From Part A
CITIZEN ECOZILLA
The watch was bought from a dealer in Hong Kong at a very good price. I am happy in that sense and have no complaint whatsoever. I choose expedite delivery and it arrive on time. Brilliant.
However though, my earlier worries seem right now. Indeed the watch look smaller than it is. Standing at 48mm diameter, the watch has a huge bezel (I have never seen a bigger bezel than this) that makes up the sizes. In actual fact, the black dial is only probably about 20 mm (just guessing). In which on my hands, it look small, but slightly bigger than its cousin ORCA. However should mention that the case like ORCA is really thick….super thick even for my standard and much thicker than ORCA itself. but I love it…
Build wise, it is genuinely brilliant. The titanium case feel sturdier than the ORCA, I especially love the matt color of the case and bezel. It looked stunning. Marking of PROFFESIONAL DIVER’S 300M and TITANIUM on the outer ring (outside the bezel) add class to the design. The ring has some grip on the side and I read it on a forum that you can actually pull that out to clean it up.
The crown is on the left hand side in which I don’t really know why…For watches like Graham, they make it on the left side as the crown is really huge and some watches create right hand side crown for lefty as well..however, this watch…has a tiny miny crown, which rather odd comparing to the bulk size of the case (which still rather look small to me…sigh…) therefore I don’t understand the need for a left hand side crown. …the screw down crown , also like ORCA a tad too small and not easy to handle…perhaps they purposely do that so that the diver, whilst underwater would not accidently turn it and allow water to come in. One design failure would be, I think if the crown is unscrewed, you would not notice it due to the design of the shoulders of the crown….same goes with ORCA…so gotta be carefull on that
The bezel design , also like ORCA is simply outrageous…The best bezel I have ever seen so far and truly an original design…a similar DNA shared with ORCA You can find bulging contour and obvious concave “drain” in between bulging part. Also seconds marking in ten’s to allow divers measure elapsed time with the help of unidirectional bezel. However, now unlike the ORCA who has great grip on the bezel with the help of the bulging geometry, the ECOZILLA suck…There isn’t sufficient space available and no grip at all…it is so difficult to complete a rotation. I don’t know if that is just me but really, that part is really suck…now the trick, which may coincide with intended use of the watch (a diver’s tool) , you should put your palm on the bezel and turn it, instead of using fingers. Now imagine you as divers with gloves and all, it is actually easier to rotate by palms than finger, however with palm as well, it is slightly hard to get accurate rotation as you can’t see when you turn it…..
The black dial, with hour marking and date display at 3 o’clock placed deep down in the case…The distance from the dial to the glass is rather quite a distance as compared to other watches. On the other notes, the second and hour hands are painted white whilst the minute hand is in orange. All hands come with illumination paint coating. Together with lume painted on the hours marking, creating a brilliantly bright lume, if before I am bit frustrated with ORCA lume, the ECOZILLA offered much better lume experience….awesome
Strap made of beautiful black rubber which is soft and makes your watch wearing experience feel comfortable. Despite the size and the weight, I personally don’t feel it there. It come with titanium buckle and surprisingly a titanium made , that thing I don’t know what we name it…that thing we have on strap , that ensure the strap excess after the buckle stay on the rubber …what you call that
Mini belt ? I don’t know….actually only now I notice I don’t know what you call that thing…normally for most strap, that part made of same material of the strap…rubber to rubber, leather to leather…but kindda nice to have it made match the case, and buckle….
But one thing that killed me…like the ORCA…the second doesn’t align with the second marking…..arghhh…luckily I am going to meet my sifu Mr. Duniajam soon and he might be able to help. Let just see how it goes…
Against ORCA, this watch could dive deeper…100 meter deeper to be accurate. The 300m rated divers watch is suitable for all type of diving, including the saturation diving which involve gasses like helium. It is also ISO certified in which you can brag along as the owner (yeah like I ever going to dive that deep……) Couple with anti magnetic to 4800 A/m it is a perfect tool for a diver.
On different note, I read in several forums complaining about some design failure for diving…yes it could withstand the pressure and all, however the small gap in between bezel, outer ring and body could allow mud and dirt trapped and the bezel could get stuck and you cant turn it while you are in the water…Again as I mention earlier, it is rather hard to turn the bezel , and if you are underwater and something got in between….you wish you could slap the designer there and then….hehehehhe
Some information on the watch abilities are clearly indicated at case back of the watch. Here you would find two layer of case back opening, in the middle is the case back opening, for the movement, whilst the other one at the outer part, which look like a ring, is screwed down. I am not particularly sure why they have both, but I assume the other would be to enable us to change the rubber strap since it is fixed to the body and not relate to water resistant issue. I have seen some custom made lug extension which I plan to buy soon to allow different type of strap fixed, and I believe installing will involve removing that part. Also, great design on the bezel with all sorts of info, batch number and great logo in the middle.
