WatchNation and Orient: The Partnership Behind the UK’s Biggest Range

For a brand this well known among watch enthusiasts, buying an Orient in the UK used to be harder than it should have been. The watches were here. You could find Bambinos, Makos and other Orient models through Amazon, marketplaces, overseas websites and grey-market sellers. What was missing was a proper authorised UK network behind them.

A watch bought outside the authorised network can still be genuine, but the experience isn't certain. The manufacturer's warranty may not apply. After-sales support can depend entirely on the seller. Imported watches can arrive without spare bracelet links or with incomplete accessories, while the provenance of stock is not always clear. At the worst end of the market, there is also the question of whether a watch has been altered or is even authentic.

For a Japanese watchmaker with a history stretching back to 1950, its own mechanical movements and a serious international following, Orient deserved better representation in the UK. We thought so too.

Orient Already Was on WatchNation's Radar

Orient was hardly an unknown brand. Anyone spending time around watches online would have seen the name. The Bambino had become one of the default recommendations for someone looking for an affordable automatic dress watch, while the Mako had built a similarly strong following among people looking for a mechanical sports watch without moving into much higher price points.

WatchNation had already spent years working with Japanese watches, including more than a decade as an authorised Seiko retailer. We had seen how customers could start with something relatively simple, become interested in automatic movements, and gradually begin paying more attention to case sizes, finishing, movements and the history behind the name on the dial, so Orient fits naturally into that world.

The prices were accessible, but the watches had enough behind them to keep enthusiasts interested. Orient designs and manufactures its own mechanical movements, and the range covers everything from straightforward dress watches to divers, open-heart designs and unusual complications. Time & More now describes the brand around the same core strengths: durable watches, in-house movements and mechanical watchmaking at accessible prices. The problem was not convincing people that Orient was interesting. It was giving them a better way to buy one.

2019: The Conversation That Started Orient in the UK

In 2019, we raised the idea of bringing Orient into the UK properly with Time & More, a watch distributor based in the UK. There was already a relationship there. We had previously worked with the people behind Time & More through projects including the development of the Rotary Super 7, a dive-watch collection that WatchNation helped create with Rotary rather than simply buying once it was finished. The Super 7 project took around 18 months of development and was built around the idea of delivering serious dive-watch specification at an accessible price.  That experience was useful.

It meant the conversation around Orient was a bit more than here is brand we would like to stock. We knew the people involved, we knew the UK watch customer, and we believed there was a gap between the reputation Orient already had among enthusiasts and the way the brand was represented here. At the time, that gap was being filled largely by unofficial channels.

The Grey Market Had Filled the Space

Instead of an official manufacturer warranty, there may be a warranty provided by the seller or another third party. If something goes wrong, the route to repair can be less straightforward. Depending on where the watch has come from, there can also be questions around packaging, accessories, bracelet links or whether the watch has previously been handled or altered.

WatchNation's current Orient guidance makes the distinction clearly: watches bought through the authorised network are sourced directly from the brand and backed by the official manufacturer warranty, while grey-market sellers may rely on their own or third-party cover. 

There was another weird thing too. Despite the lack of an official UK network, demand meant Orient watches were not necessarily difficult to find. Some were simply being sold at surprisingly strong prices through Amazon and independent online storefronts. Customers clearly wanted the brand. We felt Orient should have an authorised presence that matched that demand.

2023: Orient Officially Arrives in the UK

It took time, but in 2023 Orient and Orient Star appointed Time & More as their first official UK distributor. It was the beginning of a proper authorised retail network for the two brands in this country.  WatchNation was there at the beginning of that UK launch.

For us, the opportunity was not simply to put a few Bambinos and Makos online. We wanted to show what the wider Orient range actually looked like when customers could see it properly. That meant depth. Dress watches, sports watches, unusual calendars, Semi Skeleton models, Orient Star and references that previously would have been familiar to enthusiasts overseas but rarely seen through UK retailers.

It also meant giving customers the things that should come with buying from an established watch brand in the first place: genuine authorised stock, proper after-sales support and a manufacturer warranty.

Then the Range Started Growing

The response gave us confidence to go further. By 2024, WatchNation had been recognised for its role in Orient's UK growth and held the largest stock assortment of Orient and Orient Star in the country, including the full UK range alongside another 30 models selected from the extended collection. At that point, customers could choose from more than 80 references online and in our Chester store.

That was important because Orient is much broader than the few models that tend to dominate conversations online. The Bambino deserves its reputation, but it is one part of the brand. The same is true of the Mako. Once we had access to the wider catalogue, we could bring in watches that showed some of the stranger and more interesting sides of Orient too. The Multi-Year Calendar is a good example. It is an unusual complication with roots stretching back to Orient's watches of the 1960s. There are Sun & Moon models, Semi Skeleton designs, smaller dress watches, colourful sports watches and the more advanced mechanical pieces from Orient Star.

The more of the range we carried, the more obvious it became that limiting Orient to its handful of best-known references did not really do the brand justice.

From Official Stockist to Official Exclusives

The next stage was being more selective about which watches came to the UK. As the partnership developed, WatchNation began choosing references from Orient's wider international catalogue that were not part of the standard UK assortment. Some have been available through WatchNation within the UK authorised network. Others have gone further, becoming WatchNation-specific releases. That gives us the opportunity to do something more interesting than simply stock whatever appears on the standard price list.

For Spring/Summer 2026, for example, WatchNation secured a group of UK-exclusive models across the Bambino, Stretto and Mako collections. Among them was a new 38mm no-date Bambino using Orient's F6524 automatic movement, alongside limited and less widely available Stretto and Mako references.

Our current exclusive collection continues that approach, bringing together Orient watches that cannot be bought from every other authorised retailer in the UK.  There have also been releases where WatchNation has been given particularly limited UK access. For the Mako 20th Anniversary, for example, WatchNation was the only UK retailer outside Orient's own website with the right to sell the model.  That is a long way from where the story started.

Why does being Authorised matter?

The range has grown, but the original reason for wanting Orient properly represented in the UK has not changed. Buying the watch should be as straightforward as owning it. Orient has now increased its manufacturer warranty to three years, and Orient and Orient Star watches bought through WatchNation receive that official worldwide cover. WatchNation also provides the support that comes from being part of the authorised network, including access to official parts and warranty handling.  There is also somewhere physical to come and see the watches.

Our Chester City Centre store carries Orient alongside the online range, which matters with a brand like this. A 38mm Bambino and a 42mm Mako can look equally convincing in photographs, but they are very different watches once they are on the wrist. The same goes for dial colours, bracelets and some of Orient's more complicated designs. WatchNation's Orient range is available both online and through the Chester store, and the business has previously been recognised for carrying the country's largest assortment.

What Comes Next?

The nice thing about the Orient story is that it still feels unfinished. What started as a conversation in 2019 became an official UK distribution network in 2023. From there came a much wider range, Orient Star, access to extended collections and eventually exclusive models chosen specifically for WatchNation customers. There is more we want to do.

Orient has a global catalogue that goes well beyond the watches most UK customers already know. Part of our job now is finding the models that deserve to be seen here, whether that means bringing an international reference into the UK, securing an exclusive version or working more closely with Orient on something that goes further again. The important part is that the reason for doing it has stayed the same.

Orient already had the watches. It already had the history. It already had the enthusiasts. What it needed in the UK was the representation to match. We are proud to have played a part in giving it that, and we are also proud that we're not finished yet.