For the last few years, Orient Watch Co. has been thrashing about like a wounded wombat, trying to bring out a mid-priced diver that costs around $500 US and will rival the fabled Seiko Sumo. First they came up with the Orient Star Revolver, then, a year or two ago, the M-Force diver. Neither was all bad, neither was outstanding, and the Sumo still reigns supreme. This year they brought out the lefty M-Force SEL06001B:
And they still haven’t gotten it right. But they did a little better than the last M-Force.
This one, called the Beast by the collecting community, is a whole new take on the dive watch that the previous M-Force missed. It’s got a left-handed crown, a new bracelet, and the same excellent 40N5A 22-jewel automatic movement, which is updated from the Revolver so that it both hand winds and hacks. The case and bezel are redesigned from the old M-Force:
The case is large, but not Invicta-sized. Here are my notes of the size:
Large, but not uncomfortable. Measurements: 47.62 case, 48.19 including 9 o’clock shoulder, 51.94 3-6. Height, 13.7-14.46, depending on measurement on bezel (with/without rider tabs on bezel. Bezel sits 2.5mm proud of shrouds. Bracelet, 23mm at lugs, 22mm at clasp. Link thickness, 4mm. Wears more like a 45mm on the wrist. Sits relatively low on the wrist.
The biggest difference Orient’s made is moving the crown from the four o’clock position on the old M-Force to the nine o’clock on the Beast. I’m not especially fond of lefty-crowns, although I have to admit it wears a bit better than the old model. I’d rather that Orient had left off the shoulder on the right side of the case. The crown screws down with three or four turns, and feels a bit gritty when doing so. Winding the crown also seems a bit gritty. Unlike the previous M-Force, pulling the crown to time-setting doesn’t make the dial move. The case has contrasting high-polish and brushed finish; the polishing seems a little mediocre. The bezel is 120 click, smooth, and far too busy for my tastes (this was a beef I had with the previous mid-priced Orient divers as well.) The bezel seems to be IP plated in black, and I figure it will scratch up pretty quickly. The crystal is flat and made of sapphire.
The dial is legible and the iconic Orient power-reserve indicator is somewhat subdued. The printing on it looks good, and the hands are a bit thicker than the old M-Force. The lume is very good:
And although it’s not as good as the Sumo (or the Seiko Monster, for that matter) it is plenty bright enough to pass the Conjurer-quick-glance-in-a-dark-car test, and lasts all night.
The bracelet is an improvement on the old M-Force, but that’s not really saying too much, since it would have been difficult to make it worse. It does have solid endlinks, a big improvement, and it’s a bit more substantial than the old M-Force:
The clasp, however, is the same crappy piece of stamped thin metal as the old model:
It does the job, but it could have been much better. The bracelet and the watch-head, while heavy, are well balanced and fit well on the wrist:
The fit is good, and even though the watch and bracelet are pretty heavy (and very close to the edge of my comfort zone) over the few days I wore it, it never felt too heavy or fatiguing. The bracelet is sized with Orient’s stupid pin-and-collar system, and while this proved rather horrible with the previous M-Force, it works on this one.
The movement is a 6-beat-per-second in-house caliber. Time keeping was okay, but not great—about -5 to -7 seconds a day. I seem to recall that the movement in my old Revolver, now regrettably gone, was more accurate. The very same movement I have in my new Orient Saturation Diver is running about +2 seconds a day, so a bit of better regulation before leaving the factory would have been nice.
One thing I should point out—I actually got this watch on loan from a collector in Australia who wanted to purchase it from Orient USA but they don’t ship overseas; he asked me to take delivery of it here in the States and then ship it to him after I played around with it for a bit. As a result, I babied it more than I normally would, fearing putting a big old gouge in the steel or cracking the crystal or some damn thing. I also wore it for about three days, whereas I normally wear a watch for at least a week before forming my impressions.
So what do we have here, then? A Sumo-killer? Not likely. The Sumo looks and feels like a $1500 dive watch, while the Beast is what it is, a pretty good $500 diver. There’s nothing particularly wrong with the Beast, apart from the design and overall construction that smacks slightly of a committee building the thing, and trying too hard. There’s some nice features, some decent performance (show me a boutique brand that can offer an in-house caliber, in-house case, etc., for twice this price—and of course you can’t, because there isn’t one out there) but overall, there’s no there there. If you like the looks of the Beast, you won’t be disappointed. If you’re looking for the Orient Sumo, it ain’t this one.
