Orient Mako II Watch Review - The BEST automatic watch under $200?

Case

The Orient Mako II is comprised of solid 316L stainless steel housed in a 41.5MM case. The case thickness comes in at 13MM while the wingspan is a relatively respectable 47MM. I really like these dimensions and they do fit well on my 6.5” wrist. In terms of finishing, it is okay but nothing luxurious. The flanks are highly polished while the lug tops remain matte brushed still. It definitely has a submariner feel and style, well who wouldn’t take notes from the most popular dive watch in the world? A nice feature is the 200M of water resistance along with a polished screw down caseback and crown. I feel for the $150 pricepoint - it definitely gives $200-$300 watches a run for their money when it comes to the overall feel and fit and finish.

Dial

A typical 12-6-9 orientation is used on the Mako II, minus the 3 which is replaced by a day/date window. I feel they honestly should of cut out the daydate feature and made the watch a bit more clean and symmetric. Although useful - it kind of ruins the clean orientation something like my no date submariner exemplifies beautifully. In terms of colour, the dial is matte black covered by a Mineral crystal. Now, I am not a HUGE fan of Mineral crystals and much rather prefer a nice piece of sapphire - but at this pricepoint I honestly cannot complain. If you really want a sapphire crystal on the Mako II, they do sell aftermarket crystals which you can replace yourself. The arabic numerals and the markers are all applied and filled with some type of green luminova which definitely does the job at night - but cannot compare to the Lumibrite seiko uses on most of their sport models. Getting to the hands...they are swordlike and most definitely proportionate and legible at any given angle. As for the seconds hand , a nice red arrow tip really pops and gives the Mako II a splash of color which is definitely needed on this semi bland dial. Lastly, a dive watch enthusiasts favorite aspect is the bezel action of course. I mean, what would we play around with while working a desk job if we didn’t have a 120 click unidrectional bezel? It works, but is a bit hard to grip at some angles even with the slight cutouts on this downward sloped bezel. The insert is standard aluminum with a lumed pip, and yes I would of preferred ceramic...but cannot complain for the price!

Movement

The In-House Orient automatic calibre in this model
is none other than the F6992. It holds a 40 hour power reserve and 22 jewels. The movement does beat at a slower rate than something like a 6R15 at 21,600 BPH. In terms of accuracy, they are actually quite accurate and mine has been gaining around 5 seconds a day out of the box. ( Orient states +-15/Day ). One negative aspect would be the hand slightly gritty hand winding via the crown.

Bracelet

A rather finely brushed oyster style solid steel 22MM bracelet is standard across the Mako and Ray lines of dive watches. I actually think the bracelet is quite well constructed and does not feel cheap in hand at all. The end links are
hollow and we are using the pin system here to remove links which is pretty typical of a watch below $200. I can definitely say it IS a higher quality bracelet than the stock SKX bracelets, and even most Seiko 5 bracelets on their cheaper models.

Conclusion

Furthermore, the watch isnt 100% perfect in a few ways such as the gritty crown winding and the hollow end links. However, this is most definitely not a breaking point for me at this extremely affordable price
of $150 USD. I do believe the case build
and construction does mimic some watches in the $200/$300 price range which is really outstanding. I love the fact they use their own in-house movements and they perform excellent from my past experiences with two other Orient timepieces. Thanks for taking the time to read and please check out my YouTube channel
​for the full Hands-On review.