Orient Caliber F6B24

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The Orient caliber F6B24 is a self-winding automatic movement with 22 jewels. This movement features a day-date calendar complication with a day and night indicator. Orient makes their movements in-house in Japan.

You may have seen this movement incorrectly listed as caliber F6B-24 or F.6B24, but Orient officially writes the caliber number as F6B24.

“Sun and Moon” Version 2 VS Version 3:

The caliber F6B24 is found in Orient Sun and Moon Version 3 watches. Version 2 has caliber 46B40. Model naming, reference numbers and versions are confusing when it comes to Orient watches. The easy way to tell the difference between Version 2 and 3 is that the dial layout is reversed:

• V2 – Day of the week is between 2:00 and 3:00. The Sun & Moon (day/night indicator) is between 9:00 and 11:00.
• V3 – Day of the week is between 9:00 and 11:00. The Sun & Moon (day/night indicator) is between 4:00 and 5:00.

In Orient’s own words:

“The day and day and night sub-registers of the Version 3 have been shifted to be concentrated on the left two-thirds of the dial.” –source

“Sun and Moon” Version 3 VS Version 4 Vs Version 5:

It appears there is also a Version 4 and 5 which feature the same Orient caliber F6B24 as the Version 3. The main difference between V3 and V4 is that V3 has Roman hour markers and the V4 has Arabic markers.

V5 takes a sportier, more minimalist approach to the dial with a normal date window at 3:00 instead of the panoramic style date on the V3 and V4 between 7:00 and 8:00. See examples below for visual comprehension.

Editor’s Note: Does anyone else wish it was easier to keep track of Orient models and versions??

Power Reserve:

The Orient caliber F6B24 has a power reserve of 40 or more hours. Winding the crown 30 times will wind the spring fully and achieve full power reserve. Please report your power reserve experience below.

Setting the date:

Avoid setting the day or date on your F6B24 watch within the hours of 8:00pm to 4:00am.

Replacement Prices:

Orient does not sell movements and they do not supply watch parts suppliers with movements. Therefore, you cannot replace an Orient movement unless you purchase another Orient watch and pull the movement from it.

Pros and Cons:

Pros:

• Affordable automatic
• Unique day/date display
• Hacking mechanism
• Hand-winding ability

Cons:

• Not much official info or documentation provided by the manufacturer
• Parts are not easily available

Examples of watches with caliber F6B24:

Additional Resources:

• How to locate Orient caliber numbers
• Orient official user manual