Month: September 2021

#LookCloser – Dive Report – Lorier Neptune

The Matick Blog2 Comments

Frank (@frendymgee)

Introduction

A few weeks back I had the immense joy and privilege to splash a few times in the great deep blue. After more than a year departed from my last big dive trip, returning to the ocean was nothing short of spectacular. What made this all the more special was the opportunity to take what is possibly the best modern interpretation of a vintage diver on the market, the Lorier Neptune. The Neptune comes in at $499, a great price point, in what is becoming an increasingly competitive market for sub-$1,000 divers. Although the space is definitely crowded with options, there are few other modern watches that are as faithfully vintage as the Lorier. The 39mm diver is a joy on wrist and reminiscent of great skin divers from the 60s. On Loriers’ site, they are very transparent on the types of watches they drew inspiration from. There is a fine line between pulling inspiration to create something unique and creating an homage. The Neptune walks this line perfectly, I can easily make comparisons to a number of different watches but I never think “oh, this is clearly just a copy of XXX watch”. The variant I was fortunate enough to have on loan is the gilt dial; gilt, on a no date diver absolutely drips cool, possibly an all time favorite combination. 

Specifications

  • Case Size: 39mm case width
  • Case Thickness: 10.3mm case thickness + 2.4mm dome crystal
  • Lug to Lug: 47mm case length / lug-to-lug
  • Lug Width: 20mm lug width tapers to 16mm at clasp
  • Bracelet: 316L marine-grade stainless steel, fits up to 8-inch wrists, button clasp with 3 microadjustment slots
  • Movement: Miyota 90S5 automatic movement (no-date), 28800 bph
  • Case Material: 316L marine-grade stainless steel case
  • Water Resistance: 200 meters / 660 feet, screwn-down crown
  • Bezel: 120-click unidirectional bezel
  • Crystal: Dome plexiglass crystal
  • Lume: Swiss Superluminova BGW9 luminous
  • Included extras: Microsuede travel pouch, screwdriver for resizing bracelet

Crown / Case Side Profile

The Neptune encapsulates a ton of vintage styling in a modern package. One of these elements is the oversized crown with the Lorier logo embossed on the side.

The over-sizing of the crown makes it a joy to use and is accentuated by the lack of pesky crown guards. The lugs are long and sharp, protruding from the case. They curve downwards subtly to match the shape of your wrist, not compromising on comfort while maintaining this classic vintage aesthetic. Without question, the star of the show is the plexiglass crystal. Although plexi has long been loved for the warmth and clarity it brings to watch aesthetics, it comes with the certainty of scratches. With time, the plexi will bear the scars of day to day life, even more so when taken out in the field. Without further ado, let’s talk about the Neptune underwater.

Relevance of Dive Watches today

Dive watches originated in the mid 20th century and grew alongside the popularization of recreational diving. For those unaware, the bezel on your dive watch was used to measure elapsed time during diving. This helped avoid the dreaded “bends” or decompression sickness. Modern divers are equipped with a dive computer, these devices track your elapsed time the moment they are submerged, along with depth, temperature, and algorithmically computing your no-decompression times given your current dive profile. All that being said, does a classic mechanical watch still have a place on your wrist during a modern dive? Overwhelmingly, the answer is yes! Aside from just the awesome nostalgia and joy it brings to glance down and see a mechanical watch on your wrist… you absolutely can have a need for a dive watch. For me, my mechanical watch is utilized for navigational purposes. Generally, divers doing guided dives with a dive master do not perform their own navigation and would therefore use the Lorier as a backup dive timer in the event your computer fails or is inaccurate. However, for diving without a guide — a dive watch to measure elapsed time spent traveling in a particular direction is a must. The Lorier was perfectly suited for this purpose, the simplicity of this vintage diver makes the legibility clear as day while doing complex dive patterns around the reefs, or through submerged lava tubes in my case.

