Defective screw-down crown. It appears to be one of the common problems to watch out for with the Rays and Makos. WAY too stiff to operate properly and as a result you are really never quite sure it's seated to the case tube and properly water resistant. I returned mine.  I'm baffled at the lack of quality control, perhaps the spike in demand from Youtube positive exposure has caused them to drop the ball?  I am quite familiar with how a screw-down crown should operate, and one occurrence doesn't make for a trend, but this seems to be a common complaint.  I reached out to the largest seller of this watch (besides Amazon) on the internet, he's seen the problem too. Orient, are you listening?