A Key Wound watch in 2024?? - Hvlina L&MR Railway Watch 

Some things aren't made for connivance, but for beauty! And, sometimes the ritual of do something is part of the charm and what makes something special. This is that watch! Great review as always!!! Love the channel!!

This is super cool. Definitely art piece first, time keeper second. And I thought for sure the price would be twice what they are asking for it. Thanks for showing it to us!

Hey Dave thanks for this review! A couple of insights if you'll permit me. The first is that I do know that key wine can be a little awkward but especially so if you use the key the way you did in the video. Rather than spinning it in the fingers, I would just grip it as with a car key and turn it back and forth. The ratcheting action of the winding pinion should allow you to do this relatively easily, just like when winding a manual watch with a crown. The second thing, and I don't know if British watches were like this, but one of the requirements of American railroad pocket watches was that they set with a setting lever and that the setting lever be under the bezel. This required removing the bezel in order to set the time. Super inconvenient so why did they do it? The inconvenience was the point. With the setting lever under the bezel there was no way to accidentally set the time while the watch was being handled or worn. It wouldn't be hard to imagine that this is the same idea behind having the spring bar hold the crown down so that you can't set it without removing the strap. Simply put it's a feature not a bug, and probably very intentional that you can't set the watch unless you take it off and take the strap off. The American railroad pocket watch standard which included the under the bezel setting lever, was instituted after a fatal crash occurred that was determined to have been caused by a conductor's watch being 5 minutes off. I think with that bit of American railroad history in mind the crown being held down by the spring bar so that you can't set the watch accidentally makes a LOT more sense. I like the concept and design of this watch, though I too would have preferred it with a running seconds hand, nice though the Open heart might be.

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Very bold for a company to make this watch in today’s world. Seems like a good value for a different style watch.

Oh! very beautiful watch!

I really like this watch. So unique, and I like trains, so bonus there. And for what you're getting, the price was very surprising, I was expecting a lot more! I'm very tempted by this one.

Love the design. Only wish you had done it sooner before it was sold out!

It's a surprisingly likeable design. That case really appeals. The practical drawbacks much less so. I'm also not big on open hearts. I suppose I would have preferred some kind of seconds implementation. Interestingly done dial, though perhaps gets a bit literal into the theme. It does indeed seem too large. I'm intrigued by the design concept most of all, lile the wrap around lugs which remind me of some Michel Herbelin designs

Great review Dave. Keep up the good work. Very balanced presentation!

It's a beautiful time piece but I gotta have a seconds hand..great review!

I wish I dressed up more. This would be a great "night out on the town" watch. Or "wear to the office daily for a week" watch, and fhen alrernate with another watch for a few weeks. I think this is a lovely watch. I dont mind the key - Im wesring my manual wind CW diver roday and I wore a manual wind chrono for a few days previously, and my manual wind Moonie was my daily driver for a decade.

The Idea with the key is interesting, but it would have been much nicer, to integrate the key/winding mechanismus into the case construction. (Like Ulysse Nardin, Urwerk,Bulova)Seems a bit fiddly too, winding the watch with and without the key.

Instantly bought the Swiftsure. Shame the Phoenix is sold out, but this is indeed a beautiful watch so for 400 euros including number engraving I'll take any inconveniences as they are.

I realize it's a tribute and not a real railroad watch, but I still find it interesting that, without a seconds hand, it doesn't meet the number one criteria for a basic railroad watch. First requirement, whether a wrist or pocket watch, is that it "display the time in hours, minutes, and seconds."

Not a fan of the Apple watch case shape or the key. But the dial design is super cool. I think they should've had an orange sec hand to add a pop of color

The dial engraving with those indices and hands are just superb. Several other great details as well, but you're right about this wearing too large, and lets not mention the key and crown silliness. That said, I will be very interested to see what Hvilna do next. Hopefully they can come up with the same attention to detail on a more conventional shape, and for a similarly competitive price-point.

It's not a polish brand! Hvilina - brand from Belarus. It's opened in 2014 and first work with individual orders. In 2020 they reorganized and become a factory. Nowdays, they create watches in Belarus only

I haven't been getting any notification from your channel 🤷 Hello Dave !

