Orient's "Alpinist"

In 2007, Orient presented a curious model of Orient Star Sports. It looked like a GMT, but it was not. What was it then? Let's dive in and find out.

The most obvious influence that likely pushed forward this design, was the introduction of Seiko's SARB series Alpinist the year before – a watch that became an instant classic (while actually duplicating the brand's own decade-old SCVF series, or "red" Alpinist).

The Alpinist featured an internal compass bezel, rotated using the crown at 4 o'clock – that actually looked more prominent than the main crown, as it was not hiding between crown guards.

Orient's design, albeit quite different and as far away from a copy as possible, takes two key elements from the Seiko: the internal compass bezel, and the crown at four. Hereafter begin the differences.

The model had four versions, which were references WZ0071FE, WZ0081FE, WZ0091FE and – the one I am looking at now for the writing of this review: WZ0101FE. The four differed in their dial color, and in that all but the WZ0101FE came bundled with a steel bracelet, whereas the latter was sold with a leather strap.

Now, I don't usually read a watch's instructions manual unless it is particularly complicated. So when I got this watch I immediately wanted to pull out the crown and set it… so the first surprise was that it's a screw-in crown. Why was that a surprise, I don't know, it just didn't strike me as one; at the time most of Orient's crowns were just pull-out, except for the more expensive models – which this wasn't.

The second surprise was when I tried to rotate the bezel. No crown position or winding direction seemed to do that, so went online to read about the model and found out that indeed the bezel is fixed!

When you think about it, this actually makes sense. Why would you rotate a compass bezel? The angle of the North has nothing to do with the time or the dial. You can just move entire the watch around (never mind that the whole thing is just decorative and carrying an actual compass when you're out and about would probably be a lot more helpful).

But then you think some more and once again, the logic is gone. Because this watch uses Orient's caliber 46P, which drives a 24-hour hand, and was used in some of the brand's earlier GMT watches. And indeed this watch features the 24 hour hand – and its internal bezel, besides the directions of the compass, also shows the 24 hours of the day! This thing really ought to be moving! But it does not.

So I believe we have established that from a functional point of view, this watch is rather silly. I mean, not completely – it does show the time, it is rated to a reasonable 100m of water resistance and it has a front sapphire crystal. But still, there's plenty of silliness to it.

Other than that it is a very nice piece. A 39mm wide barrel case which is practically lugless makes a very wearable watch that would fit most small-to-slightly-larger-than-average wrists. The lug width is 20mm, so changing straps is easy and you can even fit a standard steel bracelet without having to find a suitable end-link.

The dial looks good, and in fact – if you ignore the functional drawbacks, the entire watch is properly handsome. The black and red combo on this reference is sporty and sharp; other variants are a little different, with the white dial version a bit more elegant and the red – maybe more "interesting".

The dial colors are also nicely contrasting, making the watch very legible. The hands and markers have a decent lume too. It's a comfortable watch, then, sufficiently durable and useful. So maybe we were a bit quick to judge its functionality harshly.

As an Orient Star, it is also well made – although the finishing perhaps is not as impressive as most current OS production. The case has radial brushing on top and polished sides, and the overall curvature of it makes it look a little more upscale than it actually is.

The bottom line is this: it is a fine little watch. It looks good and is kind of special. If only that bezel would rotate it would be so much nicer… but still, it is what it is.