Orphic Project 0: Wandering Through Time & Space

Jilliano Romano
1 day ago
4 min read

In watchmaking, heritage matters. Whether we are conscious of it or not, the fact that Blancpain has been making watches since before the American Declaration of Independence makes a difference. This is why microbrands typically struggle with establishing a strong value proposition over brands like Hamilton, Tissot, and others who have decades - if not centuries - of history to vouch for them. As a result, most microbrands tend to compete over price - i.e. offering incredible prices for watches below what these mainstream brands would typically offer. Other microbrands try to compete by creating something entirely unique - something that you can’t just walk into any boutique to add to the collection.

Orphic Watches, like Christopher Ward with their Bel Canto, has somehow managed to combine both things with Project 0: a Wandering Hours Watch inspired by the James Webb Telescope. This is an initial review, but a more in-depth review will be coming soon. Additionally, this is a prototype watch, not the final product.

Orphic Project 0 Wandering Hour Photo by Jay DangHorology The Watch Brief — Photo of Orphic Watches by Jay (Dang Horology)

Orphic’s History

Orphic is not just a new microbrand entering the Kickstarter scene. It is actually the sub-brand or the “Special Projects Division” of the Hong Kong-based microbrand Selten. Founded by Leonard Tsai in the early 2020s, Selten (meaning “Rare” in German) has made a name for themselves by creating high-quality, beautifully designed watches at prices that are closer to a Seiko 5 than the thousand dollar watches they are directly competing with. This begs the question: why not just release it under Selten? While it may not yet be a household name, most watch enthusiasts who are just as passionate about microbrands as they are about mainstream brands are already aware of Selten’s meteoric rise in the industry. It would be easier to simply release Project 0 as a new collection within Selten.

But this is not about what is easier, or what is more convenient - it’s about what suits the brand. Selten, whether it’s their Grand Feu Enamel or their bronze divers, have gorgeous, yet more traditionally designed watches in the sense that the cases and the movements all have common precedents. For the Project 0 lineup with the Wandering Hours movement, a completely unique case, and a source of inspiration that’s more futuristic than any non-smart watch I’ve seen, it would have been incongruous to release it under Selten.

Orphic: Futuristic Horology

Instead of a handset for the hour, minutes, and seconds, the three available models - Void, Nebula, and Stardust - feature three rotating discs that have been designed to resemble the reflective solar arrays of the James Webb Telescope. These rotating discs are engraved with four numerals, and the current hour will be shown on the window or windowpane at the top, while the minutes are depicted with a minute track, which the hour-numeral will point to from left-to-right over the course of the hour.

This layout may be complicated to comprehend without seeing in action, but on the wrist, it becomes quite intuitive, and easy to read. I will note, however, that if you wear this often enough, it may be a bit of a shock to the system to suddenly switch to a traditional three-hander.

Once again, Orphic could have very easily gone for a more traditional movement - after all, this is a modified 9039 Miyota movement - that anyone can read or understand without explanation. But, that’s simply not the point of this collection. The Wandering Hours movement is meant to challenge our perception of time, how it is depicted on a watch, and evoke the scientific complexity of the satellites, telescopes, and even space stations that float around our planet. Watching the way the discs rotate around in real-time is an awesome sight.

All three models have a backdrop featuring a starry expanse, incredibly bright SuperLuminova, and a stainless steel case that has alternating brushed and polished surfaces that make it unique. It is clear even from the pictures that the case is not some random off-the-shelf case that they had lying around - there was a great deal of intent in this.

The caseback showcases the custom rotor that matches the design of the rotating discs, as well as heat blue screws on the movement itself. All in all, it is an eyecatching, beautiful watch to have in the collection (although I had it on loan for the purposes of this review).

Not Another Kickstarter Watch

Due to some unfortunate bad apples here and there, a “Kickstarter” watch has some negative connotations, which is unfortunate, as I have found some true gems across this popular crowdfunding platform. However, any worries - justified or not - about this being a faceless and thoughtless brand that’s just launched on Kickstarter to milk money immediately dissipates after simply scrolling through the campaign page. For everything that I just mentioned, it is possible to get your very own Orphic - Nebula / Stardust / Void for 549 USD (39% Off its future MSRP).

Just like with Selten, the value and the quality far exceeds its actual selling price. At the time of this article’s publication, there are over 140 backers, and there are still 18 days left in the campaign period, so there is more than enough time if you are interested.

A huge thanks to Leonard Tsai of Orphic and the rest of his team for letting me review this watch. Additionally, I would like to thank Jay of Dang Horology for personally sending the watch to me, and for providing the amazing photos in this article.

Learn more by checking out the following link to their Kickstarter campaign: Orphic Kickstarter.