# Orient Kamasu Review: Sapphire and 200m for $375

> Sapphire, 200m of water resistance and an in-house automatic for $375. The Kamasu covers the essentials of a dive watch at a price most rivals cannot match, and its compromises are easy to name.

URL: https://wristmetric.com/reviews/orient-kamasu-review
Section: Reviews
Published: October 4, 2026 (updated October 6, 2026)
By: Wristmetric Staff
Brands: Orient

**The short answer.** The Kamasu is the [dive watch](https://wristmetric.com/dive-watches/) to beat under $400. For $375 it combines a sapphire crystal, 200m of water resistance, a screw-down crown, a 120-click bezel and a hacking, hand-winding automatic with a day-date. The compromises are a 40-hour reserve, no display caseback, a bracelet built to the price and no ISO certification.

Many dive watches under $500 make you choose. Sapphire or a screw-down crown. A 200m rating or an in-house movement. The Kamasu, on the market since around 2019, is notable because it declines to make that choice, and it does so at a price below many of the watches it is compared with.

This review covers the wine red Kamasu, reference RA-AA0003R39B, on its steel bracelet.

| Orient Kamasu | |
|---|---|
| Price (US) | $375 |
| Reference | RA-AA0003R39B |
| Movement | Orient F6922, automatic |
| Power reserve | About 40 hours |
| Rated accuracy | +25/−15 sec/day |
| Hacking | Yes |
| Hand-winding | Yes |
| Jewels | 22 |
| Beat rate | 21,600 vph |
| Case diameter | 41.8mm |
| Thickness | 12.8mm |
| Lug to lug | 47mm |
| Lug width | 22mm |
| Crystal | Sapphire |
| Water resistance | 200m |
| Bezel | Unidirectional, 120 clicks, stainless steel bezel |
| Crown | Screw-down |
| Lume | Luminova |
| Bracelet / strap | Steel bracelet, fold-over clasp with safety |
| Warranty | 3 years (Orient Watch USA) |

## Price and the Mako-3

The Kamasu is $375 at [Orient Watch USA](https://www.orientwatchusa.com/products/ra-aa0003r39b).

The Kamasu has a close sibling. The current Mako-3, which Orient Watch USA dates to 2023, shares the Kamasu's case, bezel, sapphire crystal and F6922 movement. The Mako line dates to 2004, and the Mako-3 reference RA-AA0820R39B also costs $375.

The two differ in their faces. The Mako-3 has a bordeaux dial with a grained finish, Arabic numerals at 6, 9 and 12, its own hands and a bezel insert matched to the dial color. It measures 46.8mm lug to lug against the Kamasu's 47mm, a difference too small to matter. Choosing between them is a matter of taste, and we compare the Mako with [Citizen](https://wristmetric.com/brands/citizen)'s diver in [Orient Mako vs. Citizen Promaster](https://wristmetric.com/comparisons/orient-mako-vs-citizen-promaster).

Below both sits the AA02 Diver at $290, with the same F6922 and 200m rating but a mineral crystal. The extra $85 for the Kamasu buys, above all, a sapphire crystal, and it is money well spent.

## Design

The Kamasu dial is deep wine red. Reviewers describe the finish as sunburst, though [Orient](https://wristmetric.com/brands/orient)'s own page simply calls it red. Applied indices with silver surrounds mark the hours, using dots at most positions, rectangles at 6 and 9 and a trapezoid at 12. The varied shapes make the dial easier to orient at a glance. The hour hand is an arrowhead and the minute hand a lance, and the hands and markers use Luminova.

The day and date sit together at 3. The dial reads "water resistant" rather than carrying a diver's designation, a small detail that matters later.

The overall effect is a conventional dive watch with an unconventional color. It is a more contemporary design than [Seiko](https://wristmetric.com/brands/seiko)'s SKX-derived 5 Sports, and it relies less on heritage. Orient's dive history runs back to the King Diver 1000 of 1965, but the Kamasu makes little of it.

## Case and Bracelet

The steel case measures 41.8mm across, 12.8mm thick and 47mm lug to lug, with 22mm lugs. It is brushed on top with polished sides, and the crown screws down.

On paper, those are well-judged proportions. A 47mm lug-to-lug is compact for a diver of this diameter, and 12.8mm is thinner than the 13.9mm Seiko 5 Sports SKX Series. It is not a small watch, but it is not an oversized one either.

The bracelet is where the price shows. It is an oyster-style design in 316L steel, with split pins and a stamped fold-over clasp with a safety catch. Reviewers report that the end links are hollow. Orient does not confirm it, but hollow end links are a common cost saving at this level, and buyers should expect a bracelet that is serviceable rather than refined.

