Win it: The New Orient Mako USA Automatic

Orient Mako USA White, Blue, or Black Dial – $225

The new Orient Mako USA is the best of both worlds. Or, the best of three worlds, with a couple of upgrades not formally seen on those other horological planes of existence.

Right. Here’s what that means…

The original Orient Mako has been Orient’s flagship diver forever. Their Ray came along as an option for those who didn’t love the 12, 6, and 9 arabic numerals on the Mako’s dial. Yet not everyone loved the circle & trapezoid indice combo on the Ray, and a few of us would have preferred something a little more symmetrical. (We were the anal-retentive types in Kindergarten who preferred to organize our blocks into different piles by shape. DO NOT MIX THE TRIANGLES AND RECTANGLES.) Enter the Mako XL, which nailed the symmetry thing, but was just too big on many a wrist.

The Orient Mako USA takes the best of the Mako, the Ray, and the Mako XL, then adds a Sapphire crystal and solid end links. All while sticking with a tried and true in-house automatic movement, as well as the substantial 200m water resistance.

At 41.5 mm in diameter, it’s the same size as the original Mako and Ray. It’s more of a classic diver size compared to the over-sized watches of the 21st century, but it does wear a tad smaller. So if you’re a big dude, you might want to still stick with the XL.

Gone are the Arabic numerals of the Mako, and the indices are much more streamlined compared to the Ray. The Mako USA’s dial is probably most similar to the Mako XL, only the Mako USA looks less cluttered, with the hands not getting lost among the indices.

The bracelet is perfect. The links are a matte, brushed stainless steel, and their good-sized width avoids the jewelry-tendencies of the smaller, more delicate links found on other watches. The solid end-links (the part where the spring bars go through) keep the band nice and tight to the case. No rattle here, and the heft of the watch, overall, is a plus without being too heavy.

Movement is the same in-house movement they’ve always used. The Orient Automatic 46943 doesn’t hack, doesn’t hand-wind, and does require a day changing button/plunger at 2 o’clock, but oddly enough that extra knob makes it look a little more sporty. That button, just like the main crown, screws down to keep the water resistance at 200m.

Available in a black, white, or blue dial, the new Mako USA is actually priced UNDER the original Mako, and Ray, and lists at $225. But… there’s some obvious retail slight of hand going on here, since these new Mako USA models appear to be excluded from all codes. And you can usually pick up a Mako or Ray from a 3rd party for the mid $100s.

The tweaks they made were small. And the power-plant at its core is still the same. But those slight shifts in design, plus the sapphire crystal might make more than a few skip waiting around to see if these eventually come up for a code, or end up on sale on Amazon. It looks the part and then some, and feels like it could handle the substantial abuse that dive & sport watches should be able to take.

Enter here to win the brand new Orient Mako USA Automatic seen in this post. Deadline for entry is 12:59 PM ET on 7/23/15. Many thanks to Orient for providing their newest diver for a giveaway.

UPDATE: Congrats to Vince W. who won the drawing for this white dial Orient Mako USA. Thanks once again to Orient for sending along the watch for a review and then allowing us to pass it along in a giveaway!