This extremely limited watch by Orient Star is a thing of cosmic beauty

Good luck choosing between the latest additions to Orient Star’s M34 watch collection, because they both look stunning – and one is sure to sell out very quickly indeed.

Part of the Japanese watchmaker’s M34 F8 Date family, the two new watches feature a pair of dial finishes unlike anything I’ve seen before. And there’s good reason for that, since the black model, which is limited to just 160 examples worldwide, uses what Orient Star claims is a world-first “nanoparticle metal multilayering technology” to bring a sky full of shooting stars to your wrist.

The dial is intended to depict the Perseid Meteor Shower, with streaks of white added to a black dial reminiscent of the night sky. It’s a beautiful design, bringing a sense of movement and speed to what is otherwise a simple watch design. The traditional three-hand design has a date window at the three o’clock position and a power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock.

Orient Star describes the unique manufacturing process as “a new technique in which ink composed of nanometer-sized ultra-fine metal particles are layer injected several times onto the dial.” It’s a technique used in electronics production, the watchmaker says, adding that it results in “the creation of extremely delicate, elaborate dials with a sense of depth.”

This watch is joined by a sister timepiece, which is identical, aside from the dial. For this non-limited model Orient Star has fitted a green dial with an intricate stamped pattern that subtly shifts in colour and tone as the watch is moved.

Both watches have a 40mm stainless steel case housing the company’s own F8N74 automatic mechanical movement, with 22 jewels and up to 60 hours of power reserve. The movement is visible through the sapphire crystal case back, and both watches offer 100 metres of water resistance. Both timepieces come with a 20mm stainless steel bracelet with trifold deployant buckle.

The black dial is limited to just 160 examples worldwide and is priced at £2,700, and the non-limited green dial is £2,375. Both are available now.