Orient Ray - The best $150 I've spent.

I currently reside in coastal California where the beach is just minutes away. 2 years ago on a very sunny and hot day went into the water without realizing that I had left the crown half open on my Orient Mako. Salty water invaded the inside of the case in just seconds. When I realized what happened it was already too late, my beloved Mako was full of water. I went home that night and open the back of the Mako. I had no idea how to repair a watch. I took the water out and used a bottle of compressed air to dry out the movement. The next day I picked it up and shook it around and to my surprise the second hand starting moving. Two years have passed after that horrendous day and the Mako finally decided to stop working in May 2015. Rest in peace dear Pepsi Mako, rest in peace... As a watch lover, I couldn’t pass the opportunity (or excuse) to buy another beater watch. My budget was around $150. I know 150 bucks is not much but it's enough to yield a few options. First I looked at the Seiko SKX007 series. The 007 was well positioned within my budget. With a mechanical movement, Hardlex crystal and a simple and classic design was one of my top choices. My second contender would be just another Orient Mako. Just like the 007, the Mako offers an in-house movement, a day and date display and good lume. However the Mako offers something that in my opinion the 007 lacks. I am taking about a very original dial and hand design. The positioning of the Arabic numbers in the 6,9 and 12 positions along with a second crown in the 2 o’clock position gives the Mako a very unique look. The other options were some Citizen Eco-Drive, Invictas, Bulova, Casio and Deep Blue. I am going to be truly honest with you. There was always something that disappointed me about these other options. Either because they were quartz driven, too expensive or just plain ugly. So, the battle was between the Mako and the SKX007. Which one did I get? None of them! Instead I went with Mako’s little brother: The Orient Ray. The Ray has the same DNA as his older brother. They both have the same movement and the same curvilinear case. The crystal is unfortunately still the same, and is still a magnet for scratches. Yet, the Ray manages to be more refined and more adaptive to all kinds of situations. Orient focused its improvements in the hour markers, the hands and the bezel. The numbers were removed completely from the dial and the rectangular makers on the Mako were replaced by rounded and highly polished hour markers. The skinny sword-like hour hand was improved by a big fat arrowed hand that improves on readability and aesthetics. I also noticed that the lume was greatly improved and it can now compete better with the lume on other diver watches such as SKX007. The numbers on the bezel were made bigger again for visibility and symmetry. All these subtle changes make the Orient Ray a classier watch. The Ray is so good looking and so versatile that I would dare to say that if I added a sapphire crystal to the equation, I would have a perfect watch for the summer. This is a watch that you don’t have to take off on Monday morning after that weekend getaway to the coast. This is without a doubt the only diver’s watch under $150 that you wear with a suit.

SEIKO SKA371P1 - KINETIC DIVER'S 200m

Imagine for a minute that there’s a zombie invasion. The zombies are taking over the world and you are in the middle of everything. There’s no point on going to work because your boss is now a zombie, your friends and family have been infected. Even your girlfriend has been devoured by the zombies. There’s no other option, you must flee right away. There not much time and you can only take only few things with you. But wait! Where would you go? What would you put in your backpack? And most importantly, what watch would you wear? You must remember that you cannot go back home a few days later and put another of your watches! Also, you must take into consideration that the watch has to be accurate and that the zombie war may last from a few months up to a few years. The world, like you know it, has disappeared and everything and everyone you loved has been killed. There’s no electricity, no hot water and no internet to atomically synchronize your watch. I don’t know about you, but I am taking my KINETIC DIVER SKA371P1 from SEIKO. In theory this watch gives you the liberty to go years without a battery and also gives you the accuracy of a quartz. It is a very robust yet elegant SEIKO. The lumen applied to the skeleton hands and to elevated hour markers give it a sporty look. The dial has different layers that look beautiful under the Hardlex crystal. The 120 clicks of the bezel sound like a symphony and they feel very tight but easy to manipulate. The crown could be better when you compare it to a mechanical watch, but there’s nothing wrong with it. This watch has also been nicknamed Big Freaking Kinetic or BFK. The nickname seems to be very appropriate since this is a big and mostly heavy watch. The orifices drilled into the lugs are SEIKO’s way to tell you that you must use this watch with a NATO. You can kill 2 birds with one stone when you wear it with a strap. You get rid of unwanted weight and it makes the BFK more stylish. A lot of questions will be raised after reading this post. Here are some of the predictions: Why a SEIKO and not a CASIO? Well, I have always had my reservations with Casio’s resin material and digital displays. I feel like if I end up triumphant after getting rid of all the zombies, I might as well be wearing something dressier that can go with a suit and tie or tuxedo. After all, saving the earth from a zombie invasion calls for a celebration. Why a KINETIC and not mechanical? There’s something about mechanicals that captivates me. Honestly they would be my first choice for other occasions, but over time they can become very inaccurate. It is very hard to predict sunset and sunrise with a inaccurate watch. Why even wear a watch when facing the zombie apocalypse? Well, because I couldn’t live without one.