Orient Star doubles down on dress watches with the dignified M45 F7 Small Seconds in three new colours inspired by the night sky. With its small seconds layout, power reserve indicator, no-date format, and sub-40 mm case size, the M45 is clearly targeting the enthusiast market.

Initial thoughts

While more casual and “sporty” watches have been the foundation of the watch market for decades, Orient, and its upscale sibling Orient Star, are arguably known best for its more formally coded watches, such as the entry-level Orient Bambino. From there, Orient Star’s M45 collection represents a tempting upgrade, featuring a slew of refinements inside and out that make it a good value proposition despite the higher price.

Beyond the technical specifications, the M45 F7 Small Seconds also reflects Orient Star’s ongoing effort to carve out a distinct identity within the broader Japanese watch landscape.

While brand has long been appreciated for delivering strong value, the M45 line shows a growing confidence in formal watches, which is needed given the fierce competition from micro-brands in the sports watch segment at the same price point.

Visually, the watch could benefit from being even smaller, as the small seconds sub-dial is too close to the centre of the dial, but that is true of many, if not most, of its (few) competitors in this price segment that offer a small seconds format. Collectors have come accept this as a normal trade-off of contemporary watches that use historical calibres, and many will welcome it as the sub-dial doesn’t cut into the Roman numerals.

Notably, the watch lacks a date, which shows the influence of the enthusiast market and gives collectors another reason to upgrade from the date-ed Orient Bambino small seconds. If I could change one thing about the M45, it’s the display back. While the cal. F7H44 boasts solid specs and a tried-and-true architecture that has provided faithful service for more than 50 years, the finishing falls short of contemporary expectations, despite the best efforts of a well-decorated rotor.

It is also unfortunate that arguably the best looking of the bunch, the grey dial, is limited to just 500 individually-numbered pieces, while the other colourways enter regular production.

The stars of Subaru

Orient Star reorganised its catalogue a few years ago into the “M” Collections, with three lines each named after astronomical objects documented by French comet-hunter Charles Messier. These are the M34 dive watches, the contemporary M42 (named after the Orion Nebula), while the most formal of these, M45, refers to the Pleiades star cluster – known as Subaru in Japan.

It is offered in three colourways — green, ivory, and grey — which share a sparkling grained texture meant to evoke stars gently twinkling in the night sky. Each is appointed with simple but well-finished leaf hands, which are blackened for contrast on the ivory-dialled model. To not obstruct this starscape, the double-domed sapphire crystal is coated with Orient Star’s Super Anti-Reflective (SAR) coating on both sides, resulting in a 99% light transmittance rate.

Crystal clear

While external AR coatings introduce the possibility of damage to said coatings, the rewards outweigh the risks. That’s especially true in the case of Orient Star’s AR treatments, which don’t produce a jarring blue glare. Additionally, there are specialists, mostly in Asia, who can remove and reapply damaged AR coating to watch crystals if needed.

Inside is the in-house cal. F7H44, with a 50-hour power reserve, indirect small (hacking) seconds, and a power reserve indicator. Furthermore, the movement is rated to between -5 and +15 seconds per day. That accuracy tolerance is rather exacting by the standards of the Japanese watch industry, putting it ahead of similarly priced offerings from Seiko or Citizen.

The movement winds in both directions thanks to the Magic Lever system, which Seiko Epson (then known as Suwa Seikosha) invented in 1959. The Magic Lever is one of, if not the most economical bidirectional winding system, as well as reliable and efficient – and apparently good enough for Vacheron Constantin’s tourbillons.

Key facts and price

Orient Star M45 Small Second
Ref. RE-BS0001E (green)
Ref. RE-BS0002S (ivory)
Ref. RE-BS0003N (grey)

Diameter: 39.0 mm
Height: 11.7 mm
Material: Stainless steel
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 30 m

Movement: Cal. F7H44
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, power reserve indicator
Winding: Self-winding
Frequency: 21,600 beats per hour (3 Hz)
Power reserve: 50 hours

Strap: Leather strap with pin buckle

Limited edition: 500 pieces (grey)
Availability: Orient Star boutiques and retailers
Price: US$950 (green and ivory) or $1,050 (grey) excluding taxes

For more information, visit Global.OrientStar-Watch.com.