Review: Origo Granite Peak series Field Watch

Origo has a few different lines of watches, all designed with specific sports in mind. Their Granite Peak series is for the outdoor adventurer, weather it’s hiking, mountaineering, or climbing. The Granite Peak Field watch is one of their sleeker designs, combining functionality and style.

First impressions of the watch are that it’s very solid; the face is housed in a black stainless steel casing, giving it some heft (and weighing in at 140 grams). For a watch that will be seeing some adventure, this is great. Although the strap is made of rubber, it’s thick and sturdy, and any extra length doesn’t flop around because of the integrated locking tab. However, be careful to keep the rubber strap out of contact with bug spray or sunblock, which can cause the material to deteriorate.

Besides the standard Time mode, the Granite Peak series features Compass, Barometer, Altimeter, Altimeter Data, Chronograph, Chronograph Data, Dual Alarms, and Timer modes, as well as a very bright backlight and water resistance to 50 meters. In the main display mode (Time), you can view the time, day and date, weather forecast icon, battery meter, and ambient temperature (though the temperature is really only accurate if worn on the outside of your clothing–if worn on your wrist, it reads about 10-15 degrees warmer than actual air temperature).

One really nice feature is the easy transition to the Altimeter and Compass modes. With the press of one button (Start/Stop for Compass or Reset for Altimeter), your current altitude and compass direction will display on screen for about 10 seconds before returning to Time mode. Adjusting the altimeter and compass are a simple procedure, so fine tuning on the trail is not a problem. If you have to flip through the modes manually, it’s easy to return to the Time screen by simply holding down the Mode button for a few seconds. However, the best feature in my opinion is the Key Lock, which prevents you from accidentally accessing power-hogging modes like the Compass. I loved this feature not only for the power-saving benefits, but also for those times when a button unknowingly gets bumped and you later look down to see that the chrono has been running for the last 2 hours.

After testing the watch on a few hikes, overall, I found it to be quite accurate in both the Altimeter and Compass modes. The Compass mode alone has a few features: bearing adjustment and locking, and an adjustable declination angle. The Altimeter Data mode tracks the last 8 hours of elevation change, and features an elevation lock (for locking the elevation overnight in camp to eliminate slight elevation changes caused by air pressure changes). Even the Weather Forecast feature (which displays small icons on the main screen) was fairly accurate after the initial calibration.

It’s durable and performed well on the trail, plus, it has a sleek design to boot, making it perfect for the trail and the office. The Granite Peak series Field watch retails for $230.