Micro Tournament Sweet Sixteen Day 2: Lorier Vs. Fears

Well & truly torn here...

But I think I need to pick Fears.

I love Lorier & the way they are making real nice neo-vintage watches, but I can't buy the one I want right now. If I had the cash, I could get a Fears right now; and from a brand perspective, being able to sell a product when a customer wants it, that's pretty key.

😂 Know which one will end up winning due to movements, finishing, etc.

But I'm just not as into dressier watches.

And if Lorier does end up going against some of the other heavy hitters left, I'd seriously consider voting for the others.

But only really one "tool"-y, field type watch vs several.

At those prices I'll be looking at others, i.e. Bell and Ross, Weiss, etc.

Just my .92¢.

Pics for posterity.

Man, I don't want to choose between these two.

I was so torn on this one...

As the organizer, I do not want to be forced to pick between any of these! Tough calls.

Oh no doubt Fears will take it, but those prices are steep. Like waaaay up there, even amongst big brands.

I'll always vote these things to what I'd actually and/or could buy. But that's how I'm wired. YMMV.

I agree WRT style preference, but I think Lorier will take it. They have a much broader appeal I think.

I really love the vintage style of both brands.

They both have so much going for them.

Push comes to shove, I have to go with Fears.

Fears watches are just made better from a quality standpoint.

Comparing Lorier and Fears is like comparing Seiko to Grand Seiko...they both are really cool, but one is just next level in terms of quality.

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• Lorier

• Fears

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Fears is clearly higher up and I love their colourful dials. But I just have to support the retro king!

Lorier every day

Not that I am really looking into either brand, the Fears line-up is too dressy from my perspective. So, it is Lorier.

This is the trickiest one so far for me. I’d absolutely pick a Fears if I had to choose.

The Aurora and the jump hour (not sure it counts as it’s a collaborative effort with Christopher Ward) always occupy a tiny space at the back of my watch mind.

The Neptune stands out from Lorier for me. I just don’t know that I feel the same pull. It’s tough out there to make a (relatively) affordable dive watch popular. They’re by far the most popular category, but it’s such a crowded market. You could ask 10 different people here which dive watch they own/want to buy next and you’d get 10 different answers.

Easier for Fears to stand out from the crowd on that basis perhaps, but I did see an awful lot of cushion cases at British Watchmakers’ Day, so who knows how long that will stay true.

Lorier will win on popularity, the Fears is clearly the better watch tho.

Good morning Crunchers! I went over both watches on their websites and it's going to be be Lorier for me. The styles of Fears doesn't speak to me.

On heritage alone, Fears would win. Over 200 yrs. But I agree they are overpriced. They are using base ETA movement, which is fine. But certainly cannot command such a premium.

I think we will be seeing more and more inhouse coming to Fear. Right now only the Garrick collab has their own bespoke movement and you are right. As they try to go up the luxury pyramid they will be expected to play harder. Just how Czapek's Antarctique and other lines now solely uses an inhouse movement, Fear will probably work closely with Garrick and other partners to design bespoke movements for their watches.

I guess my disconnect is that apparently, at least for some portion of the voters, microbrands have to be inexpensive or else they don't really consider them microbrands. Maybe "independents" is a more appropriate way to categorize the larger volume brands like Christopher Ward, Fears, Formex, etc. These are also the brands going more upmarket in their pricing.

100%. I have mentioned it countless times, micro doesn’t mean micro price, but to many that is what it is and it is frustrating, but alas we all have different definitions. There are really good brands making $300 watches and others making $5000 watches. There are many that cannot fathom paying $3k for a small independent brand when Tudor exists, nevermind $5k when Omega exists.

At first glance I thought this would be a tough choice but after a little thought....Lorier. Both do vintage inspiration very well. But even with all the multibrand vintage inspiration, Lorier has also managed to create a pretty cohesive design language of it's own. Once you have seen one Lorier you can spot another designed Lorier without necessarily looking for the Lorier Chevrons. They have created a good brand identity. I'm not so sure you can say that about FEARS. I don't have hands on experience with FEARS but have heard good things and see a lot are commenting on their higher build quality which might be true but obviously you are paying for that higher build quality. Thing is Lorier really do provide incredible value. Yes, they use acrylic which can be seen as cost cutting and yes I would pay more if they were to offer sapphire...but regardless if you look at their case finishing and their bracelet for a watch clearly under $1k it's obviously punching above it's weight class. It's certainly not a Monta (also unfair because Monta is also punching above it's weight class) but it also doesn't feel like a ~$500 watch. So it may not completely compete with a $2k or $3k watch in terms of overall fit and finishing. But it's also probably much closer than you'd expect for the price and certainly can compete with a lot of watches two or three times the price. For me Lorier is the obvious choice here.

Spot on.

This tournament has been fun… but Lorier is the only brand that the money matches my vote!

Give me a microbrand that does Tudor or Sinn levels of tool, and I'm in.

I'm one of those guys. Why would I go Fears, it has zero draw at the asking price.

Lorier, all day it looks classy, has a solid identity, and still has a tool-y vibe.

I don't know of all the brands, but it seems as if higher tiered micros always trend dressier, complicated movements, enamel dials etc.

I get it, I'm a minority.

But outside of Weiss, Elliot Brown, Sēl, MKII bench crafted, and hopefully soon Sangin it's a desert.

One goes from Winfield/Wolbrook, to Nodus/Orion, to Weiss, to Tudor.

And there's a market for it. Trust me. The Blakjak Type 7-b from Tornek-Rayville has now sold out twice. Same with the TR-660. And every single Sangin Instruments release. Every. Single. One. Gone sometimes before you can click the link they email.

The GBRS Kinetic II had a really cool faraday cage, LGP movement and sold out before Jacob the owner could finish sending out in stock emails.

And inevitably someone quips back, just buy a G Shock. To which I say...

Casio Protrek is better in every way. IFYKYK. 👀🤏🏻😜

Forgot C Ward, but they are indie apparently. 😂

Edit 2 : forgot Resco

On the money side, I'd also like it noted that K Tokyo is doing rather well if it's solely about money.

And Spinnaker is a fan favorite.

Hear hear! I totally get it and there is no wrong approach/perspective. I actually dumped my Sinn 104 because most of the smaller brands I had, I felt, were honestly better. That and I now really dislike a day date, but that’s another story. I have a post a couple months back detailing why a Monta Skyquest is a much better value (and build) than a Longines Spirit Zulu. I stand by that as an owner of both. The $2k-$4k space is a tricky one to navigate, but there are a lot of great brands offering a compelling product better than many of the big boys. Now, Tudor is a tough one given they make their own movement, but again, individual perspective drives that. Some brands, including small independent (micros for lack of better terms) are over priced. Norqain, Vertex, Bremont (I know, but bear with me) are built like tanks (amazing watches) but the market thinks they are over priced based on resale, which they may or may not be. A used version of either of those would make many Tudor fans quite happy.

Some are arguably undervalued. I would also posit the Monta opaline Skyquest would go head to head with the opaline Tudor GMT, if you did not care about the in-house movement. I prefer the dimensions on the Skyquest and can easily buy the Tudor, but when it came time to get a Pepsi GMT under $5k, I would still take and recommend the Monta every time over the Tudor. That is just me as someone who I think appreciates all brands of all sizes.

Agreed.

And I'm also at this point just discussing/debating for fun.

Hopefully no one is thinking I have anything to prove.

My wife gets tired of these kind of debates.

Poll closed for this matchup. Congratulations to Lorier!

Lovely #fears watch, I’m off to a presentation for them next month, they are showcasing their collection, can’t wait