bigrustypig
3T WIS
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My new arrival, the ORIENT CEM75001B is also known as the Black Mako II or HOGRIDER. With this purchase, I have gone full circle by having a watch/es from each of the Japanese Big 3: Seiko, Citizen and now, Orient. All 3, by the way, are true manufactures making 100% of all their components.
Orient is a 60 year old Japanese watchmaker with production facilities in Japan, Brazil and Singapore. Orient, believe it or not, is the largest maker of automatic watches in Japan selling about 2 million units a year. The unit I have houses a Japanese-made movement but don't know for sure if it's cased in Japan. The movement may have been made in Japan and assembled there but I have no info if it was cased there, in Brazil or Singapore. No answer to my email to Orient as of post time.
Orient was never in my radar before because my impressions were that it was cheap and was of questionable quality. But when I went to an AD looking for a Seiko that Stew77 (Chris) featured recently, this Hogrider called me...actually hollered at me and then I saw and appreciated its fine craftmanship and outright good quality. My personal comments are the tailend of this piece but meantime, here are some pics and a short amateurish review:
Here's the watch inside the box
Here's a pic with some vital statistics
Here, I feature the uncommon day changing button and the crown
Now check out the caseback. Underside of the links are polished rough. Top-side of the links enjoy a finer brushed effect.
Here is the part where I will show you the clasp with a very good logo stamp (ugly shot, though)
To prove my point, notice the excellent quality of the Orient's logo stamp and clasp when ranged against the DSSD on the left and the Sumo in the middle. The DSSD still has some protective plastic 4 months after the purchase (great plastic, right??)
Going topside, look at the bezelwork of the Hogrider vs. the DSSD and Sumo. Not bad right, except that the Hogrider has no pip at 12. ad,
Hold on...you wanna know case thickness comparisons? Well look below, the Hogrider at 13.5mm sandwiched by the DSSD and Sumo looks ok
OK, so you want to see a comprison with the DSSD's size?
OK, what about against the Sumo's dimensions?
Against the DSSD and the very similarly-sized Sumo, how does the Hogrider fare?
The mandatory wrist shots (black dial looks gray because of sunlight and the color contrast with my black pin-striped trousers)
One more?
Yet one more? I have a 6.75 inch wrist
Mandatory lume shot. This is what I don't like about the Hogrider. Lousy lume.
And here is very good lume (in blue) from the DSSD and Rolex says, deep below, blue lume is the most natural.
And comparative EXCELLENT lume from the Seiko Sumo
Did I forget something?
Things I like about the Hogrider:
1) Excellent WIS surprise for great watch quality with a very low price point (about 1/5th of the Sumo). Superb visibility and readability from all angles thanks for sure to carefully applied AR and surely just on the inside. This is not a hackable and not a winding watch but heck, who cares, most of my Seikos are the same. The highlight of this watch to me, is the excellent bezel insert. I looked at it under a 10x loupe and it is so finely made with a deep black luster and sheen even better than Rolex and Seiko. The 60 clicks on the bezel have to be so deliberate that down below, I doubt you'd accidentally move your bezel fast forward. That counts for a lot, where it counts. It's even tighter than Rolex and Seiko, any Seiko diver. That's a whole lot of safety. To me, therefore, lots of surprising quality for so little money.
2) Hefty, heavy, substantial 200m divewatch with a bezel and case dimension that will impress. The watch is like a Sumo that's been flattened by the right pounding fist of Conan The Barbarian because it sits really flat, squat and wide on the wrist, perfect for long sleeved shirts and comfortable, too, by the way.
3) More than 52 hours after my purchase, it's eeriely accurate when regulated versus 3 beacons: my Blackberry and even my Sumo and DSSD. Lost only 4 seconds in 2 days...well, too early to tell, right? I still can't believe that accuracy. Maybe in a few weeks I'll find out with more certainty.
4) Like the Sumo, there are various finishes to the watch's numerous sides, angles and curves. I think the Hogrider wants to challenge the Sumo's finishing and polish on this matter. It's a good fight.
5) Day change press button reminds me of some of my vintage Seikos and even my old Seiko Bellmatic's button profile. Something you don't see everyday.
6) They say the black Sumo is the poor man's Rolex Sub. In that case then, put this up as the pauper's Rolex Sub. So many good things for so little money.
7) The 22mm wide bracelet all the way from lug to clasp end is something perfectly balancing the dimensions of the case. Viz the Seikos and Rolexes out there with narrow 20s and 22s, this Hogrider wins the cake.
Now the bad news:
1) Some WIS have been bashing some Seikos for their sometimes cheap and clinky bracelets. Well, consider this the new whipping boy. The bracelet feels cheap and the clasp, has a hard time "going home" meaning you don't get the clicking bullseye when you close the clasp 100% of the time. Takes some time to get used to it. Oh, there's a tiny squeak, too.
2) The hands are too polite. It's like showing up for a bar room fight with everybody bringing baseball bats and you come with a belt. I would have preferred some more grit in the hands. Following that, lume is even more polite and bashful.
3) There's no pip. I always like a pip.
Overall impressions:
Definetely not my last Orient. I see myself on the prowl at ADs ready to shoot down some more. If you're idealistic and want to have your cake and eat it too, for so little money this is a lot of watch. Truly underrated and can be considered for any WIS' collection.
Thanks for viewing and reading .
Last edited on Tue Mar 30th, 2010 11:36 am by bigrustypig
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, great comment. Thanks, Natevan. 
...the detail of the commentary and excellent photos with feature highlights and comparison notes is truly outstanding!!!!
