Orient Bambino Reference: What Version 2, Version 7 and Version 9 Actually Mean

Verdict (spec-based)

Spec-based, not a worn review: every figure here is taken from Orient's own product pages, read on 2026-08-24. We have not measured these watches ourselves.

The Bambino is the default recommendation for a first mechanical dress watch, and it is also the most confusingly named watch in the Japanese entry-level market. People assume "Version 9" is newer and better than "Version 2", the way software works. It is not. Orient's own store lists Version 2, Version 7 and Version 9 at the same time, they are different watches rather than successive revisions, and the one called Version 9 is not even the same category of watch as the others.

Here is the whole line in one table so you can stop guessing.

Every current Bambino, side by side

List prices are Orient's own US store figures on 2026-08-24 and move with promotions. The same store also carries limited editions — a Version 2 75th Anniversary (RA-AC0027S30B, USD 325) and a Peanuts 75th Anniversary Bambino (RA-AC0M16S30B, USD 400).

The three things the table tells you

1. "Version" is a design family, not a release order. Version 2 and Version 7 both run the same calibre F6724. What separates them is the dial and case treatment, not the mechanics or the year. Buying "the newest version" is not a coherent goal here; buying the case size and dial you want is.

2. Version 7 is two watches wearing one name. There is a 38.4 mm Version 7 and a 40.5 mm Version 7, and they are 2.1 mm apart in diameter, 2.5 mm apart in lug-to-lug, and — the part that costs people money — one millimetre apart in lug width. The 38.4 mm takes 20 mm straps; the 40.5 mm takes 21 mm. If you order a strap from the model name alone, you have a fifty-fifty chance of it not fitting. This applies to the whole line: every 38.4 mm Bambino here is 20 mm, and every 40.5/41.5 mm Bambino here is 21 mm.

21 mm is an awkward size. It is a real, stocked width, but the selection at any given strap maker is a fraction of what exists in 20 mm or 22 mm. Factor that in before choosing the larger case.

3. Version 9 is a different watch class. It uses calibre F6B24 rather than F6724, adds a sun-and-moon indication, a 24-hour sub-register and a day display, and is 41.5 mm across and 14.2 mm thick — 2.4 mm thicker than the 40.5 mm Version 7 and 3.7 mm above the original Version 2. A 14.2 mm dress watch is a specific choice, not a small upgrade. Our case-size guide covers why lug-to-lug and thickness decide fit far more than diameter does.

What you give up at this price

Across all six references above, Orient lists the crystal as domed mineral and water resistance as 30 m. There is no sapphire option anywhere in the current Bambino range as Orient's US store lists it, and the USD 410 Version 9 gets the same crystal as the USD 295 Version 7. If a scratch-resistant crystal is the thing you care about, the Bambino is not where the line's money went — it went into the case finishing, the domed profile and the movement.

30 m water resistance means splashes and rain. It is not a swimming rating, and no Bambino is intended as one.

All six run at approximately 40 hours of power reserve, and all are automatic with hand-winding and hacking seconds — meaning you can wind them without wearing them and stop the seconds hand to set the time exactly. Those two features are not universal at this price and are a genuine part of the value here. If the mechanics are unfamiliar, mechanical vs quartz vs solar is the plain-language version.

If you are choosing today

• Smallest, cleanest, cheapest → Bambino No Date, RA-BB0001E30B. 38.4 mm, calibre F6524, no date window at all, USD 295.
• The classic proportions people picture → Version 2 at 40.5 mm, the thinnest in the line at 11.8 mm.
• You want the small-seconds dial → Version 2 Small Seconds, RA-AP0101B30B, calibre F6222, 38.4 mm and 12 mm thick.
• You want a complication and do not mind a thick watch → Version 9. Sun-and-moon, day display, 41.5 × 14.2 mm.
• You already own 20 mm straps → stay at 38.4 mm. You already own 21 mm straps → you are in a very small club, and the 40.5/41.5 mm cases are yours.

Where the Bambino sits

Orient is Epson's watch brand and occupies the rung below Seiko's mechanical lines rather than competing with them head-on; our Japanese watch brands guide maps out who actually makes what. If you are cross-shopping a Bambino against a Seiko automatic, the movement comparison worth reading is our NH35 reference — the Seiko-group movement that powers most of the sub-USD-500 automatics the Bambino competes with.