The Orient collection of watches is a real treasure trove – as I’ve recently discovered – there’s so much more than the few popular offerings that we all know and love. One such piece is the rather unimaginatively titled FFM03004B – no fancy nickname for this one, unlike his more popular Orient brethren.

The slide rule bezel is a complication of a bygone age, but it’s a very cool complication, nonetheless. And quite rare. Aside from a few Seikos and Citizens and, of course, the ubiquitous Breitling Navitimer, a watch with a slide rule bezel is hard to find. A watch with a slide rule bezel that isn’t a chronograph, even more so.

And this is where the Orient FFM03004B shines. It has a dressy look, which is toned down by the internal slide rule and the lumed hands and numerals, making this piece truly versatile. Throw it on a nice leather and you get a really elegant look or dress it down with a NATO for a more casual feel.

Another thing that makes this watch stand out is the inclusion of a power reserve indicator – which is something to be found only on the upper tier offerings from the Orient Star collection. Did I mention that the power reserve hand is also lumed?

Let’s go over some of the specs – the diameter of the case is 43 mm, which may seem too big, but the internal bezel and the overall design of the dial make it visually smaller. And a watch like this has to be big(er) – otherwise, the bezel would be unreadable. It utilizes Orient’s in-house caliber 46U40, which doesn’t feature hacking or hand-winding. The power reserve indicator balances these drawbacks pretty well, making sure you always know if a shake of the rotor is in order if you want to keep it running. This movement also has a small sub-dial with a pointer date. And to wrap everything nicely, it also has a 100 m water resistance.