by Vincent Deschamps
Frogmen of Paris: Diver 200m Mecaquartz
Our frenzy over dive watches won’t die down anytime soon, or ever. Even if most of us actually don’t put wet suits on to explore the underwater world (I do!). Perhaps many of us do buy divers because we like their versatility and what they mean for those of us who wear them—distinguished adventurers? Successful entrepreneurs? Savvy collectors? Military men or women? Whichever reason you may have to own one or multiple such timekeeping devices, you may be interested in reading about a new-ish model that packs lots of good specs for a relatively meager sum of money. New-ish because the brand and case design come with quite a bit of history and both have recently made a comeback.
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H.G.P., which stands for “Hommes Grenouilles de Paris” or (“Paris’ Frogsmen” in English) was, from the 1970s through the end of the 1990s, a dive shop in Paris which sold dive watches (under its name) made by G. Monnin, a figure of the watch manufacturing industry best known for selling a particular case design which today’s protagonist is endowed with. (And which we find on many other divers.) H.G.P. was revived in 2020 by the same horological entrepreneur who revived Wolbrook/Douglas, and more recently Elgé, focusing on attainable and well-built tool watches. H.G.P. specializes in dive watches and the 200M Mecaquartz is the brand’s latest and most affordable offering coming in at $282 USD on the bracelet.
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Key Features of the H.G.P. Diver 200m Mecaquartz
Case & bracelet
The first piece of information you already have about this model’s specifications is contained in its name: 200 meters of water resistance guaranteed by a screw-down crown and case-back. That’s a lot of water resistance for amateur divers like yours truly and for many commercial divers as well. This impressive depth rating is paired with a beefy case measuring 42mm in diameter, 47mm lug-to-lug, 11.9mm thick and coming with a 20mm lug width. Though it is “beefy” as I mentioned, it sits surprisingly well on my modest French wrist of 6.50”/16.5cm thanks to having a flat profile (something I will get back to later on). The bracelet I have it on is substantial, a fully brushed beads-of-rice which looks great on this model and which comes with push-pins and six old-school holes of micro-adjustments.
Dial & calibre
The crystal is a flat piece of sapphire with several layers of inner anti-reflective coating, and the bezel is of the unidirectional variety with 120 precise clicks and an insert made of anodized aluminum (anodizing is a process by which a metal is dipped into a water bath that is electrified causing the metal to darken). In terms of lume we find plenty of Super-LumiNova C3 on the hands, raised (not applied) hour markers, and the triangle at the twelve o’clock on said bezel insert. The 200M is powered by a Seiko VH31 mecaquartz caliber that has a satisfying sweep seconds hand, a stated accuracy of +/-15 seconds per month and battery life of two years. As we might agree, this model indeed comes with lots of good specs which guarantee that you will find yourself with a reliable and worry-free diver.
Of Interest
The H.G.P. 200M is interestingly classic (nice pun, right?) and is such in two ways. First, by way of the design of the case which, as mentioned in the introduction, made a comeback. In other words, it’s an old design. This type of case, which many enthusiasts and collectors refer to as a “Monnin Case,” became popular in the 1970s by being found on hundreds of divers and on one particular Tag HEUER, the 8440 series. Historically they were made by G. Monnin in France and the manufacturer seems to have also made a comeback (read: it probably shut its doors down following the Quartz Revolution). The case here has the reference 844-2331 which would indicate that the aforementioned Tag HEUER took its name from the case model. The visual characteristics of the Monnin case are: a flat profile, a rounded shape, wide lugs, wide rounded chamfers, and flared crown guards at the three o’clock.
The H.G.P. 200M is also classic in its dial layout. We find the same configuration as we’ve seen on thousands of divers since the 1950s, that is hour markers of various shapes—batons at the 3, 6, 9, inverted triangle at the twelve, and circular elements everywhere else—paired with a short and stubby hour hand (which looks like an unfinished Mercedes hand,) a baton-style minute hand, as well as a thin seconds hand equipped with a lume element. Honestly, it doesn’t get much more classic than this because it works darn well. In other words, the H.G.P. 200M won’t surprise you in terms of novelty in design but it will probably charm you for looking so classic. And whether you wear it on the bracelet or a rubber strap, you get yourself what I would shamelessly define as being a “proper” diver. So you have the looks and specs for one at, again a reasonable price of $282 USD.
Specs
| Case | Titanium /w UltraHex 42mm Diameter 47mm Lug to Lug 11.9mm 20mm Lug Width Screw Down Crown & Case Back 200m Water Resistance |
| Dial & Crystal | Sapphire Crystal Matte Dial Raised Markers Cathedral Handset C3 Super-LumiNova |
| Movement | Seiko VH31 Mecaquartz |
| Strap | Beads of Rice Bracelet |
H.G.P. Diver 200m Mecaquartz
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Final Thoughts
At the risk of sounding like every other watch reviewer, I would say that the H.G.P. 200M Mecaquartz is a value-packed offering that comes with a timeless design. And sometimes that’s all you or I need and are looking for. But it makes sense that the modern version of the brand would make classic-looking watches as it did under old management for many decades before it shut down. Thankfully, the plethora of micro and independent brands are getting better and better at coming up with new designs for divers, so it’s nice to be able to buy vintage-looking ones for not too much money. But H.G.P. also makes automatic versions and with date complications, so I suggest taking a look at the brand’s website.
About the author
Vincent Deschamps is a museum professional, originally from France, with more than 10 years experience as a researcher, producing visitor experiences for national and international organizations. He is also the founder of mainspring.watch. You can follow Vincent on Instagram.
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