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Impressions of the Orient Beast (SEL06001B): bedlam
I have a love-hate relationship with my Eco-Zilla. Currently our relationship is on the downside and I have flipped it again. I was looking around for a replacement; something with some wrist presence, maybe a similar destro crown as I do like them as a change, but prefer an automatic movement. I was considering an Autozilla when Orient announced the M-Force 'Beast'.
I'm a fan of Orient's divers and have owned a number of them. Orient positions the M-Force watches between the affordables and the Orient Stars but somehow they seem to end up inhabiting something of a nether land. They are not awesomely cheap but they also don't necessarily match the quality of some of the other brand options available in the same price range. I must admit to not thinking much of the recent M-Force (SEL03 series) 200m diver, so when this new watch was announced I was interested to see if Orient had lifted its M-Force game and also see if I might have found a watch that could replace my Zilla.
I picked one up via OrientUSA and had it shipped via a WIS colleague in the states. After he had man-handled it with his grubby paws and put it through a few of his daily paces he sent it on to me. Its the first time I have has a watch arrive with the bracelet already sized...its a service I should arrange more often ;-)
Specs
Model No SEL06001B
Orient 40N5A movement (22 jewels, hacks and winds)
Flat sapphire crystal (33mm width)
Case at narrowest diameter 47mm
Shroud width 47mm, height 3mm
Case + crown 52mm wide
13mm high
53mm lug-to-lug
47mm pin to pin
24mm lug width
200m WR
ISO 6425 (dive watch), ISO 764 (anti-magnetic) and ISO 1413 (shock-resistance)
Stainless Steel bracelet with fitted solid endlinks
120-click unidirectional PVD bezel (5mm width)
Initial impression:
The watch arrived in large-box livery with a ton of swag (including a second watch) that might be expected more when buying an Orient Star, so full marks to Orient for effort with the packaging. The Beast itself is big, flat and angular, full of edges and corners from the side view...yet perfectly round like the old Beast when looking straight on. Its a long way from the full, bulbous, organic feel of the OS300 that was on my wrist at the time. The case-edges give it a boxy feel that reminded me of a 'Transformer' for a moment. It did look purposeful though, and felt solid. Its angled and flattened look is the antithesis of the 'boofiness' of a Zilla and it took a little while to appreciate it.
Finish
The case finish is typical of Orient's M-Force watches, good but not stunning. The metal finishes on the upper case, lugs and crown-protectors are fine brushed, but the shroud and the case sides are polished. A little odd but it looks quite good. The bezel is brushed metal with a black low-polish PVD finish. The dial has a matt black surface with excellent quality text printing. The hands are brushed SS and the applied hour indices are polished SS. All the dial components have a quality look to them.
Case
I'm told in the marketing guff that the M-Force case construction incorporates 'resin dial support and movement rings'. Apparently this improves the shock-resistance (apparently it also means some of the infamous dial movement issues might persist too but I have not seen this happen myself. Orient say there can be dial movement but it has no impact on the watches function).
Given the beefy dimensions of the case this watch isn't particularly tall for a diver. It rides really well and is yet another big watch which demonstrates to me its not so much the case diameter that kills wear-ability, its case height (over 15mm and things start to get more difficult IMO). The caseback is bland with just the Orient and M-Force names engraved with the typical info etched around the outside. The caseback is raised and this helps a lot with wearability as the oversized crown does make its presence felt at times.
The crown-protectors are a two-stage affair in keeping with the boxy aspect of the case shapes. For some reason there is a similar structure on the opposite side of the watch which doesn't appear to serve a purpose other than appearance - it seems unnecessary but does balance up the look of the watch somewhat.
Lugs
The lugs are short and taper towards the ends. They provide balanced proportions to the case and are essential component of the old Beast DNA. The drilled through lug-holes are set as far from the case as possible at mid-height. This allows my heaviest-duty NATO to fit even while using the thick Seiko-style pins that came with the watch. The lugs curve down nicely and the watch feels really stable on the wrist.
Dial
The Beast is available in black, blue and red dial options and I must say that this dial design has won me over. To me it has an instrument feel, and with the splashes of red is vaguely what I imagine a G-Shock analogue dive watch might look like. While the dial is busy it is well organised. I would prefer they get rid of the 'M-Force' branding, though, as it cheapens things but is likely a bonus in some markets. The power-reserve is a brilliant feature that I think should be on all autos and is sunk into the dial slightly at the 6 o'clock position. The chapter ring slants at about 50 degrees and is fully indexed. It opens up the face and the addition of the 5-minute increments is one of the features giving it that instrument-like feel. While I like the dial of the Beast I expect people who look for a sparse dial are going to go elsewhere.
