The New 2019 Orient Star Modern Skeleton – Upgrading the In-House Movement

By: Kaz Mirza

Earlier this year just before Baselworld 2019, Orient released a movement upgrade for their frankly under-appreciated Orient Star Modern Skeleton product line.

Orient’s Push to Upgrade Previous 4xxxx Calibers to the New F6xxx Calibers

Orient has been using in-house movements in their watches for decades. However most of those calibers didn’t see too many technical innovations or improvements during their lifetime. Over the past couple years though that’s something Orient has been working on.

Out of their movement making workshop in Akita, Japan, Orient has been iterating on its new wave of calibers based on the F6[xxx] line. Among the most well know movement upgrades, the Orient Mako II and Ray II received the F6922 while the Bambino Small Seconds received the F6222 caliber.

Now it’s the Orient Star Modern Skeleton’s turn.

The movement upgrade from the older 40S62 cliber to the Orient Star Skeleton’s newer F6F44 movement results in two main differences:

• Bigger open heart window at 9 o’clock to accommodate the new balance wheel
• Power reserve increase from 40H to 50H

Overall the look is still basically the same, but for me (as a movement geek) I love that Orient is sticking with previous models and giving them these movement upgrades. I’ve personally handled a few Orient Stars (I also own a previous generation WZ0071DJ GMT (which I reviewed )) and I can tell you that the quality on these is outstanding. The treatment of final finishing and fine detailing between standard Orient models (like the Mako and Bambino) is miles away from the refinement you get with pieces in the Orient Star line. It’s just a shame that Orient Star isn’t more popular in the United States – that’s something that we at TBWS will be working on changing though.

Orient Star Modern Skeleton Specs:

Here’s a breakdown of all the specs for the new 2019 Orient Star Modern Skeleton pieces.

• Automatic, in-house F6F44 mechanical movement (Made in Japan)
• Manual winding with hacking
• 41 mm in diameter
• 50 hour power reserve with indicator
• Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating
• Small seconds sub dial at 6 o’clock
• Lumed hands and dots
• 100 meter water resistance (10 bar)
• Available in 4 dial styles
• Options for stainless steel trifold buckle or leather deployant strap

Orient Star Modern Skeleton Dial/Style Options

RE-AV0004N

• • Grey dial
  • Two tone interior elements (hands, Orient Star logo, and Roman numeral XII in rose gold)
  • Power reserve indicator offset in slightly contrasting black
  • Stainless steel case with bracelet

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RE-AV0003L

• • Navy dial
  • Small seconds sub dial offset in contrasting silver
  • Stainless steel case with bracelet

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RE-AV0005L

• • Navy dial
  • Power reserve indicator offset in slightly contrasting black
  • Stainless steel case with leather strap with deployant buckle

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RE-AV0006Y

• • Brown dial
  • Two tone interior elements (hands, markers, Orient Star logo, and Roman numeral XII in rose gold)
  • Power reserve indicator and small seconds sub dial offset in slightly contrasting black
  • Stainless steel case with leather strap with deployant buckle

The official MSRP for these will hover between $760 – $780 USD and they will be available from official Orient Star distributors. We’ll share more info as it unfolds – also be sure to check out the Orient Star collection section on the official Orient Watch Global Site (photo credits to them as well).