Orient Watch

Orient and Orient Star are Japanese mechanical watch brands owned and operated by Seiko Epson. Established in 1950 as an independent watchmaker, Orient Watch Co., Ltd. (オリエント時計株式会社, Oriento Tokei Kabushiki-gaisha) primarily manufactured mechanical watches (self-winding & hand-winding), but also produced quartz, light-powered (solar) and radio-controlled models. Wristwatches produced by the company had been marketed under the Orient Watch brand (Orient, Orient Star, Orient Star Royal, Royal Orient). Outside of the main business, in the 1990s, the company diversified its business by manufacturing electronic components for Epson printers. To strengthen production of piezoelectric inkjet printheads for Epson, Orient Watch and Epson deepened their capital alliance, and Orient Watch became a functional subsidiary of Epson in 2009. Its watch business operation was fully integrated into Epson in 2017. Orient Watch products are primarily manufactured in Japan, with movements produced in-house by Akita Epson Corporation (formerly Akita Orient Precision Instruments Co., Ltd.) in Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture. Some of its low- and mid-range models are manufactured at Epson's subsidiaries in Thailand and China. Epson is one of the major manufacturers of Seiko timepieces. It develops and manufactures high-end quartz and Spring Drive watches for Seiko (also it produces quartz watch movements for third-party brands), but Orient is an independent brand owned by Epson and is not marketed by Seiko Watch Corporation. The Orient and Orient Star watches are marketed by Epson Sales Japan Corporation.