Interesting watch. That case design might lend itself to a reverso-style watch with a dial on the front AND back. Of course the side rails would need some support for the body to rotate. Good vid. Your eyes look tired. Try to get some rest. Keep at it!

I wad guessing the price throughout the video, with so much design element, decent movement and limited edition I was hovering £650. Guess I should pick one up.

Very cool

Seems like they could've made the watch flip like a Reverso. That would've made manually winding the watch much easier.

😮 Really Really Beautifull.!! - Perfect balance in size for my taste. I like what the watch market offers beside the price & luxury. This is a watch that propably consider buying 😮. (Is a piece of history, Time is our everything) . Don't need a lot of buget................ to have a great collection. Remember the watch is only a detail, In Marketing call luxury- high class... etc... Createtivity or memory's are not for sell. Thats the point of a collection set of watches.. 🎉❤ peace

One final thought, if I were the designers of this watch I might have gone whole hog on the key set idea, and encapsulated a crown into the watch that has to be turned with the key. Maybe have a little lever or something that can push the crown into winding or setting mode but keep the crown itself completely within the case so that it cannot be turned with the fingers. I say if you're going to have a gimmick commit to it 😁

I feel like most times a watch company goes for "unique" design, it often results in something pretty loud or overbuilt. I like how this maintains a classy retro vibe, despite such an unusual case and dial. People interested in this sort of key-driven watch, and/or a similar design-forward mentality, might also check out the brand Lima.

Whilst I like the unique design and the reference/inspiration is interesting, the absence of a seconds hand is a shame and as soon as I saw how large it was on your wrist, it was obvious just how big it is. The winding/setting part isn't much of an issue given that they did put quick release spring bars on it, and removing the strap means you get to interact with it more as opposed to simply winding it the standard way. The price came as a pleasant surprise too.

It's not for me but it is unique and I can see a watch designed around an idea or theme in my collection one day

Just a small correction. The first railway line was the Stockton and Darlington Railway, not the L& MR. The timepiece is very interesting and I like it!

That's a beautiful watch! Would you consider to review the upcoming Bramier Trilayer GMT? Also a highly beautiful watch! Thanks in advance!

This watch had me right up to where you have to remove the strap to set it. I can deal with the key since it's automatic anyway and I love the design, but setting it and removing the strap every time I put it on is causing a line, which is a shame.

I like it .Good review . ATB

I like the idea of a watch that commemorates an event in history, but I find it odd that a company from Belarus now headquartered in Poland is celebrating an event in British history. Nevertheless, it's a nice looking watch.

IIRC it's belarusian brand (hv-ili-na, not h-v-lina) which means "minute"

Nice and original design

It's from Belarus actually

The company is not from Poland. Its from Belarus

I can appreciate the design philosophy, but when it makes the watch too big to be easily wearable, and hard to wind, I'll pass. I don't have it in me to trade off usability for style.

"there's a cutaway at 3:00 that allows you to see into part of the movement that is cut away so that you can look into the balance wheel" seems like a very long way to get there. I respect that some people prefer plain dials to Open hearts and don't like skeletonized movements and maybe don't even like visible case backs. That is fine but I don't understand this preference at all. I guess it might get kind of old if every watch had an open heart or a skeleton dial, but I certainly like having my fair share of open worked watches in my collection.

Naming a watch brand a thing that sounds arbitrarily similar to 'javalina' seems ... slightly unfortunate!?

Hvilina from Belarus, not from Poland.

dig this design. but that green is awful. they could have done a deep red or blue, in addition to the creme/black/white

Could do without the open heart, otherwise great watch.

With the crown location it should be quartz. And a high accuracy one.

Is like a toy no thanks

Interesting. But not a fan of the drawbacks and it looks too big

I'd buy this instantly if you didn't have to TAKE THE STRAP OFF to set the time. That is insanity to me.

This is very funny trolling of UK by Belarus, because Hvilina is not from Poland. Hvilina is from UK sanctioned country Belarus because of full support of russian invasion to Ukraine. russian troops that made massacre in Bucha actually arrived from Belarus. Please you shouldn't review watches from Belarus, russia, iran, north korea, hamas, taliban and so on

Gimmick. I pass.