In horology, there are sub-genres within genres of timepieces which resonate particularly strongly with some of us the enthusiasts and collectors. Working down two levels within a group of watches opens the door to super niche machines originally made for specific people and distinct use-case scenarios. If you are into dive watches for example, you can either go deep into the luxury market dominated by a select few Swiss brands in the likes of Rolex, Omega, and Blancpain, whose underwater exploration timepieces will cost several times your monthly rent or mortgage. If you dig instead into the military sub-genre, you will be mostly met with microbrand offerings reviving some old references the original makers no longer produce, or proposing their own original designs inspired by dive watches that were assigned to military personnel. These military divers constitute therefore a sub-genre of a genre of timepieces you may be interest in, and one I fucking am obsessed with. Please, do pardon my French. 

If you are into tool and military watches it is because you either admire or have an interest in all things military, because you served or wish you did, or because you are particularly attracted to the ultimate definition of forms-follows-function in horology. (Or all of the above.) At their core, military tool watches were designed and spec’ed out to be reliable, legible, and discreet, and that is a personal philosophy I believe many military tool watch aficionados personally live by. At least I know I do. And all of this brings us to the H.G.P. Diver 300M Commando Blue, the re-issue of a 1970s military-souled H.G.P. diver the revived originally Paris-based dive shop made using Monnin cases as many dive-oriented houses of horology did during that time period. The new Diver 300M Commando is legible as hell, tough-as-nails, and will “only” set you back $666 USD on the bullet-style stainless steel bracelet as presented here which is, as we will see, pretty much a bargain in today’s watch market. 

Specifications 

On its website, H.G.P. refers to this model as being “Mil-Spec,” a designation which typically indicates a model designed and engineered following military specifications which strongly dictated how all military watches came out, whether they be of the field, pilot, or dive types. In H.G.P.’s case, this refers to the design of certain dial elements and the general inspiration stemming from military timepieces which were and are, in case you hadn’t realized it already, ultimately legible and superbly function-forward. We can extrapolate the “Mil-Spec” designation and aspect of any such timepieces, whether they are the original recreations of older models or their modern reinterpretations, to how brands spec out these watches today so that they are robust and reliable, whether they are meant to be used in military or civilian contexts. (And in the latter case, that is whether you actually dive or prefer to sport divers for your 9-to-5, to BBQ on the week-end, or to travel near and far. You do whatever you want boo.) 

When we study a watch’s specifications we often begin with the case because it feels natural to do so—as it is what supports the dial and where the mechanism that powers it lives—and for it drives the conversation about how the timepiece feels on the wrist. H.G.P. used Monnin cases as many popular and more obscure brands did—e.g. Heuer, Chronosport, CWC—and for the original Commando from the 1970s it opted for the 980.030 stainless steel chassis that seems to have made a first appearance during the same decade—an evolution of the ultra popular 844 from the mid 1970s found on countless dive watches from that same time period, including many H.G.P.’s and Le Forban as seen in La Marseillaise. H.G.P. brought back the 980 following a recent commission of an issued dive watch for the French Navy Divers, and I’m glad it did: the 980 is more compact than the 844 and historically came with an impressive 1,000m depth-rating. And as we will see, it has one element in common with the Squale 1521 developed in the late 1960s. 

And boy, the H.G.P. Diver 300M Commando wears superbly on my 6.50”/16.5cm wrist, whether on the stainless steel bracelet or a tropic rubber strap, as it clocks in at 41.5mm in diameter, 48.5mm lug-to-lug, 11.9mm thick and comes with a 20mm lug width. This is one of those times when the dimensions alone do not tell the whole story about how a watch actually feels on the wrist as its design is as important to explain the wearing experience as are the numbers printed on the spec sheet. And the 980 case is endowed with a beefy, muscular aesthetic I fell for immediately as soon as I opened the box. But there are more specifications that come into play in order to paint a full picture of what the Diver 300M Commando is capable of and how it explains, in part, its military inspiration if not heritage: 300 meters of water resistance made possible by a 5.6mm screw-down crown almost fully recessed within the case (as it was also in the 1970s,) and a screw-down case-back. A 300m depth rating is not 1,000 but more than we need. 

If you are an avid dive watch enthusiast and collector, and again whether or not you actually dive with your dive watches, you will most likely expect that such a timekeeping device comes with good lume and you won't be disappointed with what the H.G.P. has to offer: generous applications of SuperLuminova C3 lume on the hands, printed hour markers, and bezel pip, which appears a light lime green color during the day and glows bright green in dimly-lit or pitch-black environments. The bezel presents a rare bi-directional mechanism to make it easier to align the 12 o’clock triangle with the minute hand, made of 120 clicks which turn both ways with the same crispiness, whose fullly-graduated inlay is made of anodized aluminum for that extra durability and military-esque appearance, and whose steel assembly is more securely attached to the case by way of four screws placed within the excellent knurling. But there is more: a tried-and-tested Miyota 9039 caliber (4Hz/42 hours of power reserve) and a flat sapphire crystal. 

