Obviously, at EUR 275, you won’t get all the extras of a luxury watch. And importantly, it is a pleasure to wear. Wearing it on a few occasions, it has been quite an attention grabber despite the understated, rather simple look of the watch – with multiple comments coming from watch-educated people. It will be a great pick for beginners or value-driven collectors. This classic, vintage-inspired time-and-date watch is geared toward those who love “no frills” timepieces and yet, it exudes a pleasant nostalgic feel.
The Orient Bambino 38 is truly a lovely three-hand elegant watch. Accuracy is rated at +25/-15 seconds per day – which is not chronometer precision but quite standard in this price range. It features 22 jewels and the hacking mechanism allows for precise setting of the time. From a technical perspective, this workhorse ticks at 3Hz frequency and boasts 40 hours of power reserve when fully wound. As you would expect from a watch retailing at such an entry-level price (understand sub-300 euros), the decoration is pretty minimalistic – still, there is an open-worked rotor engraved with the brand’s logo. Turning the watch over, the snap-in, exhibition caseback allows discovering the in-house automatic calibre F6724. The “water resistant” caption on the dial seems almost anachronistic today but contributes to the vintage feeling of the model, specifically with its cursive font. Last, the water-resistance is rated at 30m, which is fine considering the vocation of this watch, as you most likely won’t swim with it, but you will be protected against exposure to water. And the Bambino, one of the rare elegant, dress watches in this market, is not a watch to be seen as the default option, nor as a poor man’s choice. The current Seiko 5 Sports still holds a respectable place in this field, but Orient is always one to consider too.
#The rare occasions notion series
Seiko with the past-generation 5 Series and the SKX diver were some of the best options, yet these are now defunct.
The notion of price is relative, of course, but in the context of truly affordable mechanical watches, serious alternatives are basically worst-kept secrets. It’s a bit of a complex term, as for instance the Seamaster 300M Diver Master Chronometer can be considered one when looking at everything it offers… considering its price. You’ll often hear the concept of “ value proposition” when talking about accessible watches.
So we thought we would ask for a model to review… And, without making too much noise, it’s typically a watch that looks and feels far more expensive than what it actually costs! We had been quite intrigued by the looks and specs of this automatic dress watch retailing at just EUR 275. Introduced a few weeks ago, the new versions of the model stand out with their more compact case – 38.4mm versus 40.5mm previously.
Elsewhere, Rovos Rail's luxe new “African Trilogy” itinerary – a 15-day ramble across South Africa to the Namibian coast – and the updated sleeper carriages with wider berths and sleeker interiors on a Bangkok-to-Chiang Mai overnight train suggest that Europe is not alone in rediscovering its love for the tracks.The Bambino has been one of the best-selling collections of Japanese watchmaker Orient for years. In 2023, Accor will get in on the nostalgia, launching Orient Express La Dolce Vita, six trains inspired by Italy's glamorous 1960s, on routes including Rome to Paris Split, Croatia and Istanbul. About 20 years ago, Belmond revived the famed Paris-to-Istanbul route on its Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, offering decadent surroundings for the five-day journey via Budapest and Bucharest. Meanwhile, one of the first night services, Le Train Bleu, which transported high society from Paris to Nice from its beginning in the mid-1800s until it was discontinued in 2017, has brought back the route – without the silver-service meals but with comfortable couchettes and that glorious final stretch alongside the Mediterranean. Sweden's state-owned railway operator has already opened sales for tickets on a new service that will connect the capital to Hamburg – leaving at 5:30 in the evening and arriving in the cool German port city at 6:30 a.m., with private sleeping cars available. European Sleeper, a Belgian-Dutch company founded last year, intends to build a new network of sleeper trains from Belgium and the Netherlands to Berlin and Prague, before extending to southern Europe. By 2024, it aims to provide a service that functions like a hotel on wheels, with private rooms and on-demand movies. The French start-up Midnight Trains proposes to connect 12 European cities from its central hub in Paris.
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