A First Look At Lorier's New Merlin Watch- An Affordable British RAF WW2 Inspired 37mm Automatic

So today is July the 10th and during the Second World War it was the date that the Battle of Britain started, some of which was actually fought in the skies behind me. We are in the east of England and about a mile that way is one of 600 air bases built by the RAF and rather fittingly this particular one was used by American bombers. The ones closer to the coast were used by fighters, predominantly the RAF, to intersect the enemy. Where better to announce the release of this World War II Weems inspired Merlin watch by Laurier. To aid those so few of which we owe so much. I personally have instructed the Air Ministry to immediately contact the Right Honourable TGV at Gentry Labs and issue 500 of the finest Laurier Merlin timepieces for our brave pilots defending the air. In our darkest hour we shall never surrender to bad timekeeping. Okay, hi guys and welcome to the show. No wristwatch check needed today because I'm wearing the Merlin by Laurier, our second collaboration, years in the making. Now this is obviously not a review or an unboxing, a reaction. I guess you could say it's watch talk, you know, the negatives, positives. I'll leave that for you guys. So if you do purchase one of these, please do share or let me know and I will share it. I'm dying to know your feedback. But what I can talk about, well, the story behind it, why we designed it the way it is, how this came about and all the rest of it. So without further ado, let's get into it, shall we? Oh, and don't forget to like this video. Thank you. Like all of my collaborations, I highly doubt we'll see it in any of the pay-to-play so-called publications, so I will do my best to demonstrate the watch. Its name, a nod to the Rolls-Royce engines that powered the legendary Spitfire fighter aircraft. The Merlin takes inspiration from three historically important watches of the 1930s and early 40s. In chronological order, the first is the ultra-rare and almost mythical Rolex Xerograph of the pre-war 30s. This often overlooked watch was massively influential, as it was not only the brand's first in-house chronograph, decades before the Daytona, but the reference 3346 was the first recorded wristwatch with a rotatable bezel. A precursor to all the subsequent aviation and diving utilizations of this complication that we very much take for granted today. In fact, its obscurity and scarcity is due to it never making its way into regular production, being prototypes only. Given the minuscule numbers created and the lack of information available, no one actually knows why they were discontinued, but many suspect it was due to the limitations of a single pusher chronograph function. The next two watches that inspired the Merlin are a pair of Weems pilot watches from World War II. Out of the five manufacturers, specifically those by Longines and Omega, with JLC, Zenith and Movado being the other three brands chosen by the Royal Air Force to issue a total of 7,000 in 1940, at the very outbreak of hostilities during the early dark days of the Battle of Britain. The name Weems is derived from Lieutenant Commander P.V. Weems, who was a well-known aviator, navigator and naval officer school instructor at Annapolis, Maryland in the United States. His pioneering work, primarily with Longines, gave birth to a lockable outer bidirectional rotating friction bezel, used to longitude for navigation and also timing critical actions. Or in my case, timing jogs and cardio and the boiling of pasta. Doesn't really get more urban gentry than that. This new horological tech was then adopted by the British Air Ministry to then become a military specification, resulting in the now cinematically iconic CK2129, made famous by a custom-built replica in Christopher Nolan's Capolavoro Dunkirk. In my opinion, it's his best movie. Sorry Batman fans, I'm just being honest there, but on the 5th of January 1940, the RAF placed this special order marked URGENT directly to Omega for 2,000 of the CK2129. Most astonishingly, it was delivered only months later. Such was the urgency in martial timekeeping. Aside from the movie being profoundly moving and poignant, and also illustrating how it came down to split seconds quite literally, one of the best movies that utilizes timekeeping narratively, it also had me rushing home to search on eBay to buy an Omega. I ended up buying the CK2992 aka the Spitfire watch, which is a simplified later Omega, time only. Now the problem is, with a watch that old, as you would imagine, it's incredibly fragile despite being recased post-war by Denison, as a lot of them were for, well they were repurposed for civilian use. In the back of my mind, a seed was planted and fast forward to today and finally we have not only something that can deal with the rigors of everyday life, but is actually a little bit more faithful to the one in the movie. Hitler's Nazi Germany dominates Europe. His armed forces have swept across the continent, crushing all opposition. Of his enemies, only Britain remains undefeated. Here is the news. In the House of Commons this afternoon, the Prime Minister Mr Churchill said, what General Vegar called the Battle of France is over, the Battle of Britain is about to begin. As well as the Merlin being a careful amalgamation of the aforementioned three timepieces, it's also in spirit a continuation of our previous collaboration The Safari, which was a deeply 1930s inspired dressy field watch affair. It's almost as if to say the adventurous exploring was over and it was time to strap up say chocks away chaps and buckle up for war. Speaking of which, the final Merlin will be available on an alluringly supple but strong deerskin leather with contrasting stitching in a single pass through piece to ensure if one of the non-fixed spring bars via the drilled lugs does fail, it will still be attached at the other end. We also shaved off a portion of the 100m water resistant case at an angle between the lugs to make it easier to fit and therefore sit better on the wrist. During this video I'm actually wearing mine on an Italian fatto tutto a mano distressed collar rep. That way I can actually enjoy the mil-specced styled engravings on the case back. Like its spiritual predecessor, the Merlin has real thermally blued hands. Interestingly, it was another of the requirements in the original Weems 6B slash 159 specification, as well as the dial being white, which was deemed the most effective in legibility. For me, the bluing of the hands was an