In less than two months, industry leaders will gather in Dubai for Dubai Watch Week (DWW), an event that has become a focal point of the industry since launching a decade ago. The 2025 edition will take place from November 19-23 in a new 200,000 sq ft venue next to Dubai Mall in order accommodate a slate of 90 brands; the largest line-up in its history, up nearly 50% compared to the 2023 edition.
As ever, a highlight of DWW is the opportunity to hear directly from industry leaders during the various panel discussions. This year’s line-up includes some of the biggest names in watchmaking with a keynote from Rolex chief executive Jean-Frédéric Dufour, in conversation with Abdul Hamied Seddiqi, provocatively titled, ‘The Time to Act is Now – a note to the watch industry.” Mr Dufour rarely speaks publicly at a watch event, so this is one of the most significant happenings at DWW.
In total, more than 50 sessions will take place across the five days of the event covering a variety of topics ranging from luxury and legacy in the age of algorithms and virality, to the reality of future-proofing founder-led independent brands; the latter will be a fireside chat with Max Büsser and Kari Voutilainen.
There will also be a new chief executive roundtable featuring Georges Kern, Ilaria Resta, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, and Julien Tornare, the heads of Breitling, Audemars Piguet, Chopard, and Hublot, respectively.
DWW takes place from November 19-23, 2025 in Burj Park adjacent to Dubai Mall. Entry is free but registration is required. For more, visit Dubaiwatchweek.com.
The Orient Star M45 F8 Mechanical Moon Phase Hand Winding is the brand’s first manual-wind moon phase, and also the first in years with a solid dial, making it a refreshing change of pace from the brand’s usual fare that leans towards open-worked and occasionally over-designed styling.
Initial Thoughts
Excepting the vintage inspired Diver 1964, the M45 F8 moon phase is the most attractive watch in the Orient catalog to my eye. Most of the brand’s designs are too busy for my tastes, so these entries are a welcome departure that will certainly appeal to enthusiasts with more classical tastes.
The moon phase disk itself, with mother-of-pearl inlay, is a highlight. And the absence of a seconds hand is a pleasant surprise, though the moon phase sub-dial feels naked without the traditional co-axial small seconds hand.
Since the small seconds version of this calibre is not compatible with the moon phase module, Orient could have moved the Orient Star logo onto the sub-dial for more visual balance.
Most importantly, this is a manually wound watch – with a competent movement – in a price segment where such things are hard to find. Looking at Japanese watches in particular, manual wind options from Grand Seiko and Credor are significantly more expensive, while Seiko, Orient, and Citizen dropped their entry-level manual watches years ago.
Pleiades
About two years ago, Orient Star reorganised its catalog by launching M Collections, a family of watches each named after astronomical objects cataloged by French comet-hunter Charles Messier. The M45 refers to the Pleiades star cluster and is the most formal of these collections with its simple case outline.
Besides being the first manually wound moon phase in the collection, these new M45s sport relatively austere dials compared to the rest of the line.
Orient equipped the limited edition variant with a grey gradient dial stamped with a subtle star motif to represent the thousand or so stars that compose the Pleiades. The regular production white dial has a soft sun-ray finish meant to evoke the moon and blue hands for contrast.
Both are equipped with an up/down indicator at 12 0’clock, a staple of the Orient Star brand, and a moon phase aperture at six.
Movement
Inside is a new movement, or rather an existing movement with a new complication. The F8A62 is essentially the longstanding Orient Star skeleton movement sans skeletonisation, but with a moon phase added. With that comes improved movement finishing over Orient Star’s current automatic movements, and an extended 70 hour power reserve that’s partially thanks to a lightweight silicon escape wheel.
Movement decoration is decent considering the price. The striping appears to be done via a cutter instead of a wheel, resulting in a gleaming, iridescent finish that’s also seen on many high-end Seiko movements.
Also slightly iridescent, but less obvious is the silicon escape wheel. While silicon escapement components are fairly common in the Swiss watch industry, in Japan it remains the sole domain of Orient, or rather Seiko Epson, owner of the Orient brand and one of the two historic manufacturers of Seiko watches.
The silicon escape wheel is of a proprietary design. Metal escape wheels are typically press-fit or riveted into place, which is problematic for comparatively brittle silicon parts. Rather than gluing the escape wheel into place, which is the most common Swiss solution, Epson engineers designed a series of flexible arms into the escape wheel that tightly hug the escape pinion.
The vivid blue comes from an oxide surface treatment. Image – Seiko Epson Corp.
The moon phase module is very conventional, using 59-tooth disk, which advances one step each night. Once set using the pin-pusher in the case band, the moon phase will only accrue an error of one day in two and a half years.
On the front, two mother-of-pearl disks model the moon against a dark blue backdrop on the moon display.
Diameter: 39.5 mm Height: 11.9 mm Material: Stainless steel Crystal: Sapphire Water resistance: 30 m
Movement: F8A62 Functions: Hours, minutes, power reserve, moon phase. Frequency: 21,600 beats per hour (3 Hz) Winding: Hand winding Power reserve: 70 hours
Strap:Leather with folding clasp
Limited edition: Grey dial limited to 140 pieces; white dial unlimited Availability: At retailers and the Orient online store Price: US$3,040 (white dial) and US$3,280 (grey dial); excluding taxes
