A long time waiting, a white dialed pepsi bezel!

So I wrote this a few days ago after my first impressions of the watch and decided to share it here!

TL;DR the tl;dr: I like the watch

Tl;tdr: I am surprised that this watch as of today in the white dial is still not sold out (the black is however).

Context: I’ve had this watch for a little over 48 hours (when I originally wrote this) . This is my first GMT watch, third watch from Lorier, first direct purchase from Lorier. Below are some of my thoughts

Movement: N/A.

It’s a Soprod C125. My first of these movements haven’t really heard anything terrifying about this movement. I know it costs more however I do like that it is more slender than the future Miyota movement that will be used. I am a nerd so eventually, I will get around to testing its accuracy.

Lume: It works

For context, I do sleep with a watch on (typically a g-shock), however, I was curious to see what the lume would be like when I woke up. It was still working, which is a win for me. My eyes did have to focus quite a bit however to be able to tell the time. I stayed inside most of the day that I received the watch so maybe if I were less of a hermit it would be brighter.

Clasp: 3 holes for micro adjust

To be honest, it feels like a watch clasp. It's solid. I don't feel like it's ever going to fail me. The clasp does have three micro-adjustment holes on the clasp. I think some people might critique that 2 more micro-adjustment holes would be better, however, I think extending the clasp would take away from the aesthetic of the bracelet.

Bracelet: It’s not a jubilee.

It’s an epsilon bracelet and it looks good. I like seeing GMTs on Jubilee bracelets and beads of rice (Rolex GMT Master and Heuer Autavia 2446 GMT are good examples). And now I like seeing GMTs on epsilon bracelets.

This bracelet tapers down to 16cm and it feels very slender on my wrist. So light. I will eventually get around to comparing the weight of this bracelet with my Neptune v2 because I swear this feels lighter. It’s jangly in a good way. I would say similar (but to a lesser degree) to the feeling of my Speedmasters 1479 bracelet. It definitely feels intentional in effect, but built well.

Sizing the bracelet was not difficult. I removed 5 links for my 16cm wrists and also moved the micro adjust on the clasp to the middle. I’m an idiot and forgot that Lorier included the tool necessary to size the bracelet, but it’s there which is very thoughtful.

Thoughtfulness / Caseback: A perfect example of both.

Context: Early Lorier watches have a case back with no designs to allow for engravings. One loud critique they heard, in the beginning, was that the watch community liked designs on the case back. Lorier designed the best solution, a circle of their chevron logo repeating on the exterior of the case back. This gives the space for engravings and also catered to the watch community. Very thoughtful

Lorier have put a lot of thought into these products. Something that impressed me a lot was their “watch manual” section on their website. I went looking for the Hyperion manual to make sure I knew how to operate my new GMT. The amount of effort they put into their manuals remind me of retro video game manuals. There was a lot of focus put into the booklets that came with retro games. The Lorier manuals include things like how to carefully remove scratches from the polished and brushed surfaces and to avoid changing the date at night. Very cool info to include especially for people entering the watch world.

Crown: It’s a crown

It’s the same size as my Lorier Gemini S1 crown and smaller than my Neptune S2 crown. I believe they might have changed this along the way at one point, either way, it can be gripped nicely and screwed in nicely.

I did find it hard to know if I was in position 1 or 2, so I found it easier to go to position 3 then push inwards to 2 then 1.

Case: Thin and well-styled.

If you read my movement section I did mention that the miyota movement in the future that will be used will be increasing the case thickness of the watch. I think this is a smart choice because a lower price point will keep them more competitive and hit their demographic market better.

I, however, find thinness to be a luxury I appreciate, so I was willing to pay for the premium of this movement to keep it in a slender case. It has a beautiful profile. It’s hard for me to explain, however, there is a nice arch to it that hugs my wrist very well. The drilled lugs fit the watch nicely. A quick note about that, I tried the watch on a leather strap and it does look good, so kudos to Lorenzo and Lauren for making the tough decision to move the lug holes in.

Bezel: Burgundy and Blue

Even though this is a pepsi bezel, the hue of the red and blue are not the same as Pepsi. It’s more of a burgundy and navy blue which delivers a much more muted look. I find the eye-catching part of Pepsi bezel GMTs would be the bezel, however here I believe it is the dial because of it’s bright white dial and muted colors on the bezel. They complement the dial nicely of the Skyward, and I could imagine the same for the black dial version.

The coloring of the numerals is similar to that of the lume plots, which I find appealing.

Dial: Simply Fun

The dial is what makes this watch stand out. It’s fun. The roulette date wheel gives it a bit of character with a bright red for even numbered dates, which contrasts with the other reds (GMT hand and bezel) in a great way.

The white dial is what sold it for me in the press photos. The white dial, is like paper white, while the lume plots are on off-white (much more white than the Tudor BB Pro), interestingly enough in pictures taken outside that seems to be the reverse effect (dial becomes off-white and lume looks more white). I personally find it eye-catching without having to be gaudy.

The indices are outlined in black which does improve legibility as well as the minute track. The black contrasts nicely against the white dial so without having to make bolded lines you can still easily pinpoint what minute it is in proper lighting.

The text on the dial is kept to a minimum which I like.

Hands: I don’t struggle to tell time

The GMT hand is colored burgundy similar to the bezel. It is easy to locate on the dial. The local time hands are polished which allows you to easily tell the time (they stick out due to their reflective nature).

Closing Thoughts: Is this my dream GMT?

I wanted a white-dialed GMT watch with a red GMT hand and a Pepsi dial on a jubilee bracelet.

In my dreams, things like the Rolex GMT Master-II with a meteorite dial appear or the new White B&R BR05 GMT, or the new Breitling Chronomat GMTs, or the Omega Seamaster “Great White” GMT, or even a two-tone Tag Heuer GMT Professional.

I am surprised that the Skyward Edition is still not sold out as of writing this (the black is, however). The Skyward version of the Hyperion S2 seems to be quite a unique offering at this price point, especially this series with the slimmer case. Looking at Lorier’s competition the first brand that comes to my mind is Baltic, because of its vintage-inspired design philosophy. Beautiful GMTs, but not what I wanted, no white dial. The best competition I found near the Lorier price point (for the Skyward) would be the Lorca Model No.1 GMT with the silver dial or the Traska Venturer GMT. No Pepsi Bezel though. Steinhart nor NTH have something similar.

Also, real sad that this version of the Hyperion won’t get a flat link. I think the white-dialed one would look stellar on a flat link also.