Orient Diver Watch Mako XL CEM7500

Orient Watches will be celebrating their 60th year on July 13th 2010. A company having those years of experience in watchmaking is quite unknown to the normal watch user, except if you are talking to WIS like me. But I'm not gonna talk about the 60th anniversary edition watch, we are here look at new diver model OEM7500 or otherwise named as Mako XL, Big Mako, New Mako or hogrider.

This model was released about early half of 2009 or that was the time I first saw it in watch forums. This belongs to Orient's diving sports category alongside the mako and the ISO rated 300M diver. So here's my take.

The case of the watch is a combination of polished and brushed finish stainless steel. It's 44.5mm wide which is bigger that its older brother mako to which I can say was one of the reasons I got this one. That size and finish really held on to me and just stuck on my wrist from the moment that sales lady made me try for size. It's big, but it doesn't shout loud. It's not a thick watch to with respect to the ratio of how big the case is, that is why it just sits firmly to your wrist, like a baby firmly sleeping in Dad's arms. The bezel is likewise well done. That improved big numbers on the insert and the grip for 60 click diver feel. Bad though is it has no lume pip on the 60. Well this is not an ISO rated diver though, I myself am also not a diver by any certification available, so I guess it did not bother me. The 200m WR i guess won't be really for open diving or saturated diving, just for casual swimming by the pool or beach. As they said, this is a cocktail or desk diver.

Movement is from the highly dependable and efficient 46943. I believe came from the 7000 series movement from Seiko way back in 60s, its the "if it ain't broken, why fixed it" movement. And I like it that way, its like having an old dependable VW beetle in your driveway but its just been built off the shop floor. A touch of heritage and history but still new for you to make your own.  Absolutley digg it. The movement is the basic automatic winding system with no handwinding or hacking. It has the easy quick-day function through the push of the tiny button on the 2 o'clock marker.

Casebacks. I personally love casebacks. When eyeing or trying out a watch, the caseback is the next thing I'd look at after studying the dial, the hands, bezel and everything in front. I don't know why but something in the caseback makes me feel like looking on the engine of the car, especially for clear casebacks. So for this watch, it has that nice and elegent Orient Automatic Emblem that is just perfect for the brand. It shows also the model number and case numbers but unfortunately, it doesn't have serial numbers like Seiko where you can refer when the watch was produced. Its also a screw down caseback as customary for diver style watches.

The dial on this model is black, though it comes with the bright blue and orange but those colors on watches aren't just for me. Its just either black, white or grey/silver. Well the dial is quite decent and formal, it has big hour markers with that nice Orient Emblem and that 'Automatic' and 'Water Resist' font just makes it somewhat grand. The lume though is the weakest thing on this watch. I mean, my 14 year old Seiko shines brighter than this one.

The hands are quite unique. I haven't seen this kind of arrow shaped hands in any Orient watches and in any other diver watch brands for that matter. It's definitely Orients own arrow head. The second hand has that classic look with the lume pip on the near end. But yes again, lume really sucks, so if it really bothers you, have them relumed.

The bracelet if the watch is one of its high points. It's like buffed biceps to complement and buffed chest with six pack. Its 22mm all throughout. A double push button lock clasp with that nice Orient emblem. Gotta love that emblem.

Overall, its definitley a dress/cocktail/desk diver considering the lack of true ISO diver's rating. But aside from that, its a definite beauty with superb quality craftmanship and design that is uniquely Orient that you can't deny any wrist time for years and years to come.

Nautica Chronograph Watch N17541G

Okay okay so I was never a fan of designer watches...watches from designer brands that would be known for selling other items such as clothes, apparel, or cars or food or anything for that matter aside from watches. And these brands don't even produce any timepieces, just designs em on the outside and probably puts a label on the face and lets the watch experts do the building. So you can't actually expect new watch innovations from these guys, except that they partner with a big watch brand.



Nautica watches have been around but still considered quite new. I was aware of the brand Nautica when I had some shorts with its logo on it a few years back. I saw some watches on the malls for a year or so and find them interesting, as they portray a yachting sport kind of a watch. The model I will be talking about is the Nautica Men's Chronograph under model N17541G. Well here are the horological details:

Movement: As said on the caseback, its equipped with a japanese movement. Yes that is correct, we can be assured the powerhorse is something as reliable as a honda or a toyota.



Chronograph Function: It only reads minutes and seconds sans the milliseconds that we usually find on most chronograph quartz watches. The usual dial for such is occupied by a 24 hour dial seated at the right upper corner of the watch. The chrono pushers are big and very fitting for the watch size. The start/stop function has that clicking feel to alert you the start of the function. It does not have a lap time function though for continuous timing.



Dial: This is one of the design features of the watch that caught my attention. The layout is simple with the 3 rings sitting nicely on the black dial. The date window is also something original and unique as it sweeply opens up on the 4'o clock position with a crescent style opening showing other 2 days of the current date.



Hands: I especially love the hands on this one. It sports a skeleton style hands in white for the minute and hour hand. The second hand is a full white pin shaped hand that complements the whole face. The 3 rings for the chrono, second and 24 hour dials are read through a gauge meter style hands that are thick and short.

Case: It's in all stainless steel with a screw down caseback with a nice big Nautica logo. The case is a combination of polished and brushed finish that distinguished the smooth edges and accents of the whole design. Lug width though is only 20mm which is an understatement considering the 46mm diameter of the case.

Bezel: It rotates in 120 clicks with a formal black bezel insert with 5 min interval markers. The edge of the bezel though needs a little improvement as it somewhat queer to the rest of the case

Strap: This model comes with a leather strap. Quality of strap is average. The buckle though comes nicely with Nautica name on it and has that edgy design that fits nicely with the concept of the watch. Its belt-buckle style and would be perfect if it would have been in a deployment clasp style.







What got me to get this watch was aside from bargain price for the value of the watch, was it's looks. The only cons on this is the thin leather straps and the large grip holders on the bezel. Aside from that, everything looks, feels and works great. It has that classic look that you won't grow tired off after a few years down the road when big faced watches will go out of style. It can be easily be mistaken from another watch brand. You can wear it on the office, casual or parties. Its a keeper.

Off to the waves i guess.