The Affordable Orient Bambino 38 in three new fresh colours

The concept of “value proposition” is pretty hard to define… It all depends on who’s looking at it, what budget you’re capable of putting on a watch and also what you consider great value for the money. With the Bambino series by Orient, there’s objectively no such debate. “A watch that brings the idea of value for the money to a whole new level” as quoted in our initial review, the Orient Bambino 38 delivers a lot. Elegant, timeless, mechanical, and rather good-looking overall, it’s all you need in a watch and more, for about 300 euros. And to make it even more stylish and appealing, the brand adds 3 new, fresh and eye-catching colours to the series, as well as a steel bracelet for versatility.

A champion of accessible automatic watches together with its cousin Seiko, Orient introduced the Bambino 38 in 2022 as a more versatile, unisex and slightly more elegant version of its best-selling 40.5mm model. First presented in 4 classic colours, worn on leather straps, the price tag of EUR 275 certainly surprised us. We thus decided to get our hands on an example, just to be sure that there was no trickery. The review ended up in us being fairly impressed. Surely, we can’t expect the same level of quality and refinement as a 3K euro Swiss watch, but the Orient Bambino 38 is a fine mechanical timepiece, with elegance and appeal.

This year, following the launch of the dressy Bambino 38 Small Seconds collection, the brand is back with 3 fresh new models, playing on subtle colours and with the added versatility of a steel bracelet. The basics are the same as the model we reviewed here, meaning a simple yet quite robust round steel case with a thin sloping bezel, framing a domed crystal – which is mineral glass and not sapphire. The polished case is 12.5mm in thickness, which is on the thick side for such a time-and-date watch, but then again, it’s one of the concessions to do in such price range. And with the domed-shaped crystal, the profile of the case is visually thinner than what the numbers suggest.

As for the dial, we find the same appealing domed base – again, quite nice considering the price, and even the second hand is bent to follow the curvature of the dial – with applied markers and hands that are polished. New for this year, the dials are sunray-brushed with a matte coating. And there are three new colours to choose from, all subtle and rather smooth; grass green, light blue and copper. The “water resistant” caption on the dial still seems rather anachronistic today but contributes to the vintage feeling of the model.

Under the hood, these new Orient Bambino 38 models are powered by in-house automatic calibre F6724. Surely, the decoration is minimal but the specs are more than decent, with hand-wound capacity, hacking seconds and a 40-hour power reserve. Accuracy is rated at +25/-15 seconds per day, but once again, we’re far from the prices of Swiss chronometers.

Another new feature, these lightly coloured editions are worn on a steel bracelet, which is closed by a trifold deployant buckle with push button. Compared to the other models with leather straps, it adds a sportier and more contemporary look. Now available from the permanent collection, these new Orient Bambino 38 retail for EUR 330, which is still pretty impressive. For more details, please visit www.orient-watch.com.