I’m a bit late on the scene as the limited edition Lorier Merlin has already sold out on the brand’s website, so you won’t be able to purchase one after reading this review. (Should it have convinced you to purchase one in the first place.) Alas. But I nevertheless wanted to write too many words about it because I’ve been a big fan of the New York brand since before I started Mainspring four years ago. I’ve been lucky to review many of their releases and there is another one coming out soon—stealthy spoiler alert—and writing about the Merlin will, at the very least, hopefully confirm something about Lorier which makes it stand apart from the global independent watch market: it beats at the sound of its own drum and does not dip even the smallest of toe outside its lane. In other words, it doesn’t chase what is trendy or seek to release a collection which would disrupt the industry. Instead, Lorier’s founders Lauren and Lorenzo Ortega gave themselves the luxury of doing whatever the hell they wanted. 

Ever since its inception in 2018, Lorier has embraced vintage horological aesthetics and has remained true to one of its key precepts of offering good watches at reasonable prices. With a couple of exceptions, most of their collections still retail for around $500 USD, a price-point they started with seven years ago and which they have managed to maintain ever since, narrowing down their margins in order to offer more and better things at the same price. And Lorier manages to do that even for limited edition collaborations, for example the Merlin co-designed with The Urban Gentry which retails for $549 USD and the Rambler co-designed with Janus Motorcycles which went for $499 USD. Today it is becoming increasingly difficult and rare to find well-spec’ed and thoughtfully designed watches at this price point, showing, from the financial end of things, that Lorier is consistent. The New York brand is further consistent in its design and mechanical ethos as we will see in the following paragraphs.

Specifications 

Each new year we are granted in the micro and independent watch world is another year that brings about changes. Changes in what enthusiasts demand and changes in what brands decide to give us. The trend, the thing to do, is to find ways, incredible ways, for brands to offer more and better specs for less money, and so to create spec monsters which defy the basic rules of economics. Five years ago we were content with a Seiko NH35 caliber and a flat piece of sapphire, 200 meters of water resistance, and a plain stainless steel case. Now we want three times the depth rating, a COSC-certified Swiss made caliber with 68 hours of power reserve and anti-magnetic properties, a hyper domed sapphire crystal with colorless anti-reflective coating, Damascus steel for the case with, evidently, scratch-resistance coating, and radioactive-like lume on the hands, markers, bezel, crown, and even the rotor! Because why the hell not? What do we lose in the process of this? Authenticity. And loads of it. 

In comparison, Lorier doesn’t follow the trend (of course) and endows all of its horological creations with the same balance of specs-to-price-to-design ratio which they’ve been consistent with since 2018. For example, with the exception of the Zephyr, all of their collections come with a domed hesalite crystal which has two key benefits: it adds 50% of vintage charm and aesthetics to any model, and it is more resistant to shocks than sapphire. Actually there is a third benefit which is to offer a clearer and neater reading experience of the dial which I find to be true all the time I’ve reviewed, worn, and owned a Lorier timepiece. And as you have probably heard it being said, scratches on hesalite can easily be buffed out with Polywatch and I’ve managed to make deep gashes disappear with an extra dose of elbow grease. This isn’t for everybody of course but I for one adore having this extra interaction with my watches. (I can’t interact with a sapphire crystal in this way save for removing dust particles.) 

Another area where Lorier has been consistent is with the choice of their calibers, mainly Miyota’s. The Merlin is (was?) equipped with a 90S5 (4Hz/42 hours of power reserve,) the no-date version of the popular 9015, a robust, reliable, and relatively accurate caliber fresh out-of-the-box. Lorier also typically offers 100 meters of water resistance (screw-down crown and case-back,) excellent nighttime legibility here made possible by way of extremely generous applications of Old Radium SuperLuminova on the hands and hour makers which glows green; compact modern yet vintage inspired dimensions where the Merlin clocks in at 37mm in diameter, 45mm lug-to-lug, 11mm thick (including the domed hesalite crystal,) and comes with a 20mm lug width. And today a bezel-locking mechanism which is, as we will soon see, an authentic piece of military horological history as well as being extremely well made and easy to use. As always, Lauren and Lorenzo did things the proper way and that locking mechanism is the proof. 

