If You LOVE Microbrand Watches... Do This Now!
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
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If I described a old school flieger combined with a diver, you might look at me sideways, but look at the Convair Sea Dart; slightly mad, but it kinda works! I think this watch is the same. Lume dial is arguably more impresive during the day than long term after dark. But the clasp is poor for the money they are asking, there is no getting around that. Cheers, Jody
Jody, you're absolutely right about the League of Microbrands group! The absence of snobbery and hyper-fixation on *cough*Rolex*cough* is refreshing.
I have found some manufacturers have a habit of measuring the thickness without the caseback... for reasons I cannot begin to fathom. I believe Aquacy was one.
That's a new one, but not a good one!
I once read that the reason is due to the very minor variations in the in fitment of individual cases and backs. Seems like an excuse to me but...
@@winstonsmiththx1138 a stupid excuse. The difference between tightened casebacks will be in the order of decimals.
@@fedomandez hence, I said sounds like an excuse.
Great video but yuck. What a terrible looking watch.
Sea Darts are some of my favorite watches. Love the Miyota 3039 movement with no day/ date feature. Same with the SS bezel and chapter ring. Things I would like to see. (1) remove the '1000ft' notation on the dial. Just go with '300m.' Make the font size for depth and 'Automatic' smaller and/or just put 'Automatic' on the back. Anyone buying a Sea Dart will know what's inside it. (2) Offer it on an oyster bracelet. (3) better lume.
I bought a Hemel HFT20. I am a big fan of theirs... They make great watches.
Reminds me of a vostok...I think it's the bezel and basic look.
Great review. Beautiful watch. Must send memo to Pagani Photocopier.
Nice Vostok you got there 🧐
Ha! There is a whiff of Vostok, I agree.
Yes, I saw some Vostok there too.
Bang on!
Yeah, it's close but no cigar for me.... for an extra 10% the Raven Airfield has a similar look but looks classier, although I do like the lumed crown.
Was about to post that its an upmarket Vostok homage. Its not a pretty thing, that's for sure
Good call on "The League..." brought me back to Facebook just to join it...well worth it!
That’s a great looking watch. The dial is super clean, I like all the brushing, points for a steel bezel. I could do without the bracelet, but nothing that a black rubber FKM couldn’t fix. One design flaw, in my opinion, is the lack of crown guards. Even partial guards would be good. But nice piece.
You Are the most thorough reviewer of all the channels. And the most fun.
Allow me to pose this question. Why is it reviewer's leave out what I consider
The most important dimension for wareabilty that being the glass ie watch face?
That big bezel, in combination with the finish makes me think it's a Vostok of some kind.
I’m currently waiting for my Hemel airfoil (since august) 😂
Very nice looking watch. It has a real military-tool look to it. I could see these being issued to troops.
Super clean that looks great!
Great watches - I have an HF6 (VH31 "Electronic" movement) that also loves every strap it's paired with. Not sure what it costs now, but I paid LIW $280
Nice watch, stainless steel bezel always looks good on anything. The Vostok comparison is a great spot.
I beat you again this morning Jody. Was sat waiting for your video to drop and then got sidetracked by F1 qualifying highlights. This looks absolutely lovely and a lot smaller than the dimensions suggest.
Always awesome content Jody! It was too cool seeing my 2k Subscriber celebratory post/giveaway scroll across the screen on The League footage 🥳 Better than an autograph from a reviewing legend 😉😊 Thanks for including it! Cheers mate
I’ve been waiting for a JOMW review on the Sea Dart, mine comes tomorrow!.
Another great offering from Hemel, like the bezel , hate the bracelet. Cheers Jody
Now this is impressive looks fantastic not sure about import duties into the uk but I definitely think it’s a winner
The League Of Microbrands sounds great... But I don't do Facebook unfortunately.
Gives me a Vostok vibe!
I am a sucker for fully lumed dial, even if it isn’t that long lived, great dial and bracelet. Not blown away by value, it’s a decent watch and no more
i like the simple hour and minute hands
Nice one, Jody! Good on you for calling out cheap clasps!
Please wish your wife a HAPPY FIRST MOTHER'S DAY! This case has a whif of the Halios Seaforth. I wish companies using lumed dials used solid black hands for better contrast both night and day. And good thing it's a Strap Monster, because the bracelet is kind of fugly.
nice ! there are so many great watches today , i've just bought a Citizen "seaplane" which seems apt watching this review ,great review as always !!
