Hemel is one of those microbrands that leans into a sense of place. By its own description, it’s a New York–area outfit rooted on Long Island (Nassau County, close enough to Manhattan to make the point), and it’s grown around a founder whose background is design and branding rather than traditional watchmaking.
Its origin story is unusually straightforward: Marvin Menke originally ran Hemel as a design consultancy, the first watches were conceived as gifts for clients, and the idea only turned into a proper watch project once people around him pushed it beyond the holiday-present stage. Under that wider umbrella, Eylandt is presented as the more direct, specs-forward offshoot with “no-nonsense” pricing, and even the name is a small nod to home — “Eylandt” being framed as the Dutch word for “island” in reference to Long Island.
That context makes the latest Eylandt release easier to read. The Puck is a lug-less, puck-shaped 40mm watch that’s essentially built around silhouette first: a clean, no-lug disc of steel with the strap tucked underneath, kept relatively slim at 11mm, and paired with a Japanese VH31 quartz movement chosen specifically for its smoother-seeming seconds cadence. The idea is to deliver an everyday tool-ish watch with a bit more visual intention than you tend to see below the US$200 mark.
The case
In the metal, the case architecture does most of the work. A lug-less watch lives or dies on proportion — too tall and it turns into a hockey puck, too wide and it becomes all bezel — so the 11mm thickness matters as much as the 40mm diameter. The strap disappears under the case, which usually helps the watch sit “shorter” on the wrist than the same diameter with protruding lugs. Eylandt pairs that disc profile with a rotating coin-edge bezel. It’s a 120-click setup, marked out for timing duties, and it has a small “floating” lumed pip that sits proud at the bezel edge.
Finishing is pitched as purposeful rather than precious: brushed surfaces where you’d expect them for day-to-day wear, with a contrasting polished surface that catches the light and stops the case from reading too flat. The crown is set low around 4 o’clock. Up top is a flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating; down below is a screw-down caseback that’s engraved with the brand’s logo, and the whole package is rated to 100 metres of water resistance.
The dial
Where the Puck becomes more than a case study is in the dials. Eylandt frames the range as four distinct variations tied to familiar archetypes — field, maritime, motorsport, aviation — but the more useful way to think about them is as graphic design exercises executed within the same physical template. There’s a consistent family language (the case, the bezel feel, the bright accent colour that turns up again and again), but each dial changes the emotional temperature of the watch.
The Avenger is the most legible “field” of the four. It runs a black base with a bold outer minute track and an inner 24-hour scale, then uses oversized numerals that feel slightly playful. There’s a crosshair at the centre that adds to the instrument vibe, and an orange seconds hand with an arrow tip. Lume is present on the hands and indices.
The Navigator sits in the aviation lane. The triangle-at-12 marker language is there in spirit, and the layout is built for high contrast and quick orientation. The most telling detail is the dial text: “Electronic” is printed plainly. The numerals are clean and contemporary, and the orange seconds hand keeps it aligned with the rest of the range.
The Radio Room is the outlier in the best way. It takes the idea of maritime communication references and turns it into a bold, segmented dial that reads like a piece of functional signage, featuring high-contrast Arabic numerals over a white base, with salmon and orange wedges radiating from the centre. The “Radio Room” label is printed into the dial as a literal thematic anchor, while an inner 24-hour scale adds an extra layer of information. The dial itself is fully lumed — not just glowing hands and plots, but an entire face that lights up.
If the Radio Room is graphic in a crisp, almost institutional way, the Snelway leans into motorsport cues with more cheek. The bezel goes full checkerboard, and the dial is divided into blocks of colour — a sky-blue field over a bright orange segment, separated by a thin white band and centred around a star motif. Additionally, it features applied indices and angular hands.
The movement
The movement choice is, quietly, one of the more telling decisions. Inside is Seiko’s VH31 quartz calibre, with what Eylandt describes as a sweep seconds display that ticks four times per second.
The strap
Across the range, Eylandt keeps the supporting cast consistent: Italian leather straps with bold contrast stitching and a signed brushed buckle. The darker, more utilitarian-looking references are shown on black leather, while the brighter dials are paired with walnut brown.
Closing thoughts
The Puck looks like a deliberate attempt to bring a more considered industrial design silhouette and bolder dial graphics into a price bracket that often defaults to either disposable fun or overly familiar homage. Whether you’re drawn to the honest “Electronic” branding, the full-lume theatrics of the Radio Room, or the checkered bravado of the Snelway, the underlying point is the same: the case is the canvas, and the dial is where Eylandt is trying to show its hand.
Eylandt Puck pricing & availability
The Eylandt Puck is now available directly from Hemel’s e-shop. Price: US$200
Brand
Eylandt by Hemel
Model
The Puck
Case Dimensions
40mm (D) x 11mm (T)
Case Material
316L stainless steel
Water Resistance
100 meters
Crystal(s)
Sapphire front
Dial
Black or multi-coloured
Lug Width
20mm
Bracelet
Black or walnut-brown Italian genuine leather strap
Movement
Seiko VH31, quartz with smooth seconds sweep
Functions
Hours, minutes, seconds, unidirectional timing bezel
Availability
Available now
Price
US$200