Dimensions: Hard to tell in the picture, but my SKX007K2 is wider at 43mm, although it appears shorter lug to lug. the SKX is a smidge taller, and the short L2L makes it wear "fat". Winner: Orient Kamasu. Again this is the same bezel design as the Gen 1 Kamasu so existing owners wouldn’t be seeing any upgrade in this area. The only change here is that the Gen 2 now sports a two tone colour bezel as compared to the single tone colour on the Gen 1. My bezel, while not off, does line up ever so slightly to the left of the marker. I have seen others that do line up perfectly though. You've got broad and lumed indexes complimenting the handset, which reminds me of those divers of the 1960s from Cimier, Longines, Iaxa, Rotary (to name just some). These are regular editions, which differ in dial and bezel color and watch bends. A limited-edition RA-AA0007A09A completes the Orient Kamasu family. Hi there folks! My blue Kamasu has finally arrived, so for those of you wondering which of Orient's budget divers is for you I thought I'd record my initial impressions and make a few comparisons to the standard at the price point, the Seiko SKX 007. I will also make a few remarks regarding the original Orient Ray. I gave my blue Ray to my father and two years later came to miss the blue beater. The Kamasu is the replacement, and a bit of an upgrade.

They don’t sell them in the UK so I got mine from Japan for 210 pounds but the extra money and made in Japan with the Kanji days if defiantly worth it. Lume is plentiful and very visible in the dark, much like how the dial is also highly visible in the day. This is hands down a tool watch through and through.

The Orient Kamasu — a fish for all seasons

Because of the folded end links however it does rattle a bit which could be off putting to some. I do however like the sound of the rattle as it reminds me of the sound of armour clinking about when worn. I know many people have swapped them out for a Strapcode bracelet with custom solid end links and I do intend to try one out and compare them in the near future. Keep a lookout for that review. It's the first time I am reviewing a watch made by Orient but it is not the first Orient watch I own. My first Orient was an Orient Star GMT I bought in 2002. I really loved this watch but it got stolen in London in 2011. Movement info is stowed away at the bottom, with 'Movt Japan' plus the F6922 movement coding. Again, this is minimally printed in white. The model I am reviewing today is the grey gradation dial variant. This piece I personally bought with my own money from BigTimeSGP. The lume used throughout is all in matching green. While it may not be the same luminescent formula, Orient could have fooled me into thinking I was looking at a Seiko with C3 at first glance. Longevity is acceptable with the lume, and although it's not going to win any lume wars, it is miles better than many other, lesser watches you could find at this price point.

There are a few common features across all Kamasu watches: a 41.8-mm case, screw-down crown, unidirectional diving bezel, and a depth rating of 200 m (20 bar, 656 ft). The dials have a beautiful sunburst pattern that appears to change color depending on how the light hits it. The bar indices boast a generous coating of luminous material, which guarantees optimal readability under all lighting conditions. While the refs. RA-AA0005B and RA-AA0006L come on rubber straps, the rest of the collection is outfitted with three-piece link stainless steel bracelets. The straps and bracelets are each 22 mm wide. Decision points: When originally looking for a Ray replacement, I was considering the Triton/Neptune, the Ray II, the Kamasu and the Kanno. The Ray II got ruled out because my dad has my original Ray and I didn't want just the upgraded movement. The Kanno got ruled out on case size over 43mm, so it was down to the Triton/Neptune or the Kamasu. I REALLY like the Triton/Neptune, but I was looking for a desk diver/beater. The Neptune's height meant it'd difficult with shirt cuffs (I have similar height divers and its a pain with long sleeves. Kamasu it was!

Now that we're acquainted with all three series in general, it's time to move onto the centerpiece of the article: the battle of their three individual representatives for the title of the budget-friendly deep dive watches. After two month, I took the watch to the Baltic Sea, everything I noted is still valid. The Kamasu is a nice, little gem, a fun watch, a daily beater.

For the price even pre-discount, you get a reputable brand with decades of watch making experience, incredible build quality and finishing for the price, a sapphire glass crystal and a proven in-house movement. I’d be hard pressed to find a better value than this. It comes in 4 designs, 3 standard models in grey, blue-green and blue gradation dials and a 2000pc limited edition burgundy dial in a copper plated case. The 3 standard models come on a metal bracelet while the limited edition comes on a vintage style leather strap. Now obviously, I wouldn't classify Orient as a micro brand. Being a subsidiary of the Seiko Epson Corporation, Orient avoids this issue, which often occurs when there is a frenzy for a particular model. They've also enjoyed a long watchmaking history of over 75 years, offering a wide variety of watches for all tastes and wrist sizes, which I'm sure allows their tooling and production to continue at full throttle. Orient also produces its movements in-house; more on that later.

My movement keeps +1 or 0 maybe +2 a day but if I position it at night correctly I can get 0 or +1 oddly enough the beat error on phone mic tomography shows it as being near 2.0 but it’s hard to trust a phone app. All these features combine to give it 200m or 20bar of water resistance making it perfectly capable of going for a swim. Starting with the most iconic watch among budget-friendly divers and more seems like the most natural thing to do. The Kamasu wears very comfortably on my 6.25” wrist much the same way the Mako and Ray did but somewhat nicer. I believe it’s due to the lug design on the Kamasu that gives it a slightly more spread out feel compared to the Mako/Ray. It looks and feels a little bit more refined as well. If someone is looking for an entry watch, he will not be disappointed pulling the trigger on a Kamasu.