Long-Form Orphic Project 0 Review: A Timely Distraction

1,909 words
Time of writing: Monday, October 26^th, 2026

Note: My short-form review of the Project 0 can be read here.

Introduction:

Leonardo Tsai is one of those individuals in the watch industry who does not receive the amount of praise that he deserves. Recently, his collaboration with Watch Ho. & Co. has received nominations from the GPHG, but the normal consumers and enthusiasts have no clue who this man is.

Through his work with his first watch brand, Selten, he had leveraged generations of watch manufacturing know-how to bring haute-horology levels of detail and experiences to discerning buyers at the price point which is commonly referred to as entry-luxury.

In my review of the Selten M1, I went over the exacting case and dial work and how this was only made possible by a person such as Mr. Tsai. To make matters even more admirable, and adorable if you ever get to meet them, his wife, Kristine Lam, makes the leather straps for these gorgeous timepieces.

Earlier this year, when Mr. Tsai announced a Kickstarter for an entirely new project, Orphic, I jumped on as an early adopter faster than a cat blazing a trail across your single bedroom condo as he hears her automatic food dispenser turn on.

Experience:

There are a few ways I could describe the wearing experience for you quickly: otherworldly, distracting, addicting, and relentlessly joyous.

First, the otherworldly aspect. If you have not immediately recognized that this timepiece is inspired by the James Webb Telescope, then there is a good chance that I would find you incredibly dull as a conversationalist and as a person in your entirety. Seriously, read a book already. The satellite complication, also referred to as a wandering hour complication, made possible with the heavily modified Miyota 9039, has been made to reflect the mirrors used by the groundbreaking telescope.

Second, these hour and minute indicators, more on this later, float above three celestially themed dial materials. I opted for this high-quality and utterly distracting aventurine dial that mimics the cosmos as it sparkles like a dense region of space filled with stars, old and new.

Lastly, this is what has made my time with this watch utterly distracting and addicting. I cannot stop looking at this watch. There is a chance that the only cure for doomscrolling is slapping one of these watches on the wrists of the masses. No matter what the lighting condition, myself and every single person within six metres cannot stop looking at this watch. One would think that this may be annoying, but the amount of primal-magpie joy that results from every glance at this watch overrides any such concerns.

This satellite complication was popularized by Urwerk, and even laypeople look at this watch as if it belongs in a fine art exhibition in Brooklyn hosted by event organizers who have so much generational wealth that they look onto their family’s cottage home’s tiny inaccessible rooms with deeply disturbing nostalgia. Like the Selten M1, this watch is very much a work of art, and you get to be its canvas.

Outer Design Elements:

It would be easy to focus in on the dial, but the case of this timepiece levitates and brings into the focus the galactic supernova of beauty that is encased within. But before we get onto how many parts actually make up this elaborately intricate and purposefully designed case, let’s bring our attention to its finishing. The brushed bezel and lugs are finished to different tolerances. This creates several degrees of contrast, as the stainless steel variation of reflections, textures, and surprisingly colours as well as the near full visual range of spectrums make their way to your gaze. The direction and density of the brushing results in certain segments of the steel case to glisten. Because of Mr. Tsai’s attention to detail, this case has caused a severe drop in my productivity over the last few months. He should expect a bill soon.

The decision for apply these polished surfaces to areas that change their pitch relative your eys gives the timepiece a levitating presence off my wrists. When viewed from the side, you’ll quickly realize that this fully brought to bear by the polished outlining on the underside of the case. The caseback and buckle all are treated to the same level of detail. The buckle even has a dual hairline polishing lifting its most prominent section. The only surfacing that comes to mind that is more deliberate and strong is Mr. Tsai’s jawline.

This elevation is thus further supported by the near-mirror polishing on the sides. Seriously, I was not exaggerating when I said that this is a very distracting watch.

The signed crown features grooves that are ornamental and functional. Your gross, sweaty fingers will have no trouble gripping and adjusting this crown. The stem is treated with a reflective red that is repeated on the underside of the leather strap. This design detail clearly states to the operator where they should turn to if they want to change the time. Interestingly, when filling out the initial order form, customers had the choice of having the crown traditionally oriented, as seen here, or on the left side. Those of you who spend too much time on the internet reading about these things know to refer to this as a Destro crown. Please check in on your family if you knew all of the words in the previous sentence. They miss you… probably.

