buy These Watch Brands?
Both Orient and Seiko are available on Amazon.
