The Best Ultra-Affordable Dress Watch Is Now Way Better for Everyday Wear

Any fan of affordable watches is surely familiar with the Orient Bambino.

The Japanese watch ranks as arguably the best dress watch one can buy on the ultra-affordable end of the spectrum while simultaneously acting as one of a handful of gateway purchases for budding enthusiasts first getting into mechanical watches.

Orient has steadily been improving the Bambino as the model’s profile has risen in recent years, including releasing a slimmer version with a small seconds display earlier this year.

Now, Orient has given the Bambino perhaps its greatest makeover ever, as the brand has launched a version of the iconic dress watch that, um, isn’t a dress watch.

A New Casual Dress Code

The new Bambino is the sportiest and most casual version of the watch I’ve ever seen. While keeping the smaller 38mm case size of other recent Bambino releases, this new version swaps out the leather and mesh straps for a robust three-link stainless steel bracelet secured with a dual push-button clasp.

Complementing the sporty new bracelet are three clean and simple sunburst dials in versatile colors. There are green, blue and copper versions, and each dial is adorned with slender applied hour markers and sharp dauphine hands. There are no Roman numerals or patterned dials here, just pure simplicity that makes these watches ideal for everyday wear.