Orient’s entry into the UK market a few years ago has been a fantastic opportunity for watch collectors on low budgets. Collections like the Bambino offer classy dress watch design and mechanical movements for less than £500. Now, one of the sister collections to the Bambino, the AC0F, is receiving a full European Exclusive collection.
The AC0F takes a lot of what is popular about the Bambino and presents it in a slightly more restrained style for daily wear. The flashy Roman numerals have been replaced with standard bar indexes and the lines of the case are a bit thicker. It measures 41.6mm in diameter instead of 40.5mm, giving it a broader wrist presence, though it’s actually a little thinner at 11.7mm vs 12.3mm. It feels to me that the AC0F is a watch for the office while the Bambino is for after work drinks – though in practice you’d likely wear either watch for both occasions – they’re in similar spheres of design but with nuanced differences.
For this AC0F European Exclusive collection, Orient have opted for five matte colour dial options. Those options are green, blue, red, ivory and brown. They’re each quite desaturated tones, giving them a gentle quality that works well with the seriousness of their style. The ivory is technically the brightest of them all and if it was a little less yellow would remind me of the 75th anniversary Bambino model we gave away as part of the OT Club membership.
Beneath the coloured dials and powering the collection is the Orient F6722 manual winding movement. Its specs sit in the region you would expect of an accessible Japanese movement with a 40-hour power reserve and accuracy of +25/-15 seconds per day. Not exactly a chronometer but then, the watch is priced at just £259.99. making it great for collectors just starting out or a quick pick up that you don’t have to worry about dinging on a door handle for more veteran collectors.
Price and Specs:
More details at Orient.
