Dappered

Affordable Men's Style

Orient Watch Giveaway – November 2011

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The 12 Months of Orient: Mako Blue Dial Automatic – $107.50 w/ DapperedNovember ($215)

The Orient Watch Company has a dedicated following for good reason.  They’re the only watchmaker whose foundation is a wide range of incredible looking affordable automatics, & now they’ve partnered up with us to give away a different watch for an entire year.  Every month we’ll review and give away a different featured watch, plus you’ll also get a new promo code good for 50% off ANY watch at OrientWatchUSA.com for that month.

UPDATE: As of late February 2012, Orient has decided to no longer honor codes that deliver 50% off. Those codes are now worth 30% off. This is a new regulation that affects all of their promotional agreements.

It’s not often that a brand’s flagship product will also be one of its most affordable, but Orient’s Mako dive watch fills both of those roles extremely well.  This is the watch that most guys stumble across when they first hear of Orient.  Often on sale, easy to find, and at 50% off it’s one of the best values in the entire watch market.

It’s an automatic, has that undeniable dive watch look, and comes in five different dial colors and a few rubber band options.  The brushed stainless links have only a little bit of shine, and the blue on the dial is a great deep background for the orange second hand.  Features like the day & date function, rotating bezel, screw down crowns, and water resistance rating of 200m are hard enough to find on a quartz watch that costs around $100, let alone a full blown automatic.

The 41mm case wears a bit smaller than you’d think, but it certainly doesn’t look tiny on an average sized wrist.  If you’re a bigger guy that makes normal sized watches look dainty, know that they do make an XL 44.5mm option.

Don’t like the Arabic numerals?  Orient makes a very similar version called the Ray for the same price.  Both look and act like watches that should cost much, much more than their just over $100 price tag.

Here’s how to win the Mako seen here:  Send an email to contests@dappered.com with the subject: Orient November.  One entry per person.  Deadline for entry is 11:59 pm ET on 11/2/11

UPDATE:  Congrats to Andy S. who won the Orient Mako.  Half way through with six months to go…

Comments

  1. Here we go!! I lost my Blue Mako last year during a road trip. Think its time to recoup that lost. This is a very nice watch, and while Orient does have a following you’ll probably still be the only person rocking it! Now to decide if I should go with the XL option this time

  2. Pro: I love what Orient does; they’re styling, offerings, and taste are superb.

    Con: It appears they never, ever, never-ever restock some of their watches. I’m hedging my bets that Abercrombie sells pocket squares before they restock their white-faced Chief watch.

  6. I love my Black Mako. Joe is right, is does wear quite small on the wrist. I find that it has a nice weight to it, and it always looks great. The crystal is very clear and the case is sturdy and resistant.

  8. I have my eyes firmly planted on the blue Ray as my next watch. Beautiful pieces and at an amazing price!

    Cheers,
    Ben

  10. I bought this watch when Joe posted the first Orient giveaway and absolutely love it. It’s a great “everyday” watch for the usual office-types. I appreciate the classic design.  As mentioned previously, it may strike you as a little small compared to some of the obnoxiously large watches out now, but I like the understated look.  Additionally, it is pretty hefty as mentioned, so you still feel like you have on a man’s watch.

  11. You really can’t go wrong with this Orient. I have had the black faced version for a little under a year now and really like it. I got mine from Amazon for about the same price as this (see http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/B001EWEQ3A/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all photo with the blue shirt cuff!).

    I was considering switching out the metal strap for a rubber or leather one. Does anyone have any recommendations?

  12. Hmm … it seems like I may have some competition — I’ve had the Orient product page for the white-faced/leather band Chief bookmarked since May. One of these days …

  13. The Mako has a bit of a cult following among Internet watch collectors. As someone who likes sporty watches for sports and dressy watches for dressing up, the Mako has never done much for me, but I can see why so many guys like it so much.

  15. Hi: I’m not into metal bracelets on watches, so when I buy a watch I frequently get rid of whatever strap or bracelet came with it. I think a watch like this looks good with a smooth-grain leather strap with white contrast stitching, sometimes called a pilot strap. If you plan to swim or dive with it, you are probably better off with a rubber strap. Italian rubber straps tend to be of high quality (and, for some reason, smell vaguely like vanilla). There are waterproof leather straps available too.

    Check out The Watch Prince (http://www.thewatchprince.com/), Global Watch Band (http://www.globalwatchband.com/), and Holben’s Fine Watch Bands on eBay (http://stores.ebay.com/Holbens-Fine-Watch-Bands). I have purchased straps from all these sites/sellers, they sell quality products and provide excellent service.

  17. Like the passenger, I don’t care for metal bracelets either – I’ve worn a few watches on stock metal and almost invariably find a leather strap to put it on within a month or so.

    I’d recommend Hadley Roma watch straps, they seem like a pretty good value for the money and you can find them on Amazon. DeBeer has some pretty good prices on their watch straps as well, though they aren’t quite as nice.

  22. I have a Black Mako on rubber.  Would love to add a blue to my collection.  One of the best automatic watches I own.

  23. Before I knew this was the giveaway I ordered one of these for myself. It came yesterday and I’m already infatuated. I have never had an automatic watch before, and although it does not have a skeleton case back and thus, I cannot see the movement, I know it’s in there. I need to get the bracelet sized for my smallish wrist, but I brought it to work with me today in its super-deluxe case. I give it a couple of gentle shakes every 30 minutes or so to keep it going. Good luck, everyone, and whoever wins it is gonna love it.

  25. You really don’t need to shake it to keep it going. Unless you don’t move at all, your natural/regular activities should be enough to keep the watch going. On average, if you wear the watch for a day and take it off when you sleep, it should keep running for ~40 hours before you need to shake it up again.

  26. It’s just until I get the bracelet sized down so I can wear it for a full day at a time. Good to know about the 40 hr. run time — I wish it had the power reserve indicator, but I’ll figure it out.