Orient Star reveals new moon phase watch called M45 F7

We love watches with moon phase complications here at T3 – so we’re pretty excited by news that Japanese firm Orient Star has just announced one of its own.

Called the M45 F7 Mechanical Moon Phase, the watch pairs the complication with a smart set of roman numerals, a dial showing the automatic movement’s power reserve, and a window offering a glimpse at the mechanicals within.

The watch features a 41mm stainless steel case, a black dial and a matching cordovan leather strap with push-button, tri-fold deployment. The dial puts its moon phase complication front-and-centre, neatly showing the position of the sun and moon in the night’s sky, set against a scattering of stars.

A date dial surrounds the circumference of the moon phase, while a window at the nine o’clock position gives a skeletal view of the movement within. The dial is protected by scratch-resistant sapphire crystal. A dial at the 12 o’clock position swings from 50 to zero, indicating how many hours of power the self-winding in-house movement has at any moment.

Orient Star says of the watch: “It features a unique flowing water motif on the dial…The moon phase display depicts the moon gently illuminating a flowing river while the diamond-shaped hands represent the glittering stars.”

Although fairly compact at 41mm in diameter, the case is 13.8mm thick, so might not be suitable for all wrists. It has a lug-to-lug measurement of 49mm and a lug width of 20mm, making it a fairly sizable timepiece when all dimensions and the protruding, unguarded crown are considered. That said, it packs a lot into its case.

Water resistance is 50 metres and the watch is available now, priced at ￡1,669.99.