All in, I would rate the watch 8 out 10,…I would have rate it 10-10 if not for it small look which bother me a lot.
ORIENT MAKO II[/b][/u]
I have been thinking about MAKO for quite a while, in the same time eyeing the Invicta Pro Diver as both look quite a like…a very common design, practiced and perfected by numbers of watch manufacturer. The design made popular by Rolex and probably Omega too…and from there variation of design mimicking both, applied by numerous manufacturer…From the swiss like EPOS to Japanese like orient and Seiko. It is all almost identical in design with slight variations here and there…Despite that, to accuse the MAKO for not being original is not right either…..and here is my story
I choose the black dial MAKO with black bezel. There a few others option like the blue dial, the orange dial (which seem rather limited) and the pepsi theme bezel. In that sense, I guess I am more conventional, and since this is my first purchase of rolex-ish, or omega-ish design, I decided that I should choose the black color.
The case stand at about 45mm with solid 316L stainless steel construction. Orient play around with brush finishing on top, and polished finishing on the side that gave different contour look that look great. The 60 clicks uni directional bezel, seem a bit hard to rotate, but has sufficient grip. Therefore over time I am sure once it start loosen up the tight grip, it will get easier. Stainless steel bracelet come with again brushed finishing on top, and polished finishing on side. The clasp come with safety feature to avoid accidental opening. Nothing much I should explain about the design as it is indeed an old school design.
However to go details on the build quality
a) The watch is quite heavy
b) The shining bezel add class to the watch appearance
c) The dial is actually matt black..which rather good for absorbing a bit of light and less reflection…this is good since the glass I believe do not have AR coating but it doesn’t gives too much reflection
d) I love the numbering on the bezel. It look nice and gives character to the look
e) The Gap between case and bezel is acceptable. And it is closely attached. (Last night a friend told me that even Sinn watch was seen with lesser quality on this part)
f) The gap between lug and bracelet is close enough. I love that., however on the bottom lug, the gap on left side between lug and bracelet is smaller than on the right. And when you put it on, that is the most noticeable part of the watch from your eyes. So I don’t quite appreciate the unevenness
g) I would appreciate if the screw down crown at 3o’clock has lesser gap to the body
h) There is additional button at 2 o’clock to help user advancing the day, date controlled by the main crown
i) Upon arrival, (in which I bring along my resizing kit with me today) I resized the bracelet, and remove 4 links. And that is just nice for my wrist. You know sometime you have problem, one less is too tight but one more is too loose…not this one for sure.. ?
j) For some reason, the glass and bezel got smudge with oil and finger print too easily…Even small residue gives “comot” effect…now what is that in English
Now focusing our thought about the movement, against INVICTA Pro Diver be it the 8926 (Japanese Movt) or 9937 (Highly rated Selitta 28,800 Bph that create nice swooooooshing second hand movement) the Orient Mako II is far more interesting as they proudly develop their very own in house movement. Now, if they are SWISS brand, in house movement translated into whopping price that should scare the “shite out of me” but Orient being orient, they are not about big reputation (Despite their King Divers selling at 3k++ ) they are about the people brand…production for the masses…
Despite that, they take movement making into serious considerations. It is a mechanical caliber Orient 46943 movement, 21 jewels with day and date. It beat at 21,600 in which good enough to give you smooth movement, but may not be as smooth as the selitta 28,8000 (required citation) Unfortunately there is not glass display at the back so I can’t have a peek on the movement. .
You can’t hack and hand wind the movement (which is norm for most seiko’s anyway) and power reserve reported to be at region of 40hrs ++, since you cant hand wind it is rather difficult to give it a proper test. The rotor work both way, so that is good for building up the power reserve and you don’t have to worry about you watch went dead in the middle of board meeting. Now another interesting part, unlike most movements, the orient come with quarter size rotor in which lighter, and easy to move to wind the movement. I have read reviews on the forum recording accuracy of -2 to +5 sec / day in which is within COSC specification. Now considering the amount I paid, this is a real jewel from the east. However take note it is not COSC certified as I believe the certification would bring up the price of this watch, something most wish not to happen.
In the end I think it is a fair watch, for what you paid for with great movement. Slap some swiss brand I am sure tit will cost much more. Perhaps I personally think that this Orient is a bit better than the EPOS 3396…well at least to me
So that is that, my short reviews on the three I bought with no hesitation, and adding up my small collection. And in a way I guess I could wrap up my watch collecting journey for 2010. With 11 new possessions this year (well I am sure, I doubt I would acquire anything anytime soon.
