In an era where luxury watches often compete to see who can fit the most complications onto a single dial, Orient Star is taking a step back or rather, a step upward. With the release of the M45 F8 Mechanical Moon Phase, the Japanese watchmaker is offering a “graceful passage of time” inspired by the celestial wonder of the Pleiades star cluster.

The M45 collection derives its name from the Messier catalogue designation for the Pleiades, a cluster of stars that has guided travellers and inspired poets for millennia. These two new hand-wound models capture that cosmic stillness with a rare, minimalist restraint.

The Art of Doing Less

The first thing you’ll notice about the M45 F8 is what’s missing: the second hand. By omitting the frantic ticking of seconds and removing numerical scales from the power reserve and moon phase indicators, Orient Star forces the wearer to engage with time differently. It is a watch designed for the “leisurely flow,” where the slow crawl of the leaf-shaped hands mirrors the movement of the stars across a midnight sky.

Two Visions of the Cosmos

Orient Star has released this model in two distinct flavours, each telling a different story of the night:

The Regular Model (White Dial)

This version is an exercise in “sophisticated classicism.” The white dial features a fine radial pattern and a thick, clear “wrapping” coating that gives it a deep, porcelain-like gloss. Against this bright backdrop, the blue leaf hands pop like shadows cast by a full moon.

The Limited Edition (Grey Gradation)

Restricted to just 140 pieces, this model is a technical masterpiece. It depicts “occultation”—the moment the moon passes in front of the Pleiades. The dial shifts from a smoky grey at the centre to deep black at the edges, punctuated by silver-colored dots representing the most radiant stars in the cluster.

A Masterclass in Movement: Calibre F8A62

Beneath the dial lies the in-house Calibre F8A62, a technical marvel offering a robust 70-hour power reserve. The movement features a striking, vivid blue silicon escape wheel—a nod to modern horological innovation—set against a backdrop of Geneva stripes designed to mimic celestial star trails. Adding to its elegance is the revamped moon phase display, which utilises mother-of-pearl to give the moon a soft, realistic glow.

The inclusion of a silicon escape wheel—visible through a dedicated cut-out in the bridge—is a significant horological flex. Not only does it improve efficiency and accuracy, but its bright blue hue provides a striking contrast to the traditional Geneva stripes that decorate the plates.

Why It Matters

For enthusiasts, the M45 F8 represents Orient Star’s most serious move into the “attainable luxury” space. Priced around $3,000 to $3,300, it offers hand-finished details and advanced materials usually reserved for watches twice its price. It’s a watch for the person who finds beauty in the gaps between the stars—the person who wants to look at their wrist not just to see the time, but to remember to take a breath.