is a Japanese watch manufacturer founded in 1950. Established as an independent company in 1950, it became a functional

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

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 watch A mechanical watch is a watch that uses a Movement (clockwork), clockwork mechanism to measure the passage of time, as opposed to quartz watches which function using the vibration modes of a piezoelectric quartz tuning fork, or radio clock, radio ...

es ( self-winding & hand-winding),Message From the President of Orient Watch Company
, Accessed 28 September 2014Explanations of Mechanical Movement by Orient Watch
Accessed 30 September 2014 but also produced

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

, light-powered (solar) and radio-controlled models.List of Orient Watch Product (Global Market)
Accessed 28 September 2014List of Orient Watch Manual & Movement (Global Market)
Accessed 28 September 2014List of Orient Watch Product (Japan Domestic Market)
Accessed 28 September 2014List of Orient Watch Manual & Movement (Japan Domestic Market)
Accessed 28 September 2014 Outside of the main business, the company produced some moving parts and

electronic component An electronic component is any basic discrete electronic device or physical entity part of an electronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic components are mostly industrial products, available in a singula ...

s that were then assembled into Seiko Epson's electronic devices.Orient Watch Factory History
, Accessed 28 September 2014 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.Orient Watch Factory Profile
, Accessed 28 September 2014Orient Watch Production Process (Video)
Accessed 29 September 2014Orient In-house Automatic Movement Assembly (Video)
Accessed 30 September 2014

History

The origin of Orient Watch Company dates back to 1901 when Shogoro Yoshida opened a

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

shop called "Yoshida Watch Shop" in Ueno,

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, Toy, toys, arcade cabinets, and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, Vending machine, vending machines, and Juk ...

, 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

wristwatch A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of ...

es. 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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 , 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.Orient Watch Museum
, Accessed 20 December 2009 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 MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) is the technology of microscopic devices incorporating both electronic and moving parts. MEMS are made up of components between 1 and 100 micrometres in size (i.e., 0.001 to 0.1 mm), and MEMS devices ...

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 is a corporate group composed of Seiko, Seiko Group Corporation and its subsidiaries and affiliates. It used to be recognized as a corporate group consisting of three core companies Seiko, Seiko Holdings Corp. (Seiko; f/k/a K. Hattori & Co., Ha ...

) became the majority shareholder (52%) of the company. Orient Watch became a wholly owned subsidiary of Epson in 2009.Company history
, Orient Watch. . Accessed 20 December 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.

Gallery

File:Orient CEY04002B.jpg, File:CFHAA004W.jpg, File:Orientwatch.JPG, File:Orient SFD0H001B.jpg, File:Orient Capital FUG1R003W9 wrist watch face.jpg, File:Orient Star - Classic.jpg, File:Vintage Orient 21 Jewels Men's Watch, Manual Wind (9656659874).jpg,

References

External links

* {{Authority control Epson Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo Companies formerly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Fashion accessory brands Japanese companies established in 1950 Manufacturing companies established in 1950 Japanese brands Watch brands Watch manufacturing companies of Japan