Design

If you were kind enough to read any of the previous reviews I’ve written about Lorier, then you already know how the brand operates to design its collections: it starts from a type of watch or genre of horology which was unique to its time, intimately tied to great adventurous spirits, some milestone in the exploration of the four corners of our planet, showcasing mankind’s bravery and romantic suicidal tendencies (in the name of science and discovery of course,) and then picks a few key references to design its model from. That is how they operate and how they have been consistently creating each and every one of their new collections. For the Merlin, Lauren and Lorenzo found inspiration in the Longines “Weems,” the Omega Mk VIIA 6B/159, and the Rolex Zerograph ref. 3346, the first two showcasing Captain Weems’ Second-Setting Watch invention from 1929 whereby the rotating bezel was used to sync the watch’s second hand to a radio signal which made it possible for them to calculate the longitude to aid with navigation. 

All of this is to say that the Second-Setting Watch was a tool watch in its purest form, a magnificent mechanical measurement piece of equipment which not only fulfilled a very specific purpose but which was also legible, nimble on the wrist, and quite gorgeous. Lorier and the Urban Gentry therefore took all of these references, threw them into a blender along with their own personal design sensibilities and horological preferences, and created the Merlin, or the watch Longines could have created a century ago but which they didn’t. And that is the power of Lorier’s consistency and loyalty towards their own creative process, which has always made for a winning recipe, as the New York brand continues to release one gem after another. So obviously here we find the rotating bezel made of brushed steel with paint-filled markers, of the bidirectional friction-fit variety, locked and unlocked by way of a 4 o’clock crown which can be operated directly from wearing the watch on the wrist as one doesn’t have to push it down to screw-it in. 

The bezel is bizarelly but positively light to use when turned in either direction, and easy to rotate thanks to a discreet yet effective coin-edge type of knurling. The time-setting crown also screws down and is of the same shape and dimension as the bezel-locking one, endowing the Merlin with a distinct vintage utilitarian vibe. (Simply said: the combo of the two crowns look badass and cool and I feel compelled to operate them more than necessary.) Moreover, the case is very much Lorier as it comes with a simple yet elegant profile, a narrow mid-case which gently arches down towards the wrist, mostly brushed finishes but delightful polished chamfers running north-south of the case. The steel between the lugs cuts straight down and appears to be swallowing the one-piece leather strap the Merlin comes with. The effect and feeling on the wrist is outstanding, as the watch is thin and moderately small, but commands a vintage military inspired presence  which I’m a huge fan of. 

In other words, it's sized like a dress watch but looks and functions like a proper tool one. 

The dial here is the icing on the cake and again, I would say very much Lorier as it clearly sits between specific historical references the brand used for inspiration and Lauren and Lorenzo’s, as well as The Urban Gentry’s, own creative sensibilities. An alternation of Arabic numerals and batons/inverted triangle make up the hour markers, which are actually made of numerous layers of luminescent material framed within the creamy dial by thin painted lines. The juxtaposition of hour markers of various shapes looks cool and makes reading the time something of a well-practiced habit, and the time-telling functionality of the Merlin is complemented by a superb set of heat-bleued hands. First, a narrow seconds hand equipped with a lumed lollipop element at its end, a syringe-style minute hand with a bi-partite construction, and lastly a bulbous hour hand shaped like a Spade which is something I’ve never seen before and which is, simply put, gorgeous. 

All of what you see, I would add, is superbly made and each element complements one another in a harmonious way. 

The Heart of the Matter

Even though you cannot buy the Lorier Merlin from the brand’s website anymore because all units have already been sold and that it won’t be made again (which is of course a personal tragedy), dissecting this model helped prove that Lorier, indeed, beats at the sound of its own drum and carefully, yet slowly, travels on the path it has carved for itself within the micro and independent watch market. Only Lorier can do what Lorier does, at the prices Lorier exercises for its collections, with the intricate balance Lorier always strikes between the vintage and what makes their own horological hearts tick, and therefore what makes them unique in this very busy market. So I’m glad I was able to spend some quality time with the Merlin even though neither you or I can buy one, because it demonstrates what consistency and authenticity does for a brand and, indirectly, what it can do for us the hardcore enthusiasts, nerds, and collectors. My oh my, how nice is this Merlin, isn’t it? 

Conclusion

Well, forget about acquiring a Lorier Merlin at the original price of $549 USD. I assume that at some point in the near future, pre-owned Merlin’s will pop on the second-hand market but come with a premium tax, and whatever that final price would be, I would tell you this: the Merlin is a unique creation that seemed too affordable when it was first released and which would probably remain a good deal even if its price would have ballooned. I may be wrong about this but I may be right as well. Who knows? Only time will tell. 

Thanks for reading.