The applied markers are very similar to the OS300 and its really only the 12 o'clock marker that is different (is it just me or do they also look similar to the markers on the MM300?). The lume on the Beast is similar to the OS300 (very good). There is also lume on both the second and power-reserve hands. Overall, the dial is open and very readable and is substantially better than my Zilla in the at-a-glance readability stakes. The flat crystal is sapphire but could do with better AR as I noticed reflections were an issue at times when trying to photograph the watch...though not particularly in normal use it must be said.
Hands
The hands are in keeping with the original Beasts' handset and I think look great in brushed SS. They are highly legible, well finished, the right lengths, and perhaps better looking than the OS300's. They 'over-filled' the gloss red paint on the second and power-reserve hands giving them a sumptuous feel. The colour pops and lifts the look of the dial.
Crown
The crown is destro at 9-oclock, like with the Eco-zilla. It has some very substantial crown-protectors with a cheesy red mark whose job it is to tell you when you are being an idiot. There is very little wobble but it is a little stiff to re-engage. Initially the crown felt like it had some coarseness but with more use I realised the sensation I was picking up was the crown spindle rubbing against a reasonably tight gasket. The crown is beautifully signed with the Orient Lion logo on an etched background and looks excellent. Its very easy to grip though the winding action is only average. Not bad overall.
Bezel
The bezel is 120-click unidirectional, PVD finished. Its action is smooth and 'technical' in feel. Its not as heavy as the OS300 but feels good and completely buries the Zilla's. It has no discernible slop and is protected at the sides by the shrouds. The bezel look is similar to the OS200 in that it has alternating raised and lowered blocks (though all in the same colour). The numerals are painted white and sit in depressions on the raised sections. On the inside of the bezel there is a continuous section sloped inwards to the dial with fully indexed minute markers. The bezel markers line up nicely with the chapter ring and dial. The bezel on the Beast is good!
Movement
The made in Japan in-house Orient 40N5A movement hacks and manually winds. It has 22 jewels and beats at 21600vph. Orient indicates the movement has +25/-15 seconds per day range and a power-reserve of 40hrs. Its the same movement that you get in their top of the line Orient Saturation Diver. So far this one is running at -6 secs per day.
Bracelet
Its a 24mm non-tapering brushed SS tank-track style. The clasp is a standard pressed fold-over style with double side safety buttons. The end-links are fitted and solid, though the bracelet feels a bit thin overall. I don't use bracelets so I am no expert, but this one feels like a step down from the OS200's. Better than the Zilla's though, as the Zilla doesn't have one ;-)
Straps
I've put the Beast on various straps and it seems to suit darker black rubber (Hirsch Pure and Ocean7). Overall I like it best on a NATO and have been wearing it on PVD 24mm Maratacs (3 and 5 ring). Because the case is only 13mm it works better on a 5-ring than the OS300 does. A 5-ring on the Zilla is clown territory.
Pros
great movement
sapphire crystal
excellent bezel
power-indicator
great wrist presence
Con
dial is busy
average AR
silly crown 'indicator'
cheap bracelet clasp
Conclusions
Initially I was expecting the Beast would be about the 'butch', like a Zilla. But its not really. Instead its the closest I have had a dive watch come to the technical feel of something like a Protrek or MR-G. It seems to me that Orient have given their designers substantial say in the final product but the fit-to-purpose and aesthetic form aspects of the watch still work really well. There are 'designed' elements but they don't mess with the function - which is my biggest criticism of the Zilla.
I know the Zilla's bulk is in part related to being a saturation diver, but the bezel and case are over-designed. The dial is smallish and can be hard to read on an angle because its so far below the mountain-range of that bezel. And the bezel action and useability are pretty poor. The case is so tall it spends all day flopping one way or another depending on the angle of my arm from moment to moment. I want to like the Zilla...but its flawed IMO. The Beast has none of these problems. I have worn it four days straight now and found it really easy to live with.
Visually this version of the Beast is a mash up of the recent SEL03 and OS300 dials and the OS200 bezel put into the original Beast's case and given the Beast's hands. In the process the flavour of the watch has changed a lot from the original and I am not sure that those who liked the 1998 watch would find themselves attracted to this one in the same way. Nonetheless, in my opinion this new Beast takes the M-Force line in a good direction. The original Beast was the only M-Force I ever really liked..until this one.
So, is it mission accomplished? Does the new Beast rescue the M-Force line? For me it does. Did I find a replacement my Zilla? I certainly have. The thing I really appreciate about the new Beast is that I get to wear a big cased diver that I love the look of without having to work hard for it. Tons of wrist presence and no dings in the doorways!
...Seems like a good value...
You covered it all bedlam !!! 
It's great how this
