It’s not an overstatement to say the 1959 Laurel Alpinist is among the most important watches in Seiko’s long and distinguished history. Designed in the 1950s for Japanese mountaineers, the Alpinist was created to be as tough, reliable, and functional as anything in an adventurer’s rucksack, with a screw-down case back to keep out dust, a sturdy leather calf strap to protect the case from sweat, and a set of luminous indexes and hands for optimal legibility. Over time, like all great sports watch designs, the Alpinist was adopted by a wide range of wearers, and it proved equally useful as a stylish urban accessory and a rugged mountaineering tool. In 1995, Seiko added an inner rotating compass bezel controlled by a second crown, which allows the wearer to easily find the cardinal directions. (In the Northern Hemisphere, while keeping the watch’s dial level, point the hour hand in the direction of the sun. Then turn the compass bezel so that the “S” marker is halfway between the hour hand and 12 o’clock.) It has since become the Alpinist’s signature feature.