Case Thickness / Movement

The thickness of the Neptune at 10.3mm + 2.4mm crystal allows a sleek profile that does not get in the way. The thickness was reduced from the series II to III when Lorier switched to the Miyota 90S5 no-date movement. This no-date movement doesn’t have a phantom date when pulling out the crown to set the time which is definitely a nice touch, and I love the commitment to a no-date model from Lorier. When diving you have a tremendous amount of added thickness from the wetsuit, and as pictured above, a NATO. The added gear is roughly 6mm in total, so a chunky 15mm-thick building of a dive watch would now be 21mm! Yeah, it has to be 15mm thick to get 1000m of water resistance, but for recreational diving… I’d much prefer the thinner profile of the Neptune and the more than sufficient 200m of water resistance. Even with the added thickness, the Neptune comes in at about 18.7mm thick, saving the watch from added beating and keeping it out of the way unless needed.

Bezel

The most important feature of a dive watch other than being water resistant is the bezel. Lorier opted for a thin coin-edge finished bezel with an aluminum insert. Above water the bezel is firm with very little play in either direction, it is aligned properly and is no issue to turn. In the water, the bezel is a breeze to turn with or without gloves on the first dive of the day. I specified the first dive because after time spent in salt water, crystallized salt will work its way into the bezel mechanism and make turning the bezel extremely difficult. This happens with most watches, and is nothing an overnight soak in fresh water won’t solve. However, if you have three dives planned for the day it is definitely a draw back. There are a number of solutions to this issue, one would be increasing the bezel thickness/diameter. Currently on the Neptune III the bezel diameter is slightly less than the diameter of the case, if that were reversed the bezel would be much easier to grasp. Thickening the bezel would have the same effect. An alternative that would pair phenomenally with the vintage styling is a notch in the bezel for the wearer to easily pop off the bezel between dives for cleaning. A notch like this was provided on a few old divers for this exact purpose. Somewhere along the way companies stopped doing this, no fault of Lorier in particular, and I am not sure if any modern diver has this feature. By adding a notch you would be able to solve all issues pertaining to salt buildup while maintaining the same proportions.

Lume

You can’t talk about a dive watch without talking about lume. Lume was originally for visibility at night, or in deep water with low light. Naturally, I HAD to take the Neptune on a night dive to see how the lume stacked up! 

The first image below was from that night dive done in Kona, HI. In Kona, divers come with baskets filled with multiple 10,000+ lumen torches that illuminate the dark water. This late night illumination causes plankton to amass in this location every night of the week. Kona is home to a fleet of Manta Rays that have come to know this location for the night buffet of plankton and will swoop in mercilessly consuming the illuminated plankton. Truly, a grand spectacle for any diver. In the dark ocean a quick charge with your torch will allow you to see the luminescent markers, hands on the dial, and triangular pip of the Neptune’s bezel. The blue lume seemed to fade fairly quickly, and I found myself needing to charge it frequently, and the pip glows slightly less intensely than the hands. The pip is one of the few small gripes I had with the Neptune, it seemed slightly too small, and is not raised. I would like to see a circular pip protruding from the triangle indices. This would mesh well with the vintage look, however, it is purely a personal preference. I would give the lume a B grade for intensity and visibility during the night dive, that being said, the lack of intensity did not have any adverse impact on the experience or dive. Honestly, vintage divers never glowed with the intensity of modern divers, so comparing the Neptune to a Seiko Monster or something isn’t really fair. The Neptune is not trying to be the brightest watch out there, it is instead an incredible modern production of a vintage vision and the lume matches that perfectly. A torch would be a little out of place. 

Dial

Besides, a small amount of light from your torch allows you to get a glimpse of that gilty goodness, so I did not mind recharging it. The third image above is my fiancée wearing the Neptune during the night dive. Her patience for me to position and photograph watches underwater is incredible. It does help that she was enamored with the Neptune from the moment the watch came in. The sizing and style appealed to her, the Neptune firmly resides in an area where anyone will be able to wear it with comfort.

Bracelet

The bracelet is a flat link tapering stainless steel with a folding clasp and push button unlocking mechanism. The clasp may be the one area that is a massive departure from a vintage watch. 

Prior to the 2000’s clasps and bracelets were exceedingly light weight and flimsy, typically being stamped of thin gauge metal for the clasp and accompanied by hollowed end links at the case. The bracelet may look vintage with the flat link style and taper but it is completely modern in construction. This is a welcomed improvement for sure. The clasp does not allow for extension over a wetsuit unfortunately so it did not come along with me underwater. I/my fiancée wore a myriad of straps from nato styled, barton silicone, and vintage tropic rubber straps (psstttt sponsor us, strap daddies). Stainless steel bands are my preference for daily wear but while diving, the aforementioned combinations seemed much more appropriate.