What truly makes this case special is that it appears to be and is made of multiple pieces. The mid-section utilizes are black metal grated material whose slats are mirrored on the bottom of the chapter ring. The lugs just fail to meet the top portion of the case giving it the impression that it is a lot more complicated than it is. One gets the feeling that Mr. Tsai went too hard on every school project growing up, making him the source of disdain of all his teachers who had to actually do their jobs in grading his work.

“I have to base the bell curve on THAT?!?” said probably his third-grade teacher looking at the subcompact car recreation he made from paper mache.

A Note About the Straps:

The initial run of the of the watch came with a gorgeous leather strap made out-of-house, and the future releases will be shipped with a black rubber strap. Ever since writing the short-form review, I fell in love with this watch so much that I bought the rubber strap in white and grey in addition to the black one.

These lovely rubber straps have a nice texture to them and bring an even more modern stance to the already avant-guard timepiece. They need to be cut to be sized, and the spring loaded clasps have two adjustment holes on each side. These straps are extremely comfortable and I highly suggest that you buy more than one to go alongside your Orphic.

Inner Design Elements:

That teacher’s ulcer would have grown tenfold if he forced was to evaluate and grade whatever is going within this timepiece’s case. Before we get to how one tells the actual time on this watch, let’s draw your attention to the cosmic background that everything floats above. Aventurine dials naturally mimic the night sky, but this is where Mr. Tsai, once again, went harder than anyone would have, or should have, asked. This man, decided to perforate this precious stone to then place it atop a fully lumed surface. That’s right, you too can have your productivity drastically reduced when the lights go out around you. Seriously, Leonardo, or Leo as your friends call you, expect a bill. The slightest change in the angle of your wrist will result in a totally different dial as it continues to dance and sparkle with all the majesty of the cosmos.

To make matters better, or worse if you are concerned about your productivity, the double-domed sapphire crystal does not have any anti-reflective treatment on the outside. This somewhat emphasizes the three-dimensional nature of this timepiece and all the structures beneath the crystal. Moreover, the reflections on the crystal make the star-like formations on the aventurine dial seem much farther away than they are in reality.

Surrounding the dial is the exalted ring, which is where the hours and minutes are housed. The tip of the hour hand that is travelling across the indices’ plane is how you tell the minutes and hour. For legibility, the hour indicator has a line placed atop. Those hour and minute indicators, along with the Webb Telescope-inspired central cluster, are all filled with copious amounts of lume, again, ensuring that you will get nothing of worthwhile done while wearing this watch long after your billable hours are finished for the day.

The hour indicators, minute ring, entire hour assembly, and even the rotor which is shaped like the hour hand structure are lumed. Mr. Tsai’s true gift to the owners was piercing the aventurine dial with prominent holes, which reveal a lumed surface underneath. This is a watch that is impossible not to love, and if you do not like it, you flatly just suck.

I can hear you and see your mouth move as you’re reading this sentence and asking, how does this movement work. To which I will most certainly reply to you: do I look like an engineer? All I can say is that this ingenious movement by Miyota is tasked with rotating the entire structure and the individual hours. The seconds hand complication has been deleted, and this is where we can see traces of Mr. Tsai’s fingerprints all over his watches. Like the M1, the urgency presented by a seconds hand has been removed, thus resulting in a more relaxed time-telling experience. Having one’s eyes grace these timepiece’s near static landscapes easily presents the owner with a continued sense of awe that never gets old, kind of like your predatory aunt’s preferences in her dating pool, which definitely has urine in it.

The only downside to this movement is its 36-hour power reserve. If you have many mechanical watches, chances are that base Eta, Seiko, Sellita and even Miyota movements have conditioned you into expecting your watches to run uninterruptedly for about 42 hours. There is a very good explanation behind this reduced power reserve, however. This movement is being asked to move around a lot more parts, which in total are a lot heavier than just the two to three hands of a traditional watch. This is a watch you will have to keep an eye on, not only to see if it is still running after sitting on your night table for more than a day, but also for its accuracy. In my example, the watch started losing time if the power reserve dropped below 60%.

Closing Thoughts:

If you should choose to buy an Orphic Project Zero for yourself, you will be treated to an unparalleled experience in wonder, joy, and unproductivity. There are so many details that have been painstakingly executed that you owe it to yourself and everyone in your environment to wear one of these. If you define yourself as a space nerd, then the sense of pleasure and gaiety from having this watch with you will be the perfect diversion from the delightful state of the world. It is easy to call all watches as works of mechanical Art (notice the capital A, off camera both of my pinkies were raised while typing that), but, Mr. Tsai has truly brought a piece of art to the public with this spectacular watch.