When I saw Sea Dart, I thought of the RN's long range air-defense missile from the Falklands war... Totally forgot that early 50s period where we hadn't quite gotten over how fantastic the Catalina was.
Great channel ,what brand straps were you using ,thanks
Comes with air force x hemel patch, inspired by navy plane, why…?
Nice one Jody. Thanks again for verbalising the visceral importance and the tactical textures and personal attachments, One can and will develop, w the often ‘overlooked’ quality of clasp and bezel. (They were always my favourite parts on any watch, [or mechanical anything] starting at a very young age)
I actually really dig these. But in the realm of $500 watches there are a lot of others vying for my attention as well.
nice enough, but don't like the case back, and prefer applied indices. Not a fan of of vertical brushing on the sides, and I think it is a tad over priced. Disagree on the clasp, I have the same clasp on much dearer clasps.
Great video and reveiw as usual Jody 👍. Could I suggest that you include the bezel diameter figure in all your dive watch reviews? In my opinion, it's the most significant dimension (along with L2L) as to how a dive watch wears - particularly for us smaller wristed guys where 1mm difference on the bezel o/d can make or break it. Cheers.
I have a full lume Sea Dart that I have actually had for a while. I got it from a wheel spin for Watch gang. You can actually get some good deals on the wheel spins if you know what you are selecting. I really wish that Hemel would have made the hour and minute hands have no lume. That would make it much more visible after the initial burst goes away.
I can see this being a 300-dollar watch. Not 500.00. Just my opinion. It's super basic and very boring to me. Also sick of seeing diver after diver watch. Not just here but in other places too. The only part I liked was the lumed dial. I think that is really nice.
I would agree that it's nice...if it lasted or used a full negative layout. This lume is worthless...
This was my issue with their Type XX homage. $500 for a watch using the same movement I can find in watches costing around $150 was simply too much. It should have been around $300.
I'm right there with you, boring plain looking watch with bad lume and a cheap clasp. The only thing it's got going for it is the movement and maybe the case finishing, but not for $500. You could find the same on Ali Express for less.
the dial is the only thing i like
Love it. Reminds me of a seiko spork
This color is the pick of the litter with the black dial being a close second. But have you seen the dial option renderings? The white pic makes it look like a silver dial and all the other colors have a shiny metallic sort of look which I don’t care for personally. The black gilt dial looks like it has a bright yellow minute track AND the pineapple yellow rendering is actually a metallic orange! This current offering is way over priced and the renderings don’t inspire me to run to their “Checkout” page either. Since the full lume appears silver on their website maybe the other colors are not coming through with their true shade/tone. I’m going to need informal, in natural light, Instagram kind of pics to make a final decision. But those prices though.
Looks like something timex would design. Pretty good looking
Great review, but I wish I knew why I struggle to appreciate so many microbrand watches. In other news, I'm about to have a go at bringing a Casio MTD 1010 back to life, so wish me luck...
These "skin diver" lugs work exceptionally well also with a mesh bracelet.
Interesting colour matching and lighting, improved camera work. Review- good.
I like the dial, id be interested in seeing it with some milsub/aviator/sinn-esk hands and a colour bezel insert. Perhaps lose a line of text from the bottom to clean it up a bit and I reckon they'd have a sweet low cost alternative to the sinn 556/856 with some diver flare.
I have two full lumed dials and would prefer a black or dark blue hour/minute handset without lume as surely a lumed dial should allow dark contrasting hands to be used.
You should do a long island watch!
good candidate for lume crown wars :)
Misleading marketing is a deal breaker Mr Hemel. Sharpen up!
Does the hour hand pointed tip match the chevron on the minute hand when they overlap? That would be a really neat little detail if it did.
q.e.d. great math reference Jody! 😄
Another 2 am in California when I work in the morning, but of course a new JOMW video comes first. Gotta have priorities set right?
Shane, we have spoken about this mate. Go to bed! Hahahahah!
Think it’s a nice watch and the stainless bezel white dial a arabics make a little different. The full lume on alot of these watches is oversold iMO. Night time is for sleeping and no one’s going scuba in one of these. Just put great lume on the hands and indices numbers and call it done! So in summary its a actually a $399 usd watch hoping to sell based solely on product positioning in the microbrand community for $499 usd. The clasp is actually a disgrace. Only Seiko should be able to pull that stunt off. That’s penny pinching at $499. Nice review as usual MR M!
How about starting a microbrand subreddit? Facebook is a cesspool and I refuse to give them my information
worth 99 bucks that's it
Speaking of Long Island Watches, any chance of reviewing some Islanders?
