As longtime readers of Orient Place know, I’ve been compiling stats about this blog’s activity for years – often sharing some fun insights in the annual anniversary posts. This time, I thought it would be interesting to look outward: to dive into publicly available data about Orient’s actual watch releases and see what patterns might emerge.

Over the past ten years, Orient has been consistently enriching its catalog with a mix of new models and variations on existing designs. By analyzing over 170 releases between 2015 and 2024, some patterns become clear – and they offer clues not only to the company’s product strategy, but also to what we might expect next.

 

The Big Picture

I scanned around 175 releases, as advertised on the brand’s website. I was interested in release dates (as I wanted to observe seasonality), and also wanted to separate new designs from variants (such as new dial colors or plating options), and to distinguish between Orient branded releases, Orient Star, and other “fashion” sub-brands like “iO” and “Moussy”.

Overall, releases were split quite evenly between 81 new designs and 94 variants. Among the three major product lines:

• Orient Star led with 99 releases, focusing heavily on variations.
• Orient followed with 61 releases, showing a balanced mix of new and variant designs.
• The Fashion lines saw only 15 releases, most of them new. Note that while Orient would rarely release “new” models with very slight changes from existing ones, this is much more likely to happen with the Fashion lines, which are driven more by design than function.

 

When Are New Watches Released?

There’s a clear seasonality to Orient’s release schedule. The busiest months are February, April, and September, with February being the top month overall – a time that coincides with the end of the Japanese fiscal year. This timing might reflect strategic planning cycles, or simply a desire to capture seasonal market energy.

• February and April are rich in new designs, suggesting a focus on innovation early in the year.
• September and October lean toward variants, likely to refresh existing lines before the holiday season.
• The quieter months – January and December – see almost no action. The single December release, a fashion watch, likely some Christmas gift idea!

 

Anniversary Years: Special Attention

Orient’s major anniversaries in 2015, 2020, and now 2025, clearly mark moments of heightened activity. During these years, Orient released an average of 9 watches per year – nearly double the annual average of non-anniversary years. This uptick includes both new designs and variants, with each type seeing roughly a 75%–100% increase over typical years.

For Orient Star, the trend is more nuanced. In non-anniversary years, the brand tends to favor variants, releasing more than two variants for every new design. But in anniversary years—like 2016 and 2021—this pattern reverses. The average number of new Orient Star models per year nearly doubles, surpassing the number of variants and reflecting a deliberate push for innovation during milestone moments.

In short, anniversaries are not just symbolic for Orient – they are creative peaks, often bringing with them some of the most interesting and original designs the brand has to offer.

 

Trends Over Time

Looking at year-to-year shifts, a few longer-term trends emerge:

• A variant-heavy strategy has been dominant since 2018, especially between 2021 and 2022.
• New designs spiked again in 2020 and are trending upward once more in 2024.

Meanwhile, product line activity has shifted:

• Orient Star consistently leads in activity – this makes sense, as the likely higher profit margin justifies more research and development.
• Orient models dropped off slightly in the late 2010s but are now recovering.
• Fashion lines peaked in 2015 and have been minimal in recent years.

 

Forecasting the Future

Orient’s release schedule over the past decade reveals a certain rhythm—one that allows for cautious speculation. While each year brings its own surprises, the clustering of releases around February, April, and September appears consistent enough to serve as a rough guide. This year’s activity so far supports the trend: Both February (actually starting January 31) and April brought about plenty of new releases, mainly variants.

Anniversary years in particular have shown a tendency to concentrate both volume and variety in these peak months. If 2025 follows the precedent set in 2015 and 2020, we may well see more activity in the autumn, likely in the form of additional variants and, perhaps, a few new designs.

Naturally, no chart can predict a design team’s creative process. This analysis is offered in the same spirit as much of what we do here – part appreciation, part curiosity, and mostly just for the fun of it.

 

Final Thoughts

Of course, there are many factors that influence when a watch brand chooses to release new models—market demands, production schedules, and global events to name just a few. This analysis isn’t meant to be predictive in any serious way. It’s just a fun look at how Orient has operated over the past decade, and a small way to appreciate the rhythm and strategy behind the brand’s ongoing evolution.

And who knows? If the numbers hint at what’s to come, all the better for us collectors.

Orient Place – The Place for Orient Watch Collectors and Fans