absolute must, just as it was for the Safari. Besides protecting against tarnishing over time, it doesn't cheapen the painted blued hands. The Safari made history of being the first with hands like this at the affordable level, and while it was more for aesthetics then, here it's even historically relevant. However, the luminous materials have come a long way since the 1940s, so we have all the benefits of modern superluminova, even if it has a bit of faux patina. Every single hand is treated in differentiated shapes, but favourite of all is that alluring curvaceous pear-shaped finest hour hand. It's the best curves I've seen since Jessica Rabbit, or the pin-up girls adorning the aircraft of the time. Originally, we were considering a California dial, as we wanted to dare rispetto, or nod, to the efficacy of watches worn by the miale-riding divers of Italy's frogmen. But for a more streamlined symmetry, and maintaining a good sense of orientation, we actually came up with this numeral-slash-diver style layout hybrid, finished in a beguiling 3D printed application for extra strength, which also boosts how it plays as you angle it with the warmth of the retro distortion of that domed Hesalite. Before you grab your pitchforks and complain about the lack of sapphire, this is very deliberate, and a kind of calling card of Laurier, so you're just going to have to deal with it, but there is some Polly watch included as always. Inside, it's powered by the Mielter 90S5, an automatic movement that, in my opinion, at the entry-level price point, cannot be beaten. Aside from reliability, robustness and specs, it's a true no-date, with no awkward clicking of a ghost date at midnight, or phantom positions to the screw-down main crown when setting and hacking for synchronisation. It's also a lovably thin movement in architecture, keeping the dimensions very close to the manual-wind wartime progenitors of the 1940s. Naturally, size can make or break a watch. Thinking back to the Safari, and bear in mind this was pre-Covid, at the start of the smaller watch trend, it was a real gamble. No one was really doing 36mm watches like that, so my gut instinct was right, as was the Laurier team. We believed in it, and we were nervous because you never know how the market is going to react, but it turned out to be a big success and also show that there was a demand for it, there was a desire for smaller watches in that style. Now this time around we've gone for a smidgen larger at 37mm. I know a lot of the larger-wristed gentry out there might be a little bit upset, but don't worry because you have to keep in mind that back in World War II they were only 34mm. It's extraordinary to think these gentlemen warriors of the sky were zooming around in their aircraft with these small, quite dainty by today's standard watches, but what's even more astonishing to think is that the original Weems watch in 1937 was only 27mm in diameter. It was Longines at the bequest of the RAF to make it larger. They said, no, no, no, we've got to have it larger, can't have that, and it became part of the mil-spec to be 34. Now I've spoken several times about my family's extensive and decorated military history, a tradition that goes back centuries. The Second World War was no different, seeing action in every theatre of conflict throughout the globe. So for me this collaboration is profoundly important that it is handled respectfully and correctly, especially considering their ultimate sacrifice and many of their descendants in my family will also be watching this video. Another meaningful sentiment is that Laurier are actually based and run from NYC. I've obviously collaborated with brands from all over the world, including one not so far away in Long Island, but Laurier are legitimately in the actual city itself, which not only bridges the transatlantic gap, but also reflects the significance of a place equal in importance to me. There really is no better vintage inspired micro brand out there and they even have a display inside Grand Central Station if you want to check them out in person. I absolutely adore working with Lorenzo and Lauren, the founders of Laurier. There are so many nuances and design easter eggs that I will leave for you to discover, but it's precisely this kind of passion that makes it so worthwhile and rewarding. Ultimately, making sure that this love letter to watches that were so critical in helping save the world from tyranny are done right. So what is Gentry Labs? Well, it's a sub brand, but I just wanted to set it up to differentiate all the collaborations and also the projects that might not be directly related. I'm working on watches or have worked on watches, general releases that you might not even know. You might even be wearing a watch right now that was designed by me or co-designed by me and not even know it, which is fantastic. Not all brands want to have the co-branding. I'm creating a website to document this, to keep track of it, kind of like an online portfolio of all my work. So that's what Gentry Labs is and it's become incredibly successful. So a lot more stuff to come, not just watches, watch related stuff. I'm not going to say too much. I don't want any spoilers. Back to this, I do a few co-branded collabs every year and this is one of them. Working with Lorenzo and Lauren of Laurier is always an absolute pleasure. I just love working with people like them that are just so talented and we bounce ideas off each other. I'll have a suggestion, I send it over and then they'll make little changes, improvements, send it back. It's not always an agreement, but that's what drives forward and creates ultimately, in my opinion, something that's more nuanced, more carefully considered and therefore a better watch in the end. Very different creating a watch yourself from scratch to working with other people. Yeah, I guess another little dream come true here. So I'm very, very happy. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Don't forget to like this video. Very important indeed. Oh, and check out this video for a nice travel vlog in Germany and a lot more stuff. Some crazy, crazy watches. A little sneak peek of my next purchase as well. I'm going to leave it there before I rabbit on far too much about this watch. I'm excited. It just brings me profound joy to see this become a reality and finally I can wear it. The secret is out. So I will return to regular programming back in New York City, hopefully very soon. So onwards and upwards. Thank you for watching and I'll catch you in the next one. Okay, ciao.