I already belong to that group it is a great group
Love the shirt mate!
400 dollar watch.... Hemel can update us when it goes on sale cause of lack of demand. Thanks Jody
Jody, thanks for showing us all these amazing watches, sadly I don't agree "the League" is a good community for watch lovers at all. Post anything that's not limited in pieces and not run by just a small team will get your posts criticized, removed and banned if you try to retaliate against the snobbery. I've had a better experience on Reddit. The people on there won't like if you start posting something that isn't limited as hell or else it's not 'microbrand' enough.
I have one black chrono VK64 Hemel which I reviewed a few years ago and it's quite good. A V2 of this watch should be released imo. The hands could be a little thicker and longer with the minute hand touching the single rail track. The lume should be upgraded and the clasp for me would look better in a Hemel signed Submariner homage design. And lastly, I would like the two lines of text above the 6 in a smaller, less spread out font.
Great. Send me my prize!
Yes!
2 mins 40 seconds in Jody ? But that reminds me of a vostock ? Forgive me if I commented prematurely and you do reference vostock. , Cheers Pal. .
You cannot call any watch a strap monster unless it has drilled lugs. This Hemel is a nice looking watch with that stainless steel bezel but not everyone will appreciate its half-pilot & half-dive watch design roots. I bought a Hemel Brabant with a VK61 mechaquartz movement and it's a great watch. One other thing to note is that the box is the only thing you get with the watch...no warranty card or instructions etc...Hemel did away with that to control costs. With that being said, they do keep track of every purchase and they do take care of their customers. I wasn't happy with the first watch I received which had a great VK64 movement albeit a very stiff bezel and they let me return it for a full refund. The Brabant arrived and it's a beautifully executed pilot style chronograph. I would buy from Hemel again and will keep an eye on future releases. I will definitely join the League of Microbrands especially knowing that Marvin is involved!
Glad to hear they at least have great service; I've definitely been tempted by more than one of their pieces.
On drilled lugs, I don't think it's quite fair to couple the feature so tightly to the term "strap monster," as that'll leave us without a term for countless watches that truly are great on just about any strap (especially many in my vintage collection). Also, drilled lugs impact looks, and not necessarily in a good way (such as on dressier Grand Seikos). However, I'll agree that this Hemel practically _begs_ for them.
Usually "strap monster" refers to a watch that looks good on a variety of straps, it has nothing to do with the ease of swapping said straps (otherwise, you could entirely convert to quick-release straps and have a whole collection of strap monsters). And changing a strap isn't a big deal either way.
Bit expensive for what it is, RZE do titanium watches with the same movement for less, nice watch though just at least $100 too expensive for me….
The Zelos Blacktip was a much better executed skin diver for the same price. Unfortunately those are sold out now. I wonder how much they paid for these from the Chinese factory? Thanks for the heads up on The League of Microbrands!
Jody, please review a NOMOS Ahoi if you can
Ooftie! Nice, but not exactly cheap!
Hey Jody, sometimes i search for the second meaning of your of you shirt choices, in this video it was star wars related, you know Mark Hemel...i mean Hamill...you know that:DDD
Dial and handset looks like the original blancpain fifty fathoms!
Awesome shirt! 👑
What a T-Shirt? My god... great!!!! You must made a video with-about your T-Shirts :-)
“Beads of Jubilee” would be a good folk-rock band name.
Love changing my straps on my watches.
Provides a "new" look-n-feel to my watches so this one would be perfect in my roster of mainly-microbrand watch collection.
I therefore registered to the microbrand facebook group.
Thanks for sharing!
Hmmm, $500? Myota 9015. Wasn't there a watch more sensibly priced? Oh yes Miyota 9015 for $95? That's Ridiculous!!
It's the more expensive Miyota 9039 Says that on the caseback.
@@tortugabob 6:39 same movement but without a date
@@ZiggityPow But without the complications for day/date and therefore no ghost positions on the stem. There is a difference.
Absolutely stunning watch.
However, this is Tissot/Certina territory. For that price, I think you get a better deal from those brands, plus they will hold their value better.
Only real niggle is when viewed straight at the dial the chapter ring appears to be part of the bezel making the proportions look completely wrong, perhaps its different "hands on". I wonder how big the dial actually is. There are certainly cheaper similar watches out there but it's an original design and it's not big brand pricing.
Love that t shirt !
I'm the odd man out here, for sure, in that I know that clasp well and quite like it.
That clasp needs to be longer with more adjustments for that price..
Little surprised at how quickly the dial fades. Pretty sure my little Lorus would outlast this one.
