John’s Watch Box #4: Orient Bambino

Hey, everyone. I had been interested in getting an Orient Bambino dress watch for quite a while, so I recently acquired one for my collection. I opted for the confusingly-named “2nd Generation Version III,” as it had a lot in common with my vintage Benrus alarm watch. I really liked the look of that older watch, but its requisite servicing proved to be prohibitively expensive. So, this Orient seemed like a good option until I could afford to repair the Benrus someday, and I decided to pick one up.

Upon receiving the Bambino, I fully appreciated just how similar it is to the Benrus. They both have that 60s look, featuring heavily domed crystals, sunburst dials, rectangular hands, and straight lugs. Granted, the Bambino does have some very noticeable differences, such as its 40.5mm case diameter, dial markers, and color, but I think that Orient did an excellent job of replicating that vintage watch aesthetic.

Bambino

Benrus

Aesthetics aside, the Bambino is still a very solid dress watch for the price. It has a mineral crystal, a decent automatic movement with hacking and hand-winding, a date window, a stainless steel casing, and splash resistance. My only real issue with this timepiece is its odd 21mm lug size, but it is possible to find alternative straps for this watch. Thankfully, the stock strap it comes with is usable, although it’s nothing special. Also, this is a nitpick, but I think the “Water Resistant” label on the dial is a bit cheesy. Regardless, for only around $130, the Orient Bambino offers a lot more than I expected for the price. Thus, I can easily forgive these shortcomings.

To conclude, I’ve been very impressed with this Orient Bambino. Its vintage, minimal aesthetic is incredibly cool, and it’s built very well for such an affordable timepiece. For those reasons, it has become one of my favorite watches in my collection, and I can easily recommend it to those looking for a budget dress watch.

If you're interested in this watch, here is the Amazon listing that I got it from.

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John Spahr

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