Fully lumed, in-house and 44.5 mm of beast: the Mako XL glows like nothing else, if you can live without a pip
Attempt number two, bros
Storm Dennis is lashing the potholes outside, my lack of an editing suite is becoming ridiculous, and I've tried to review this watch before and failed. Not tonight. Tonight it's the Orient Mako XL, and it's a strange piece and a wonderful one. Many bewitching and beguiling elements make it quite a wonderful time lord. Let's take her off the cushion.
Made in the house, all of it
First up, the 46943 in-house Orient calibre. Orient makes everything in the house: bezels, cases, bracelets, casebacks, lugs, spring bars, even the movements. Seiko does it, some of the Swiss do it, but at this price you won't find it anywhere else. 21,600 beats per hour, three hertz, 21 jewels, 40-hour power reserve.
Sadly it won't hack and it won't hand wind. You can unscrew the crown as long as you like, and it pops out with a lovely springiness, but it won't wind. It's an old watch now. Let's not worry about it too much.
The bezel, and the thing it's missing
Flat mineral crystal, and the bezel stands maybe half a millimetre proud of it. That bezel turns exquisitely well. Back play? There's almost none. Good and clicky. Very nice. But no lume pip. Not even a triangle. You're left with a bare 60-second marker, and that makes it very difficult to use this watch for any kind of timekeeping exercise at all. The properness is not saluted.
Fully loomed. What do you think about it?
Orient made the XL because Mako fans wanted a bigger one, and swapped the regular Mako's rectangular indices for triangulated applied ones. You can get it in black, blue, green bezel on black, orange bezel on black, and this: the fully loomed yellowy-cream dial. The best one, in my opinion. Framed date window with beautiful illuminations around it. Absolutely proper.
Then the loom shot. The other twerp on my wrist has its little slivers of loom. Next to the XL there's no comparison. None.
Case, bracelet, beast
Polished flanks on a rather thin case, and the lug tips are brushed and bevelled, which the more expensive Kamasu doesn't have. A nice touch from Orient. Bevelling is always important. Look at these tips.
The bracelet is decent enough: push pins, three micro adjustments, no diver's extension, which doesn't matter because non-ratcheting extensions are pointless anyway. But there's no escaping the hollow end links, and that stamped clasp needs getting rid of immediately. On the beef wagon he's a beast. 44.5, so not small. The little 38 mm wizard on my other wrist makes the comparison stark.
Verdict
Beautiful piece. No pip, no hacking, hollow end links, but that in-house movement, that bezel action and that fully loomed dial make it absolutely proper. That's all I have to say, and I won't be making any more attempts at reviewing this watch. Stay freaky. Geth is for the beeeech.
