My affinity towards watches brought me across chiefly two distinct categories of people; first, the lot inclined completely towards esthetics and the second, towards functions and features. Seldom have I met them who know how to balance the two and not get led into an awkward situation. Wearing the Casio Protrek Tough Solar Triple Sensor for a formal dinner is foolish at best; so is wearing the Tissot T-One Automatic for a vacation in Miami. So one must know the significance of a particular timepiece before slamming down the money on the counter and tough as it may sound (which, it is) – to grow some sense in this department, one needs time. Sadly, that’s what most of us don’t have (especially when it comes to sit and learn), so Orient took the alternate way to make people buy the stuff with eyes sewn shut.
This they did by blending useful functionalities with quality materials and topping it up with an impeccable craftsmanship. They kept things lean, both on aesthetics and on the functions and the final outcome were great choices to suit every occasion. It’s high-end technology but would have stayed incomplete unless housed in casings that are going to last probably a lifetime.
Yet they are treasures for the common. Despite the in-house movements, the Orient watches – especially the Orient Mako Automatic Divers – are as good as any other from the top-tier luxury brands yet they come at a fraction of the cost. The value and sturdiness are same if not more and you really don’t need to rack your brains to search an occasion to wear them. Their versatility is enviable.
What’s more surprising is the Orient Mako is a series of just entry-level watches whose reputation has traveled far and wide. They keep time as good as the mechanical watches from any luxury brands with choices in urethane and rubber as the strap material. That adds to the functionalities for outdoor purposes and if you are a pro in the field, it’s all the way better. A classic example of wear and forget style watches, it’s rivaled by nothing else than by the Seiko-s. And who doesn’t know Seiko is holding the record in this department since time immemorial? Certainly this won’t bring the smile to those into atomic timekeeping, but well, no one is asking you to go bombarding while you are out on a vacation. You do not wear a mechanical, stylish beater when you are out on a mission. Consider the Casio Protrek Tough Solar Triple Sensor in that case.
