Recently, I had the opportunity to handle several JDM Orient Star models because Big Time started carrying them. Apart from those I already own, the Retrograde model is one that I am most interested in.

Below are all the retrograde models shown on Orient’s website. The two models in the upper row, WZ0061DE and WZ00541DE are the newer models released in March 2012. The models shown in the bottom row were released in April 2009. These models were also made available in the international market.

In the picture below, I have the newer and older Orient Star Retrograde side by side to see what differences they have. On the left is the WZ0061DE (newer model) and on the right is the WZ0041DE (older model).

The first difference you will notice is the bracelet. The newer model comes with a standard 3-link bracelet.

Both watches have similar off-white dial colour but the colour on the newer model has a darker tone to it.

The hands and hour markers on the newer model appears darker, making it more legible.

Now take a look at the day sub-dial. You can see that on the newer model, day is represented by two alphabets (MO, TU, WE, TH etc) while the older model uses three alphabets (MON, TUE, WED, THU, etc). The day indicator hand on the older model is long and overlaps day markings. On the newer model, the hand is shorter and does not overlap the markings. Check out the two dial shots below to see it more clearly.

Those are all the difference I can find. Hope you enjoy reading this post.

Below are two more shots of the WZ0061DE.

Here is my previous post on the Orient Star Retrograde:

https://yeomanseiko.com/2011/10/07/orient-star-retrograde-de00002b/