First the good news. My third generation Orient Saturation Diver arrived yesterday from Creation Watches in Singapore (a grand, about $300 less than usual going price, defrayed by the sale of two of my watches on eBay) and it really pops on the wrist. Its lume is topnotch, similar to my Seiko Sumo's, and it has a deep dish 3D quality that makes it very bold.
Its 46mm case looks very similar in design and size to the 44mm Seiko Sumo's. However, the Sumo uses more polished steel on its links and case. It's brushed steel as far as I can see on the OSD.
I had the OSD sized by Matt at Watch City last night and he was impressed with everything about it except for the clasp, which he showed me is very cheap and flimsy, a real disappointment for a watch at this price point. You don't want to see cut corners on a watch this price.
When I open my watch box and see the OSD and Sumo side by side they look almost the same. Of course there are differences. The OSD has more bulk and different indices but from a few feet their differences are minimal. A lot of buyers would find more value in the $500 Sumo.
In fact, I'd argue that the OSD, even at a grand, is overpriced. It should be in the $700 ballpark. The bracelet is less than inspiring even though the links are of high quality. I'm tempted to take off the bracelet and replace it with a 22mm Super Engineer II. This discussion seems to indicate brushed would be better than polished.
Conclusion: Love the watch. Love the pop. Love the boldness. Happy with it. But also glad I sold some watches to lower the cost. I'd tell new buyers to look at better deals from the microbrands like Helson Shark Diver 45 and Boschett Harpoon or get a $500 Sumo.
Hi, old post but can't resist. I have Sumo, turtle and pro saturation diver. And Orient in how you fill watch, wins in every aspect for me. It's not possible for anyone who knows watches at lower level to say it's similar to sumo. This watch have a lot of strong character. For really long time for me this watch was most beautiful diver watch that was done in Japan. Last year's they did few Grand Seikos and LX line, and those watches remain me in style OSD300 so much, off course they technically and financially kills OSD easily but they have a similar strong design. Sumo is just another diver from Seiko, with no fireworks.
Posted by: Damian | December 07, 2021 at 10:35 AM