Overall Experience

Finally, I’d like to touch on what the watch was actually like experientially. Traveling across time zones with this watch was a breeze due to the lack of date and large crown. I never felt as particular about setting the time as I did with other watches and found the lack of date to be an overall de-stresser. No longer was I confined to the structured day of the month or needlessly tracking exactly how many seconds my watch was off with a spreadsheet and the trusty NIST website (National Institute of Standards and Technology). Looking down at the simple time-only Neptune and seeing the small distortions around the edge of the dial from the plexi brought about a nostalgia I didn’t realize was in me. I haven’t owned many vintage watches, so this may just be from reading articles about the golden era of divers. A secret longing to have been one of those original cool guys getting in the water with a tank on my back as one of the firsts, a real pioneer and explorer. Diving with the Lorier Neptune made me feel like that. Putting a monetary value to a feeling is exceedingly difficult, but at $499, it feels like a bargain to be transported (at least mentally) to a completely different era in time. With all that said, we should talk about what 12 dives and a dozen hours underwater in the ocean does to that pristine plexi.

Closing Thoughts

In addition to the many sea urchins imbedded in our feet and lava rock scratches to our knees, the ocean demands sacrifice. In this case, after over 12 hours spent on scuba with a healthy amount of cave and lava tube exploring, the plexi on the Lorier shows a number of large nicks and scratches. This had absolutely zero effect on the watches ability to complete the task at hand but was a tell tale sign of the adventures it has been on. Should this have been my own watch, likely I would opt to not remove the scratches. They would remain on the crystal as a reminder of where the watch had been with me. No watch can really be a “vintage” until it has some miles on it. The pristine plexi was borderline odd along with the watch being perfectly clean of scratches when opening the packaging. Now, everything about it seems to flow together perfectly, finally complete in its design language.

For more info on the Lorier Neptune, check them out here.


For Team Matick,

Frank (@frendymgee)

#LookCloser – A Conversation Between Jon & Furry – La Semaine Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein (˚▽˚)(`︵´)(•◡•)(•~•)(•_•)

The Matick Blog1 Comment

Prologue

Louis Erard is a historic brand that like many had its roots about a century ago (1929 in this particular case), and over the years saw ownership change hands as the industry went through numerous lean and tumultuous years. Now, Louis Erard uses standard Sellita, ETA, and Valjoux movements and has an array of designs available. As a result, their prices are very reasonable, but upon further investigation, their designs certainly have aspirations of higher-priced watches. For instance, their Heritage line of watches resemble the Omega Trésor, or the A. Lange and Söhne’s Saxonia models. 

Their Excellence line is the brand’s area of ultimate expression and experimentation. It is within this line that they have recently collaborated with Alain Silberstein. Originally an architect, Mr. Silberstein started his own watch brand in 1987. He then released his own iconic design language which has lasted until this day. Since closing his brand many years ago, he has designed watches for many companies and most of them were quite expensive, most notably his recent work with MB&F. Now with Louis Erard, his designs are priced at a much lower price point of 3,500 Swiss Francs, which brings us to today’s discussion. 

The Matick Blog’s in-house podcast master Jonathan Thong and contributing writer Furry Wrist Abroad have a few things in common. They both love sake and soju. They are both petrolheads and at one point in their lives both bled gasoline when cut. They both of course adore watches, and for the first time bought the same limited-edition watch, the La Semaine by Louis Erard and Alain Silberstein.

Alas, it was the adorable faces of the day indicator that spoke to me the most, especially the grumpiness that represented Monday and also my entire being. (`︵´)

– Jonathan Thong, 2021

Jonathan Thong: I remember scrolling through Instagram quite late at night, or perhaps early in the morning for most normal people. I may or may not have been a few drams of whisky in at that point, but when I saw this new collaboration between Louis Erard and Alain Silberstein, I knew I had to have one. Now, my connection with Alain Silberstein goes back to my father giving me his Pikto PK11, which kind of kickstarted my deep dive into the rabbit hole of mechanical watches. The problem now was figuring out which one to buy, especially considering my level of intoxication.

