Micro Tournament Round 1 Day 8: Lorier Vs. Maurice de Mauriac

Check Out The Lineups Here:

• Lorier

• Maurice de Mauriac

This one is a Lorier win for me. The design is more inspired and the price point can’t be beat. I can’t get on the generic feel of the designs of Mauriac

As a Lorier owner, I have voted with my wallet, and I have a feeling they will win this one, but I discovered MDM last year when putting this together, but did not add them at the time and wanted to come back to them.

Of all the brands in the tournament, MDM has a watch that scratches a creative itch that has me constantly coming back to it to potentially buy; the L3 Sees Red chronograph with a red sapphire crystal. This is one of their more creative pieces and I applaud them for doing something different.

I hear you based on the pics, but definitely dive into their line up. Some very neat pieces like the one I posted, then again, I also own a Lorier Zephyr.

Maurice looks extremely interesting (never heard). Looks like they offer a unique customization options 🤔

Still, at that price bracket… ans who doesn’t adore Lorier (and the Husband and Wife owners 🤗)

But Maurice is… interesting

Agreed, having met the owners of Lorier, I hate even saying I love both of these brands. :-)

No one should be surprised about which one I'm going for.... 😂

Here's my Lorier Triptych

I've used my Neptune heavily. And my Hydra SIII and Falcon SIII are getting their fare share. And I might not even be the ideal candidate due to my professional occupations. But that's the great thing, they've held up fine.

To me, Lorier has the perfect intersection between looks, price, ownership, etc.

I also LOVE acrylic, and look forward to discussing this with others lol, since it seems to be the main divisive feature.

I'll show some close ups later if wanted. My Neptune has NEVER been Polywatched..and I wore it yesterday for 10 hours of force on force training, sim rounds, tourniquet applications, body carries, etc.

To paraphrase, not a more civilized age, but it is an elegant tool... IFYKYK.

I will say this particular use of red is on point! 👌🏻

Lorier 4 Life, ride or die, but that watch looks 🔥!

I know Lorier will win and I love my Loriers...but I had to vote for this Maurice de Mauriac as it is one of the most killer Gulf livery chronos in existence (two strap variations)...

But I really do love Lorier...

Right? A red sapphire crystal? Again, kudos to them for mixing it up. They have some really innovative pieces in their lineup.

Prolly the ONLY thing I learn during these things is you got awesome tastes! 👌🏻🔥

Looked them up when you mentioned it two weeks ago.

IMMEDIATELY noticed the red sapphire and knew, yup that's what he was talking about. Really cool.

I knew which way you would lean. :-) Seriously, always impressed with the depth of your collection.

Thanks! You made my night 🍻

Thanks for the kind words CB...you know me too well 😉

Very nice dial, very business-like, very good

I never heard of the Maurice so I'll have to keep an eye out on them. But for me, I would buy the Lorier in a heartbeat. Gorgeous watch!

I regret not getting mine personalized. 😪

Yeah. I feel it exact same way

Shoot them an email? Worth a shot.

Also any local watchmaker should be able to remove the caseback (or you can do it yourself), then send off for engraving.

How many…

very few. Just look at the comments over the last week. I own this - I voted for it because I cannot be objective. Why is this so expensive? I like the cheaper one… Those are too generic (but votes for the actual homage brand)… I really like the design of those (what design? It’s a fucking basic diver…)

The lessons we take away are as follows:

• Price is everything; quality and service are not high on people’s agenda

• Very few understand the cost of making a watch. People seem to forget that every brand is a business

• Herd mentality. Everyone like the same stuff, and therefore classic styles and tropes are constantly on repeat. We are all just buying the same stuff.

• People have short memories

• Many people still don’t know how to use Google

This has been very illuminating, but not for the reasons you think

Yeah… so you want to leave that hanging in the air? It’s like people who say they don’t gossip yet sidle up to you and go… psst, have you heard about Janet in Accounting?

What's a Google?

Can I Yahoo that?

👀🫣😉

Tho to a part of your point, Elliot Brown, Resco, Sangin, Sēl, and some others aren't on here this year, and are not very popular outside of certain circles.

MkII didn't fare well, even though the work that goes into the bench crafted line is pretty cool.....too homage-y for most.

Derivative or not the Beachmaster is pretty unique, and in it's auto flavor quite pricey. I'd buy it.

Same with Sēl, might be tougher than a G Shock, and hand built in AZ, but over $2K for a quartz, much less an auto, cheap it is not.

Sangin Instruments to me is gonna be a fun one to watch over the years. Obvs I have vested interest in seeing them succeed, for my own reason. But Jacob Servantes has stated his goal is eventually to be as close as he can get to in house for some of his lines, while staying true to his design ethos of hard use tool watches.

On his Instagram the other day, he mentioned the new Neptune will be utilizing a flavor of SW, and their GBRS collab was LJP. Crossing my fingers the EOD Special Project is the same.

And Resco, while using swiss movements, does offer a TON of customization via directly talking with the owners. But rather niche, and again pricey.

The watches are made cheaply, the boss is a cheap, quality control is virtually non-existent.

Basically the watches are just no well made and working conditions are questionable is what I heard.

Could you elaborate on cheaply made? Call me a sceptic, but we all try to keep costs down.

QC - well, depending on the size of the operation it could be difficult to maintain? I’m sure someone could chime in on theirs… @ChronoGuy whats your Gulf model like?

I’m not sure many of us speak highly of previous employers, I know I have issues with some of mine. Definitely curious about the last point - ethical purchasing is important, so could you elaborate more?

Mine is well made - no corners cut. Nothing I can see where quality was overlooked.

I can't speak to working conditions or sourcing, but I have no issues with how the watch was produced.

Poll closed for this matchup. Congratulations to Lorier!

MdM is an interesting brand that simply holds very little appeal for me, I am voting Lorier.

Simple stuff like scratches and blemishes on dials and hands but also faulty print and even faulty construction like ordering the wrong length of hands and then just clipping off the tip to make them "fit".

Also appearantly he didn't bother to learn the name of one employee for multiple weeks and demanded unpaid overtime.

As I said this is just what I have heard from people who did work there.

Being a watchmaker myself, I have no trouble beliving these stories.

Combine that with what they charge you for a eta movement...

What do you think where they get those from? Not from eta that's for sure. Eta doesen't sell mechanical movements outside swatch group.

So probably from some seller that still has stock like boley or horotec.

Interesting - in terms of QC it’s not that these are prevalent for one to just pop down to a shop and have a look, so I would defer to owners for feedback. From a pool of one, it is inconclusive, but it’s interesting to hear so it’s definitely something to consider.

Poor management is just that - it sucks. I appreciate that there is probably an element of crunch when it comes to manufacturing, it is poor that companies just don’t consider the impact of squeezing everything out of your workforce at every given opportunity, and overtime should be respected.

I think the ETA comment is also one to take with a pinch of salt. There are many lower-tier luxury watches that are powered by an ETA, I have a number myself. It is a sum of parts as well. I appreciate that sourcing from ETA themselves is no longer a viable option, but that is not a disservice to the movement. Many brands have had to shift over to alternatives, but if they were set up for ETA there is a transition period. I know of brands who were sourcing ETAs from seller stock, some more transparent about it than others. I see various brands use an ST ETA-clone, and they charge between $650-$1600 for their watches, which is a massive gulf for something that “technically” is very similar. Some justify the price because of design, tooling, manufacture, volume… the real measure of your watch is if people are willing to pay for it.