Hi Jodi, great review nice looking watch but not for me keep up the good work.
For the aircraft/military guys..The Convair SeaDart is actually on display at the “Wings of Freedom” aircraft museum in Horsham Pennsylvania. It’s been there 40+ years that I can remember. The watch doesn’t make sense at that price-sorry.
Mmmh 🤔, more like a Sea Tart. Odd proportions, mixed flavor. Way too expensive. Great Tee, dood 🤟 - perfect fit for your yellow Casioak 👊!
Applied to The League of Microbrands!
Hemel means `"heaven" in Dutch.
I don’t think $499 is a bad price. Seems pretty standard for a 9039 steel bracelet microbrand diver
Think this one does not work so well for me. Not a fan of the dial - wish it had some depth or applied indices. Also don't like that the hands appear whiter than the dial. I really like the stainless steel bezel, but not sure why it's so wide and overhangs the case. Finally, really don't like how the endlinks protrude as they do. But thought the watch did look better on those other straps.
Really like the watch, but that end link is a catastrophe.
Hemel means heaven in dutch. I was wandering if there is a connection? Does somebody know this?
Nice enough watch but for that money I'd want the lume to last more than 6 or so minutes. Think I will stick to my timex indiglo at a 1/5th of the price.
Any suggestions for affordable microbrand field watches, Jody ? :) Would make for a nice video
I'll add it to the list, Dominik!
island watches new drop
@@JustOneMoreWatch Thanks, much appreciated !
@@theasxsimplified9391 Thank you, I was just looking at them few days ago... I'm doing my research before purchase and Islanders are one of the contestants :)
@@DominikFerencik If you really want some real and proper field watch, tough, super durable and more affordable than you would expect, try some of various G-shock models. Yeah, it's not a microbrand, but at least it's not suitable only for wearing in the office environment. 😉
The dial almost looks like a Sinn(with more clutter, lol)
Just perfect tool. But... I'd prefer a standard classic dial (black/brown for example). Because this full-lume one looks great at night, but somehow sloppy during the day. I think the reason for this is the inability to make a real perfect print on such a surface.
Any chance you'll be looking at the new glycine 39mm combat sub?
I have they are thin enough, that is all.
Feels cheap and the one I saw had a horrible dial, so many blemishes under the slightest of magnification. I have no experience with Glycine other than that one piece so I'm not making a statement on Invicta or anyting. I'm interested in their pilot watches so not a heater
@@winstonsmiththx1138 that's a shame...some of the images online look really nice. Not the bracelet though...
@@raybyrne9168 now that you mention I do remember that the bracelet case links don't seem to match the case so yes it looks a little strange together.
Looks like a Vostok 🤔
Thought it was a Vostok at first glance. (Vostok 120847b) very similar. (Much nicer of course)
it's nice.
Jody, I am begging you: where did you get the tshirt? I needs it.
Why? Are you a 12 year old girl or something? 😆
@@damyr No, I’m a 53 year old man who likes Princess Leia and pink. Thanks for asking, and have a wonderful day.
@@waltwearswatches3056 Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was a Star Wars character. Tho, now you rather sound like a confused 12 yo boy. 😆
But never mind. Have a nice one yourself.
@@damyr By all means, explain your comment. In what way do I sound confused? Or 12? Because I like pink? Are you laboring under the false notion that colors and color preference are somehow gender specific? If so, someone misled you. Your need to suggest that there is something wrong with me smacks of some pretty deep insecurities within yourself. Respectfully, the one who sounds confused here is you. I’ll close by adding that you also seem to be implying that there’s something wrong with Jody for wearing the shirt as well, which makes you a guest with poor manners.
@@waltwearswatches3056 I mean, it's not only color, but the way you've asked for it (excited like a little girl) and of course because of the fact that the movie franchise was made for 12 year olds.
But that's ok. I suppose it's normal for some people to behave like little kids. No harm for anyone in that. So, there's nothing wrong with you, nor with Jody.
Now, go with peace and bless you, kiddo.
😉😂
For all intents and purposes this could very well be a Vostok!
Ha something about the top down view of the case reminded me of this too!
...for all intents and purposes...
You know where I was off too.. I'm old with slow thumbs so rely on this I'll type what I like thing that seems to be loaded on my phone! For me a smart phone is one that matches my F@$%*G belt and shoes😆
Nice design... 👍
Ah year, it’s because it reminds me of my Baltic Aquascaphe SB01 ! 😎
But clearly less vintage and more pilot inspired.
Definitely strong on lum.