Furry Wrist Abroad: Wow, I had no idea that you already had a Silberstein! Since I am not as in tune with industry releases as you are, Jon, I first came across this watch when my friend Ben (@canadianwatchguy) came to Toronto for a short visit. It was then that I tried on the watch and we both fell into silence. I let out a long audible sigh and then a “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck…” for the watch looked perfect on my wrist. My friend started laughing uncontrollably as he knew why I was upset and he agreed that the La Semaine was a perfect match for my wrist. A couple of weeks later, after he decided that the watch was not for him, I bought it from him as fast as I could.

JT: It’s great that you got to see the watch in the metal before making your incredibly fast and also correct decision to purchase! Obviously I only had a few pictures to go by, but there were also three choices. One was the Regulateur, which I believe was also the first collaboration between Louis Erard and Alain Silberstein. The other was a Monopusher Chronograph, and this emoji day indicator (˚▽˚)(`︵´)(•◡•)(•~•)(•_•) rounded out the collection. Yes, there was the option of buying all three as a set, but I feel that may have been too extra. And so began my process of elimination. Alas, it was the adorable faces of the day indicator that spoke to me the most, especially the grumpiness that represented Monday and also my entire being. The Regulateur may be considered the flagship in this collaboration, and the Monopusher Chronograph was a unique addition to the set, but… look at those faces!

FWA: I had no idea that it existed before seeing it in person. The case was what sold it to me. It just made sense on my wrist. The case simply fits my wrist perfectly. I have a feeling that if my friend had bought any of the other variants, that I would have taken that one off his hands. Ultimately if I could choose between the three, I would in hindsight have gone with the chronograph. I have been wearing this watch almost every day, and there have been multiple occasions when I needed to measure an event. Honestly, as adorable as the emoji wheel is, the case and the character of the series of watches is what won me over. Thus the added functionality of the chronograph would have been appreciated for about a dozen instances already with only a couple of weeks on the wrist. Buying such a watch sight unseen sounds like a harrowing proposition for me. How has the watch proven itself now that you have had some wrist time with it?

JT: Honestly, I was not sure how the watch would look on my wrist. On paper, a 40mm x 11.6mm case measuring 47mm lug-to-lug is pretty much within the sweet spot of wearability. But this watch has an interesting lug construction, where it appears to stretch outwards from the middle of the case, which I’ve described previously as De Bethune-esque. It creates a tonneau shape, but with gaps between it and the proper circular case so we can gaze upon our hairy wrists. However, after strapping it onto my wrist, which is literally the case since it comes with a nylon Velcro® strap, I’m pleased to say I was quite happy with how it looked and felt.

FWA: I adore that Velcro strap by the way. I’ve worn it with formalwear and to a heated yoga class already and it did not miss a beat. Mr. Silberstein mentioned in interviews that he wanted to replicate the strap on the Apple Watch®, and he certainly knew what he was doing. The only occasion that the watch itself had faltered in is its low-light legibility. I often find myself in low light scenarios, hence my love for high-legibility watches and fast-aperture camera lenses. I do forgive it whenever I catch a glimpse of its beautifully lacquered hands, however.

JT: Honestly I’m not very bothered about that since, as you might have heard from KC, I don’t always set the time on my watches. But glancing down at the dial is just such a delightful experience, seeing the colours, the funky hands, and especially whatever emoji is being shown.

FWA: That mentality is something that would have been alien to me in the past. Now that I have lived with this watch, I can totally understand your viewpoint on this. I adore how the curve of the yellow seconds hand perfectly caresses the date wheel window and the red circular hour hand as it briefly passes by. This watch is an absolute treat to view during the quiet moments on a hectic day. Outside of some artsy Swatches in my collection that I have never worn, this LE is the first “Art Watch” that I actually like to wear. Oddly the day being represented by the emoji totally makes sense as well somehow. What a ridiculous fun watch. This is exactly the kind of stupid that I need in my life these days.

