You can blame that title on growing hearing Bob Seger on the radio all the time. Any which way, over at Hemel, they just announced two new additions to their Night Ops lineup. Since we’ve not covered them previously – and one flew in under the radar this summer – we thought we’d cover off on them all.
First up, you’ve got the two newest pieces, the Hemel 24 and the Hemel Track. Both of these are very much field watches, and what you need to decide is if you want a 24-hour dial (military style, so the 24 hour markers are inside) or not, and if you what sort of handset you want. I find myself more drawn to the Hemel Track, but that is largely on the basis of the elongated triangles that are getting used for the handset. Both feature the same 40mm case (with 20mm lugs and 100m WR rating), sapphire crystal, and signed push crowns (incredible what good gaskets can do). Inside the case, you’ve got the trusty Miyota 9039 taking care of business. Whichever you go for, you’ll be putting $399 down on the barrel to pick one up.
If your tastes go more towards chronographs, Hemel has you covered there in the Night Ops lineup as well. As you had some choice (hands and dial) with the previous two watches, you’ve got choice here. While the chronographs both feature the VK64 (with it’s oh-so-satisfying click reset) and the same 42mm case (and sapphire, of course), they differ on the bezel inserts. You can have yourself a 12-hour bezel (which can function as the “poor man’s GMT”) or a 60-minute countdown bezel, which swaps in a ceramic insert for the steel of the other one. Regardless of the choice, you’ll be paying $449 for the piece.
Last, but certainly not least, we’ve got the night-time diver of the bunch, the Hemel Hydrodurance. This is a watch that was released over the summer, but just sort of swam past everyone’s seawalls without a ripple in the water. Well, let’s change that. This is my favorite of the bunch, by a long shot. First off, you’ve got that lumed sapphire “life preserver” bezel which are always lovely on top of the 42mm case, and offset by the domed sapphire crystal. Under that, you’ve got a dial that should be a lume hound, as it looks to be a sandwich construction with very healthy cutouts for the indices. Over that, you’ve got the standard sort of a diver handset, complete with the high-viz orange hand. While the other watches in this collection come on leather or nylon, this one comes on a matched steel bracelet, another nice upgrade. As with the field watches, we’ve got the Miyota 9039 doing timekeeping duties. At $600 it’s the most expensive of the bunch, but I think you’ll be pleased with it.
Now, with these blacked-out watches, you’d except some sort of a themed Black Friday sale, right? Well, while you won’t see a discount code (the little guys need to keep some money in their pockets) you will be able to pick up a branded pocketknife (pictured up above) for watches purchased during the Black Friday weekend. I don’t know about you, but I like what I see, and we’ll see about getting a review loaner in from Hemel hemelwatches.com
