Orient
Orient Kamasu 40 mm Black Stainless
Photography on request
Front view
Dial, hands and bezel as delivered.
Case-back view
Case-back engraving and, where fitted, the sapphire display.
Movement
Calibre with its finishing and decoration.
On the wrist
Worn shot for proportion and strap drape.
Orient · Kamasu
Orient Kamasu 40 mm Black Stainless
Reference 46394ST.34
Reference at a glance
- Brand
- Orient
- Collection
- Kamasu
- Model
- Orient Kamasu 40 mm Black Stainless
- Reference number
- 46394ST.34
- Year / era
- 1963 · 1960s — pre-quartz mechanical era
- Complication
- Flyback chronograph
- Movement
- Automatic, 24 jewels
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Dial type
- Black lacquer
- Strap / bracelet
- NATO textile strap
- Water resistance
- 100 m
- Limited-edition status
- Regular production, not a limited edition
Case, dial & bracelet
- Case dimensions
- 40 mm
- Case thickness
- 14.1 mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Bezel
- Bidirectional 24-hour Cerachrom
- Crystal
- Flat sapphire with Cyclops lens
- Dial
- Black lacquer
- Hands
- Blued steel Breguet-style hands
- Indexes
- Diamond-set hour markers
- Bracelet / strap
- NATO textile strap
- Clasp / buckle
- Triple-folding clasp with safety catch
- Water resistance
- 100 m
Movement
- Movement / calibre
- Calibre 36D — Automatic, 24 jewels
- Movement type
- High-frequency automatic
- Frequency
- 25,200 vph (3.5 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 55 hours
- Number of jewels
- 37 jewels
- Complications
- Flyback chronograph
- Functions
- Hours, minutes, seconds, date
- Watchmaker
- The calibre is built in-house and adjusted in five positions before delivery.
Production & market
- Production period
- 1963 – 1967
- Limited-edition quantity
- Not applicable
- Current market information
- Values have stabilised after the 2022 correction; condition and box-and-papers drive the premium.
Designer
Jörg Hysek
Jörg Hysek left Rolex and Seiko's European studios to build a design practice in Geneva, giving houses such as Vacheron Constantin, Breguet, Seiko and TAG Heuer their sculptural, architecture-led cases before founding his own brand, HD3.
Historical significance
Orient Kamasu 40 mm Black Stainless sits within Orient's Kamasu line, introduced in 1963. It carries the house codes established since 1950 — stainless steel case, black lacquer dial and automatic, 24 jewels — and is one of the references collectors use to date the evolution of the collection.
Interesting facts
- The bracelet tapers across its length, which is why the profile looks thinner on the wrist than the specification suggests.
- The case is finished by hand, alternating polished and satin-brushed surfaces in a single pass so the edges stay razor sharp.
- The reference was originally planned as a one-year run and stayed in the catalogue for well over a decade.
The House
Orient
Brand facts
- Founding year
- 1950
- Founder
- Shogoro Yoshida
- Headquarters
- Japan
- Tier
- Japanese
- Major collections
- Bambino, Kamasu, Star, Mako, Revival
- Signature technologies
- In-house hairspring production · Hand-applied guilloché dials
- Famous movements
- High-accuracy quartz · Automatic, 24 jewels · Eco-Drive solar quartz · Spring Drive
- Notable watches
- Orient Bambino 37 mm Blue Ceramic (2003) · Orient Bambino 41 mm Blue Quartz (1981) · Orient Bambino 37 mm Mother-of-pearl Carbon (1990) · Orient Kamasu 43 mm Blue Quartz (1999)
Brand history
Orient has spent more than 76 years refining a single idea: a watch should outlive its owner. From the earliest workshop pieces to today's Bambino, the house has balanced technical ambition with a recognisable design language, and its collections remain among the most closely followed by collectors worldwide.
Shogoro Yoshida established Orient in 1950, working from Japan at a time when precision was measured by hand. The founder's obsession with finishing and accuracy still defines every Orient calibre produced today.
Historical milestones
1950
Shogoro Yoshida founds Orient in Japan.
1969
The quartz era forces Orient to redefine mechanical watchmaking.
1990
Orient enters the modern collector market with its signature lines.
2024
Orient continues to produce Bambino, Kamasu, Star and other icons in limited numbers.