JT: I totally agree with you on the curve! Little details like that really elevate the design of the watch. Also, it is an element that Alain Silberstein has been playing with in the past, as the same kind of seconds hand can be found on the Pikto that my dad gave me. The circular hour hand also frames the day wheel, and almost frames the whole Louis Erard logo at 12 o’clock. I love how you say you need this kind of stupid in your life. Like, the watch collecting hobby can get quite stuffy at times, but fun little pieces like this inject some humour or soul into a world with too many Oyster Perpetuals.

FWA:  I asked my friend why he bought it and ultimately decided to let the watch go, and his reasoning made sense for him. He had recently consolidated his collection of about two dozen watches down to about four. He felt that his collection was a little too conservative and wanted something fun. He tried to get one of the Ming x Massena Labs collaboration pieces, but this thing came along and he pounced. He felt he needed something a little more special and unique in his collection, but ultimately he decided that it was a little too avant-garde of a design to be worn regularly. I thought I would wear this watch only on special occasions, but it has proven versatile enough to wear almost in every scenario besides diving.

JT: For me, the decision of which watch to wear usually comes down to what I plan to be wearing, and even then it doesn’t really affect my choice that much. Also, being in whatever stage of lockdown this is, I’m lucky if I’m even wearing pants, let alone a watch. Plus, I would say I don’t really live quite an active lifestyle as you do; some may even say that I am sedentary. So, I didn’t really have to consider my activities when making a decision to purchase. 

FWA: I don’t know if I would say that you are sedentary. Drinking on the level you do takes years of training and has its own particular brand of endurance. Speaking of endurance, this is a rather robust sports watch, with a case that incorporates both Type 2 and 5 titanium. Whereas I see a timepiece as complex and unique as this being on my wrist frequently for years to come, I wonder what its place is in your collection. What do you feel it adds to your collection, and has it influenced your collecting moving forwards? I fear it may have for me.

JT: I would like to think I’m pretty set in my ways of watch collecting, but then again, maybe because my scope is relatively broad. I’d say my main focus is on aesthetics, but there would have to be something unique about it, rather than merely being an objectively good-looking timepiece. Whether it’s a personal connection or some elements of fun, both of which are present in the La Semaine for me, there needs to be something that affects me deeper than just aesthetics. So with that in mind, I think such a fun, contemporary art piece like this La Semaine can fit in my collection comfortably with classics like the Submariner or Speedmaster.

FWA: I think that I am on the same page with regards to where this watch sits in my collection. This watch signifies a lot more for me, though. First, it reminds me of my friend and the many virtues and qualities that he represents that I admire him for. I have found that such a timepiece does break the ice a little when meeting strangers. Lastly, my good friend Mark (@constellation_m) described it as intelligent stupid after hearing me call it the right kind of stupid. At a distance, this watch simply looks like a joyous toy watch, and when in a rush I have told over a dozen people in passing that it is an IKEA watch when asked. Upon close inspection, its case, the careful execution of all of its dial elements, its comfortable strap, and most importantly for me the crown, something much bigger comes to light for me. 

The crown is perfectly shaped for getting a positive yet gentle purchase on it for winding and setting the time. This level of sophistication is what is needed to satisfy me in today’s climate of constant lockdowns, economic suffering, and the colossal measures of suffering happening globally due to climate change and failing states. To present a watch at this price, and with this level of levity without the refinement and poise in its design and manufacturing would have simply felt wrong to me when I wore it. Everyone’s experience during this pandemic has been different, and continues to vary, but in my day-to-day life, this underlying sense of maturity and thoughtfulness is required whenever I make light of any topic, even that of my choice of timepiece.

JT: That’s quite a good point. We’ve all suffered in our own ways, but we should also recognise our privilege to be in a position to drop money on a luxury item. But of course, true connoisseurs of the fine arts like ourselves wouldn’t simply be spending on any item, and I think we’ve covered all the reasons why we did so in our conversation. Hopefully, soon we’ll be able to spend money on experiences that make us happy, for a change. Perhaps you can enjoy that Malaysian diving trip you’ve been talking about!

FWA: Oh my goodness that trip sounds amazing right now. I had even gone far enough to plan that trip to include an additional two weeks in Okinawa. To be honest, all I would be happy with is some time away from the outreach of my phone’s notifications. Until then, we both will have to be happy with looking down at these wondrous mechanical works of art on our wrists.

For more information on the La Semaine Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein, click here.

For Team Matick,

Jon, Furry.