Manufacturer:- www.theorb.co.uk
Purchase Price :- $280 / £150 http://www.xe.com/ucc/ c/w charger, Tritium and extra cells
Size:- 48mm long, 20mm Diameter
Weight (With Batteries):- 60g (2 1/8oz)
Battery Type / Qty :- 1off 4.1V 300mAh CR2 Lithium-Ion Rechargeable.
Battery Life :- 12 Minutes (But what a bright 12 Minutes!) Much longer on Low, Not Tested this yet
LED Type :- 1off Luxeon III LED bin TW0J
Rated Output:- 60-70 Lumens
Estimated LED Lifespan:- Over 100000 Hours
LED Colour :- White
Working Temperature :- Not Known
Lens Material :- Glass with antireflective coating
Optics :- 20mm Reflector turned down to 18mm
Electronics:- Simple resistor two stage switch
Body Colour :- Silver (No not just the colour but actually made from)
Body Material :- Solid Sterling Silver
Finish :- Bare polished Silver
Seal Type :- None (Don't get it wet)
Depth Rating :- Probably not!
Manufacturers Guarantee:- 1 Year

I am not going to repeat all the stuff from the original ORB 3W Raw review. Please go and read that first. :-)

This is a development of the Orb 3W Raw into a fine piece of flashlight art!

But not only has the body material changed into a precious metal other improvements have also been made.

The first battle you have to face is opening the package and facing the hoards of marauding white balls. As mention by the excellent torchreviews.net these need to be handled with care as they could take over the world! LOL

I bought the complete package so I go a Nano charger and an additional RCR2 cell which was dead on arrival :-(. But I am sure that Orb will sort me out a replacement.

Your next challenge will be to lift the Orb Silver off the table. I hope you have all been doing your weight lifting. LOL

The Silver Orb weighs in at an impressive 60g or 2 1/8 oz. That may not sound like much. But when it is contained in a package this small it feel reassuringly heavy. I love the extra weight. It really feels like an expensive item (which it is). The colour is different to the aluminium version. It seems to have a richer smoother shine to it. Most probably because the aluminium one is not polished. :-)

In addition to the extra weight the silver body is a fantastic conductor of heat and electricity.

Here are the figures for Silver

Electrical Conductivity 63 10⁶/(m*ohm)

Thermal Conductivity 429 W/(m�K)

Here are the figures for Aluminium

Electrical Conductivity 37.7 10⁶/(m*ohm)

Thermal Conductivity 237 W/(m�K)

So you can see that Silver is an excellent choice for conducting power to the LED and transmitting the heat away from it. But I would hate to ask how much a Surefire U2 sized version would cost! Eeek. You would also have a serious weight problem on a larger design.

Operation is similar to the original Raw but this light has a new trick up its sleeve. Two stage switching! At last no longer will your friend be amazed at the full output only to laugh at you when you tell them it only last for 12 minutes. Now you can have a light that amazes people but that is also reasonably useful as a longer running light. Not that I'll be maintaining by car with it.

To switch on the light in low power mode twist the two half's together until it lights up. For full power operation twist a little bit further. Simple and easy. Nothing to remember or program or push, press, click, read manual, repeat, sit down, read manual again. HELP!

So great as a gift to someone who is not a self confessed flashaholic or techno geek!

The body and tail of the light are both fully hallmarked. As I am not a jeweller I only have the power of the internet at my fingertips.

These lead me to the following conclusions.

cb - this is the makers mark

925 - this is the silver content of the metal (I.E. Sterling Silver)

The Lion Rampant - for Sterling silver in Scotland

The Castle - for Edinburgh

f - date code for 2005

So when your distant relatives attend the antiques roadshow in a couple of hundred years. Hopefully they can be bowled over when the expert tells them this strange silver object that takes illegal batteries is worth 2 million pounds. (When the average wage is 10 million a week). Hopefully at least they will know how old it is and who made it!

The tritium vial in mine is a fetching shade of Blue. This is way dimmer than the green version though. But still perfectly visible in a pitch dark room.

In use the beam is actually slightly whiter (tending fractionally towards blue) than my U-bin version. I'll do some tests and beamshot's once it get dark! 2:00PM and counting. LOL

It just needs a nice custom made leather pouch now. Or hopefully the Victornox one when they get here.

P.S. I love the anti battery rattle device. It made me smile.

Here are the stats for the LED:-

Lumileds Luxeon III LED

T=67.2-87.4 Lumens
W= 6050K Colour Temperature Tint White
0= 6050K Colour Temperature Tint White
J= 3.27-3.51Vf (Forward Voltage)

Now I am going to tempt fate and ask if a 18 carat gold version could be made? I would also want a POP2 driver and a few O-rings. :-) Just give me plenty of warning so I can save my torch tokens up for it.

UK Dealers

www.theorb.co.uk The Manufacturers website

More info this and other lights here

www.candlepowerforums.com