Hands-On: Get a Little Fancy with the Lorier Zephyr

Over the last few years, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the categories that we put watches in. Doing what I do for a living, that feels pretty normal. For practical purposes, we have to divide watches up into groups so that talking and writing about them makes sense. Everything needs, and deserves, context. But as I’ve gotten better (I think) at identifying which slot any given watch belongs to, and the necessary comparison points to make with other watches, I’ve found somewhat paradoxically that I care about these delineations less and less. 

When I started collecting watches, I took what I think is a normal approach for a newbie and tried to check off the boxes: the diver, the daily wearer, the dress watch, etc. Now, when I think about buying a new watch, the category, and how it relates to the rest of my collection, rarely occurs to me. When I bought my IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 in Ceratanium earlier this year, a friend reached out and said he was surprised to see me buy a tool watch after I had so publicly made my feelings known on this genre. It honestly never occurred to me that this particular watch would be classified as such – I just thought it looked cool.