# Orient Clocks



## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

I think most of us know something about Orient watches, and the relationship between Orient and Seiko, with Orient becoming a subsidiary of the Seiko Epsom Corporation in 2001 - this relationship being further reinforced in 2009. Indeed, we often see pictures of Orient watches, especially dive models, on the Forum, sometimes with accompanying positive remarks about the brand. However, what is less well known is that Orient also specialised in electronics and the company has been responsible for a number of quartz watches and clocks.

I have just purchased an Orient LED alarm clock, and I am not sure of its exact date. Fortunately, it bears quite a lot of information in the form of labels, and from these I have managed to glean quite a bit of info about my clock. The clock itself is smooth and "rounded" in its lines, even though it has an essentially rectangular face, and there is no differently coloured frame to the clock - it is all in the same dark red translucent ABS, with white "ALARM", "PM" and "ORIENT Digital Clock" legends on the front screen.

Firstly, the CE mark on the main "MADE IN CHINA" label dates the clock to post-1995 when the modern form of the CE mark was first used. And secondly, using the English script on the mainly Chinese-lettered additional label stuck on the clock, I know that my Orient clock was actually manufactured not by Orient themselves but by a company called Windix Industries Ltd.

Windix Industries Ltd. was founded in 1987, with its establishment being a year later. It is a Hong Kong based company with a factory in Dong Guan, China, and its main function is to manufacture high quality LED and LCD clocks with new designs to cater for rapidly changing market and environment needs. The company, which has its own tooling workshop, plastic injection machinery, and assembly lines, employs a staff of between 500 and 1000, and interestingly, its main market is Japan. Nevertheless, the company has been expanding in the US in recent years and has attended Hong Kong trade exhibitions since about 1998. My own clock in fact seems not to have been produced for the English market, given its two-pin plug arrangement as well as its Chinese metallic label announcing its manufacturer and also its compliance with Korean electrical standards (via the KETI logo).

In addition to the two labels mentioned above, my clock also bears two other, smaller, labels. One is the quality controller's stamp and the other is a number - 092. It would seem then that Orient commissioned this clock from Windix, who put the Orient label on it. And my clock also seems to have been sold under the DIGITIME brand, as a very similar Digitime model is shown on the Windix website - though in blueish ABS, and with blue LED numerals, unlike my own reddish example. I am not sure if this model is still in production as I cannot find it anywhere for sale online retail.

I would be very interested to know more about Orient clocks. I would especially like to know if and when they made any mechanical examples, and also if and when they made their own electric and quartz clocks. I have a feeling that currently, Orient does not produce or manufacture clocks, but I may be wrong. Here is an Orient cube LCD alarm clock with Japanese cartoon decoration. The details provided for the purchase of this clock wholesale are gobbledygook but it does appear that this clock comes with a variety of different cartoon decorations, and I would reckon that this is a collectible piece already - more so than my rather more humble, though stylish Orient LED clock. It may come from Orient of Japan although perhaps another manufacturer, such as Windix, makes this model for Orient.


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2015)

a bit of Manga influence there Honour :smile:


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## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

Thanks Bruce, you are right there, and Manga seems to be very popular in the UK these days. In further connection with Orient clocks, I note that they have also produced a range of analogue quartz clocks and I wonder if these were/are actually manufactured by Orient themselves. With these clocks, there are sometimes references to "Orient of Japan" so I think that the company may have a closer relationship with these clocks than with their digital varieties. If I had one then I could look at the movement on the back in order to see where it was manufactured.


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