REVIEW: HEMEL… “what a pleasure to review such a professional company making such beautifully designed timepieces. hemelwatches.com
That is why having worked with HEMEL and now worn a HEMEL i am delighted to recommend them . The watches are beautifully made in small bathces. The branding is perfect and the aeronautical themes.
These are Iconic military timepieces refashioned for the modern gentleman and true watch enthusiast. Practical and beautifully designed.
Most importantly
Microbrands are the ideological backbone of the watch industry.
They’re not focus groups or legacy committees deciding what’s “safe.” They’re individuals — often one or two people — who believe so deeply that a certain watch should exist that they’re willing to will it into reality. These are entrepreneurs of every stripe: designers, engineers, historians, collectors, tinkerers. People bootstrapping every step of the journey, learning logistics, manufacturing, regulation, and customer support as they go.
There’s real personal risk involved. Savings accounts get drained. Credit cards get maxed. Sleep gets lost. And yet they move forward anyway — not because spreadsheets demand it, but because the idea won’t let them go.
Microbrands preserve things the broader industry often abandons: mechanical honesty, historical continuity, thoughtful proportions, and genuine experimentation. They take chances on movements, designs, and stories that don’t fit neatly into mass-market formulas. Many of the most interesting ideas in modern watchmaking aren’t coming from boardrooms — they’re coming from kitchen tables and late-night CAD files.
Without microbrands, the industry would be quieter, safer… and far less interesting.
– Marvin Menke, Founder, Hemel Watches
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