That is not a reason to pass on the watch. The 22mm lug width opens up a wide choice of straps, and the case itself is the part that matters.

## Sapphire and the 120-Click Bezel

Two specifications set the Kamasu apart from most watches at its price.

The first is the sapphire crystal. Sapphire is far harder than the mineral glass used on many rivals, including Seiko's Hardlex, and much better at resisting the fine scratches that build up on a watch worn daily. Orient does not mention an anti-reflective coating, which is one area where more expensive divers such as the [Hamilton](https://wristmetric.com/brands/hamilton) Khaki Navy Scuba pull ahead.

The second is the bezel. It is unidirectional, so an accidental knock can only make an elapsed-time reading longer, never shorter, and it moves in 120 clicks, or a half-minute per click. Orient does not name the insert material, and reviewers have described it as aluminum, which scuffs more easily than ceramic or glass but is easy to live with.

## The F6922 Movement

Inside is Orient's caliber F6922, made in Akita Prefecture by Akita Epson. It has 22 jewels, beats at 21,600 vph, stores about 40 hours and both hacks and hand-winds. It debuted in 2016, when the Mako II and Ray II were among the first watches to use it, and it shows the day and date.

Orient rates it at +25/−15 seconds a day. That is a tighter tolerance than Seiko publishes for its 4R36 (+45/−35) or Citizen for its 8204 (+40/−20). A rating says what a maker will accept, not how any one watch will run, but it is the only published basis for comparison, and the Orient's is the best of the three.

Hacking and hand-winding are no longer rare at this price, but they still matter. Hacking stops the seconds hand when the crown is pulled, so the watch can be set to the second. Hand-winding means a stopped watch can be started from the crown. For more on how Orient builds these calibers, see [Inside Orient's In-House Mechanical Movements](https://wristmetric.com/culture/inside-orients-in-house-mechanical-movements).

## What It Does Not Have

The Kamasu's omissions are as clear as its strengths.

- **No ISO certification.** The Kamasu is rated to 200m, but Orient makes no claim that it meets [ISO 6425](https://wristmetric.com/culture/how-to-read-a-watch-spec-sheet), the international standard for divers' watches, which requires every watch to be tested. Citizen's $625 Promaster Dive Automatic does claim ISO compliance. Within Orient's own range, the ISO 6425 rated choice is the Orient Star Sports Diver RE-AU0301B00B at $700, which was out of stock at Orient Watch USA at the time of writing.
- **A 40-hour reserve.** About 40 hours means a Kamasu taken off on Friday evening will probably have stopped by Sunday. Hamilton's H-10 and [Tissot](https://wristmetric.com/brands/tissot)'s Powermatic 80 run for 80 hours, though the examples we cover cost $850 and up.
- **No exhibition caseback.** Orient does not state the caseback type, and secondary sources describe it as solid. Buyers who want to see the movement will find a display back on the Seiko 5 Sports.

None of these is unusual at $375. The ISO point is the one most worth weighing, since it separates a watch rated to a depth from a watch tested to a dive standard.

## Who Should Buy It

The Kamasu suits buyers who want one mechanical sports watch that can handle water, scratches and daily wear, and who would rather spend $375 than $600 or more. It is a strong first automatic and a sensible watch for travel or the beach.

It also suits buyers who care about the specification sheet. Few watches at this price combine sapphire, 200m, a screw-down crown and a published accuracy rating this tight. We set it against the $450 Seiko 5 Sports in [Orient Kamasu vs. Seiko 5 Sports](https://wristmetric.com/comparisons/orient-kamasu-vs-seiko-5-sports) and against a $975 Swiss diver in [Orient Kamasu vs. Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba](https://wristmetric.com/comparisons/orient-kamasu-vs-hamilton-khaki-navy-scuba).

It is the wrong choice for buyers who need an ISO-compliant dive instrument, who rotate between several watches and want a long reserve, or who want to see the movement. Those buyers should look at the Citizen Promaster, the Hamilton or the Seiko respectively, and accept the trade-offs each brings.

> The Kamasu's compromises are the right ones. They fall on the bracelet and the caseback, not on the crystal, the crown or the depth rating.

## Verdict

The Kamasu does what the best value watches do. It spends its budget on the parts that make a dive watch work, a sapphire crystal, a screw-down crown, a 200m rating and a tight accuracy specification, and it economizes where the cost is easiest to accept. The bracelet is basic, the reserve is short and there is no ISO certification, and buyers should know all three before they order.

At $375, though, few watches in this price range cover as many of the essentials. For most people who want a mechanical dive watch to wear every day, the Kamasu, or its Mako-3 sibling, is the one to buy.

Prices are US dollars as charged by the maker at publication. Verify specifications with the manufacturer before buying. Editorial policy: https://wristmetric.com/editorial-policy/