Orient "Mako" Diver - by Leewmeister

[leewmeister]

My Orient diver arrived yesterday. Thanks, Tony. My first impression was WOW!!!


Photo by Tony Duronio


Photo by colbypaperboy


Photo by B. A. Roesner

This looks to be a heck of a watch. The blue dial is really impressive, alternating between deep royal blue - almost black - to an electric blue, depending on how it catches the light. All the markings are crisp and clear even under magnification.

I've been comparing this Orient to my 8926. The Orient case size is slightly larger by maybe a millimeter. It is much heavier than the Invicta, maybe 1.5 times. It is not as big a heavy-weight as a Tissot Seastar, but close. The bezel ring on the Orient is thinner than the 8926, making the dial face larger.

Its bracelet is even more burly than the Invicta's, if you can believe it. The Orient is 22mm at the lugs and tapers ever so slightly to 20mm at the clasp. The 8926, by comparison, is 20 mm tapering to 18mm. Button release clasp on the Orient with flip lock. No display back on the Orient, which I'm actually starting to prefer, especially when the movement is undecorated.

The crown on the Orient is far superior to my Invicta's. The Invicta always feels a little gritty and the thread tube seems short. The Orient crown is a full 5mm long and has plenty of threads on the tube to bite into. My only gripe about the crown, or the entire watch for that matter, is that it's not a winding crown. Like most Orient and Seiko autos, the only way to "wind" the watch is by shaking it.

Taking these two watches side by side and remembering that they are in the same price range, if I could only choose one I'd go with the Orient. That's not taking anything away from the legendary 8926 which I believe is a great watch value. The Orient is just that much better.

[Swiss Dade]

Nice !!!!

[Timecacher]

Glad you're enjoying your new Mako, there's a lot to love in this watch. As far as not being able to manual wind the it, I've found that the auto-wind mechanism is so efficient, I haven't missed this feature at all.

[goldie'sdad]

I've had one for a while - since I got my JSAR it hasn't had much wrist time.

Nice pickup!!!!

[ecalzo]

wow great.....

[Docrwm]

Lee,
Do you still love the Mako?

[leewmeister]

Yep! It seems like I recommend it at least twice a month.

[OGM]

This is a very nice watch!

Do you know if we can have a black one with an orange bezel.

I know they produce orange dial/black bezel, but I haven't seen any black dial/orange bezel.

Also, do you know if some company produce orange bezel to fit the black Mako?

Thanks!

[Foxglove]

I Agree! Great review.

My Orient Makos say Hi :)























~Ross

[war-eagle]

Thanks for the review. That is a very nice looking watch. I am considering purchasing one. That blue looks really good.

Question: the second hand does not appear to have any lume. Is that correct? I have read somewhere that having lume on the second hand is important b/c that allows you to confirm that the watch is still running in the dark.

[J.D.B.]

Nope, no lume on the S.H. That spec, as I recall, came from a list of what a dive watch should have to be considered "safe" for use as an actual diver. I personally don't mind that lack on mine as it never actually dives(and the rest of the lumes are short-lived, anyway). Not truly a "diver" as such, but I realy like both of mine!

Josh

[AK79]

Hey guys,

Great pics and review, thanks

In fact, I've been REALLY considering getting this watch over the past few days (the blue dial is mesmerizing)... My only concern is how does it wear size wise? I'm looking for something along the lines of the SKX009 (which I kind of regret selling a few months ago)...

To compare, I have a 7T62 which comes in a tad small at ~40mm, and a SKX375 which just seems downright tiny at ~38mm.

Thanks for your feedback, and adding to my WIS tendencies!