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Orient Watch

Japanese watch brand owned by Epson

Summary

Japanese watch brand owned by Epson

FieldValue
nameOrient Watch
logoOrient Watch logo.svg
native_nameオリエント時計株式会社
romanized_nameOriento Tokei Kabushiki-gaisha
typeDivision
founderShogoro Yoshida
key_peopleJiro Miyagawa (president)
Masahiro Yoshimura (Director)
Takahiro Naito (Director)
industryWatch Manufacturing
Electronics Manufacturing
productsWristwatches, Pocketwatches, Clocks, Moving Parts, Electronic Components
servicesElectronic Devices Assembly
net_income(2021)
assets(2021)
num_employees747 (530 consolidated and 217 non-consolidated) (2016)
parentEpson (2001–present)
foundedHino, Tokyo, Japan
location29th Floor JR Shinjuku Miraina Tower, 4-1-6 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8801, Japan
area_servedWorldwide
homepage

Masahiro Yoshimura (Director) Takahiro Naito (Director) Electronics Manufacturing

Orient is a Japanese watch manufacturer founded in 1950. Established as an independent company in 1950, it became a functional subsidiary of Epson in 2009 before being fully integrated into the company in 2017.

Until it was absorbed into Epson, the Orient Watch Company had primarily marketed mechanical watches (self-winding & hand-winding), but also produced quartz, light-powered (solar) and radio-controlled models. Outside of the main business, the company produced some moving parts and electronic components that were then assembled into Seiko Epson's electronic devices.

Currently, Akita Epson Corporation (formally Akita Orient Precision Instruments Co., Ltd.), a group company of Epson, manufactures all of the Orient movements in-house in Yuzawa, Akita, Japan.

History

The origin of Orient Watch Company dates back to 1901 when Shogoro Yoshida opened a wholesale shop called "Yoshida Watch Shop" in Ueno, Taito, Tokyo, Japan. Yoshida Watch Shop was successful, selling imported pocketwatches. In 1913, Yoshida commenced production of wristwatch cases, and in 1920, established Toyo Tokei Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Initially producing only table clocks and gauges, in 1934 Toyo Tokei Manufacturing started manufacturing wristwatches. In 1936, the Hino factory was built in Hino, Tokyo, Japan. For several years, Toyo Tokei Manufacturing boomed at the Hino factory. However, the company shut down in 1949 in the Japanese economic devastation following World War II.

After Toyo Tokei Manufacturing was shut down, Yoshida's wristwatch manufacturing company was reborn in 1950, founded under the name Tama Keiki Company. Tama Keiki Co. continued manufacturing watches at the Hino factory. In 1951, Tama Keiki Co. changed its name to Orient Watch Company, Limited, and in the same year the first Orient Star went on sale. Orient Watch was able to expand their visibility overseas after a memorandum trade agreement with China in 1955. The Royal Orient went on sale in 1960. Other important watches in the company's history include the "Dynamic" in 1956, "Grand Prix 100" in 1964, "Fineness" (the world's thinnest automatic wristwatch with day and date calendar function for its time) in 1967, and the "Tenbeat" in 1970.

In 2003, the Orient Technical Center (OTC) was established and the assembly of luxury watches began in Ugo, Ogachi, Akita, Japan. In 2004, the high-precision caliber 88700 movement went on sale via the Royal Orient watch line. In 2005, Orient Star Retro-Future collection was launched. In 2010, Orient Watch Co. celebrated its 60th anniversary with a limited edition model. The Royal Orient line was discontinued around 2016, likely to prevent cannibalism between it and fellow Seiko group brands Grand Seiko, and Credor. To celebrate 70 years of the Orient Star line, the Orient Star skeleton watch was introduced with a silicon escapement made using Epson's MEMS technology, which has been used in high end Seiko watches since 2009.

In 2001 Seiko Epson (one of three core companies of the Seiko Group) became the majority shareholder (52%) of the company. Orient Watch became a wholly owned subsidiary of Epson in 2009. After transferring its business to Epson, the company now exists as a dormant company. Epson Sales Japan Corporation markets the Orient watches, while Akita Epson Corporation manufactures them.

References

References

  1. "オリエント時計株式会社 第96期決算公告".
  3. Staff writer. (September 2016). "Seiko Epson: Epson Begins Discussions on the Restructuring of Orient Watch". Surperformance.
  4. [http://www.orient-watch.com/company/message.html Message From the President of Orient Watch Company] {{Webarchive. link. (2017-02-28 , Accessed 28 September 2014)
  5. [http://www.orient-watch.com/feature/mechanical/ Explanations of Mechanical Movement by Orient Watch], Accessed 30 September 2014
  6. [http://www.orient-watch.com/products/ List of Orient Watch Product (Global Market)], Accessed 28 September 2014
  7. [http://www.orient-watch.com/support/manuals/ List of Orient Watch Manual & Movement (Global Market)], Accessed 28 September 2014
  8. [http://www.orient-watch.jp/product/ List of Orient Watch Product (Japan Domestic Market)], Accessed 28 September 2014
  9. [http://www.orient-watch.jp/support/manuals/ List of Orient Watch Manual & Movement (Japan Domestic Market)], Accessed 28 September 2014
  10. [http://www.orient-watch.jp/uts/history.php Orient Watch Factory History] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-11-07 , Accessed 28 September 2014)
  11. [http://www.orient-watch.jp/uts/profile.php Orient Watch Factory Profile] {{Webarchive. link. (2014-10-08 , Accessed 28 September 2014)
  12. [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1MH1IZ9rA28 Orient Watch Production Process (Video)], Accessed 29 September 2014
  13. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6TJXCaN2wU Orient In-house Automatic Movement Assembly (Video)], Accessed 30 September 2014
  14. "ORIENT Watch Global Site".
  15. "History {{!}} Corporate Information {{!}} Orient Watch (archived)".
  16. [http://www.orient-watch.com/feature/museum/ Orient Watch Museum] {{Webarchive. link. (2014-09-11 , Accessed 20 December 2009)
  17. "The ORIENT STAR Skeleton {{!}} ORIENT Watch Global Site".
  18. (2017-03-10). "グランドセイコーは"９Sキャリバー"で時計王国スイスに挑む！ {{!}} トケイ通信 by KOMEHYO".
  19. [http://www.orient-watch.jp/company/history/ Company history] {{webarchive. link. (2012-01-10 , Orient Watch. {{in lang). ja. Accessed 20 December 2009
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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