Orient goes bold with vibrant new summer dials

If you’re in the market for a new watch with a punchy dial, Orient has you covered with a range of new models boasting seriously bright colour schemes.

The new models fit into the Orient Stretto series, which itself sits in the company’s Contemporary Collection. Five new Stretto Date models have arrived, plus five new variants of the Stretto Day & Night, too.

First the Stretto Date, which has three centre hands for the time, a date window at the three o’clock position, and a relatively compact 38.5 mm diameter for its stainless steel case. Inspired by a theme of “pop and metallic,” the five new pieces are packed with spring-summer vibes, with their dial colours of green, blue, pink and orange (each £349.99), plus a graduated blue dial that’s limited to 2,300 examples and priced at £369.99.

All five variants have a glass exhibition case back revealing the automatic (with hand-winding), in-house Calibre F6722 movement within. Power reserve is a claimed 40 hours.

The sunburst dial is protected by a sapphire crystal and water resistance is 50 metres. While the graduated blue dial might not appeal to everyone, I think the rest of the lineup is a fantastic use of bold, bright colours that breathe life into what is otherwise a simple watch design. The pink and orange dials are especially vibrant, and I can’t wait to see how they’ll look on the wrist.

Orient Stretto Day & Night

Also new from Orient are five new models for its Stretto Day & Night collection. Two of these have a stainless steel case with gold or rose gold-coloured plating; two more pair a steel case with green or navy dials; and the final model combines a navy dial with orange and green subdials, plus an orange track around its circumference.

These all share the same 41.5mm stainless steel case and are driven by the automatic calibre F6B24 in-house movement with 22 jewels, hand winding and a power reserve of 40 hours. Water resistance is a modest 5 bar (50 metres), so it’ll be fine to shower and swim in but shouldn’t be taken to any real depth. As with the smaller Stretto, the Day & Night version has an exhibition case back for admiring the movement.

More complex than the regular Orient Stretto Date, the Day & Night has a pair of sub dials for showing the current day and the position of the sun and moon, plus a date window at three o’clock.

This range neatly demonstrates how much a watch’s character can shift with a simple change of dial colour. The model with a white dial and yellow gold-plated detailing is all about elegant simplicity, while the green dial helps it take on a whole new aesthetic, and the multi-colour version adds a splash of fun. Prices range from £395 for the navy and green dials, to £420 for the brown and multi-colour dials, then hit £445 for the white dial with yellow gold plating.