This relatively popular (ranked ~1,500 on Amazon for watches) Japanese automatic day-date watch represents extremely good value. Mine serves as my beater for biking, swimming, and various other shenanigans where I want to wear a watch but not break anything expensive. It's also something that's very useful in avoiding getting mugged if you frequent some rough neighborhoods. At ~$130 street, it certainly won't break the bank or your heart, should it die. Despite my abuse, mine has held up extraordinarily, not only still working but also keeping accurate time.
The specifications:
Ref CEM65001B
41mm diameter, 13mm thick, 22mm lugs*
Made in Japan (Casing and movement)
Stainless steel
Solid bracelet, held by pins, stamped end pieces and clasp.
Water resistant to 200m, screw down crown and day pusher
Orient Caliber 46943
21 Jewels
21,600 vph
Non hacking, non hand windable
Dimensions of movement unknown, estimated to be similar to 2824 (~6.5 mm thick, 11'''/25.6mm)
Photo courtesy of Orient Germany
*The lug hole placement is strangely far out, resulting in a large gap when straps are used instead of the bracelet.
The case feels fairly solid. The stainless steel is not as shiny or fine as your typical 316L or 904L steel but will certainly hold up. The bezel looks to be painted aluminium and on my example, turns firmly but smoothly. Some owners have complained about bezel stiffness that loosens as the watch breaks in. There are no notable sharp edges on the case except around the inside area of the lugs, but it's not noticeable at all. The only serious issue is the placement of the lug holes makes it very awkward to use a non-NATO strap. The lug holes are placed extremely far away from the case body and regular 22mm straps give a large gap. There is an interesting polished slope on the caseback that helps the bracelet end piece fit better.
The bracelet is solid, but pretty crudely made and cut with sharp edges. The finish is brushed on the surfaces and polished on the sides. The end pieces fit well, but since they are stamped, it's possible they may deform slightly with extended use. If this happens, your watchmaker can usually bend it back into shape with pliers. The clasp has three fine adjustment holes, a fourth or fifth one would have been much appreciated since it's still difficult to get a good fit. The bracelet is held together by pins like most Seiko/Orient watches but should not fall out. They can be pushed out using the straight end of a spring bar tool like the Bergeon 6767F, but care should be taken not to push too hard and slip, which may result in a bent tool tip.
Notable gap between strap and case
The movement is not hand windable and doesn't hack (seconds hand can't be stopped). Turning the minutes hand backwards may make the seconds hand stop or stutter but I personally wouldn't recommend using such a reverse hacking method. The pusher adjusts the day of the week, and the crown controls the time and day of the month. The day is bilingual (english and spanish as sold in the US) and can be adjusted to be either language. The date changes around midnight but the day may take until 3 am to change.
Overall the movement is accurate as described below
Please note that this is at a reasonable amount of power reserve (can't know for sure because it doesn't manual wind) and that the rates are less stable than other watches I've tested. For example, in one position the rate may start at 0, drop to -11, then -3. I took down an approximate average in each position when it finally settled down.
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