Design 

So we can pretty much agree that the H.G.P. Diver 300M Commando Blue is technically comprehensive and has what is necessary to be used in the field by the military: too much water resistance, a solid and reliable caliber, excellent lume, and a practical count-down bezel—yes, the inlay is graced by a fully-graduated count-down scale which I find more useful in my non-military day-to-day living—all of which can be had for $666 USD on the bracelet which is excellent in my own personal book. And the “commando” part, as mentioned in the introduction, also stems from its design and how today’s H.G.P. went about preserving what made its much older sibling stand out in the 1970s: a legible dial with typical military references we are about to discuss, all the while vibrating with a certain air of vintageness I didn’t know I would find so charming—the predominance of printed elements in today’s watch world that calls for applied markers of 3D blocks of lume actually feels refreshing event though it is profoundly old school. 

And the element that makes this dial “Commando” is in fact quite straightforward: it is the inclusion of the 24-hour military scale printed in white inward of the hour markers usually found on field watches and not underwater exploration timekeeping devices. This scale in and of itself automatically endows the H.G.P. with a military vibe I wish we would see more often on dive watches, and which is complemented by a suite of precisely designed and placed dial furnitures that further contribute to that purpose-driven aesthetic: the numerical emphasis put on the five-minute increments printed inside the minute track which help to more precisely read the minutes; the large printed hour markers and chevron-style ones placed at the cardinal points creating a visual target on the dial; the timeless pencil-style hour and minute hands garnished with matte white surrounds to refract light; the needle-shaped seconds hand equipped with a lumed arrow-shaped tip; and what the brand calls the “Scuba Dude” printed below the pinion. 

Earlier I gushed over the case’s profile and dimensions and its muscular appearance which it does have and which further adds to the military nature of this timepiece, for the 980.030 case presents a sort of tonneau profile equipped with sharper angles and a bit less metal than unusual, from which emanates an impression of the case having just what is necessary to be functional. More specifically, the lugs call for most of my attention whenever I’m looking at the case: they are wide and flat-bottomed but equipped with mirror-polished tapering chamfers that start wide at their end and narrows down towards the centre of the mid-case. For better or worse, they appear akin to the perfectly filed claws of a lion sitting aggressively on the wrist. There. Then we find a slab-sided left flank and an architectural right one, where the outermost portion is flat and angles back down towards each lug. The case was designed this way in order to protect the recessed crown, a feature previously present on the Squale 1521 chassis. 

The Heart of the Matter

The H.G.P. Diver 300M Commando Blue is a particular sub-genre of dive watches I have personally become fascinated by ever since I reviewed the Benrus Type 2 MIL-SPEC last December: military divers whose entire aesthetic, soul, and mechanical attributes were designed and chosen in order to provide for the most legible, robust, and purpose-driven dive watches out there. It is the kind of diver whose most minute details were thought through with the greatest care to support its raison d’être—of being a reliable and easy-to-use piece of gear—which should have found its way into many of the world’s military supply chains for it begs to be used outside of the safety of one’s office or backyard, and thrown into the field on perilous missions, worn by the bravest and toughest of folks. In other words, this H.G.P. Diver 300M might not have been born from an actual mil-spec but it surely appears as though it could have, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it point its nose in a future Watches of Espionnage’s article about the dive watches worn by active duty Navy SEALs. 

In other words, in spirit and in design and specifications, the Diver 300M Commando Blue is a military dive watch through-and-through, after all originally created in an era where many brands, whether big or small, popular or obscure, made military-destined dive watches, many of which I bet made it to the wrist of operators in situations that are more adrenaline-infused than BBQing pork ribs on Sunday evening after watching football. Which explains the subtitle of this review: it feels as if the H.G.P. answers its own Mil-Spec and that is what makes it so visually compelling and physically begging to be put through its paces. I will do my best to oblige. 

Conclusion 

The world isn’t perfect, we aren’t perfect, and we all come across watches that resonate with us with more or less intensity. Typically I prefer to review black dial tool watches but H.G.P. offered me to take a look at the blue variant of the Diver 300M Commando and I immediately said yes because the depth of the matte blue dial reminded of me the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea I spent many summer vacations snorkeling around and shallow-diving in. And surprisingly, I found the combination of the blue dial and blue bezel particularly attractive on this model. However, H.G.P. also makes the Diver 300M on a black dial if that would be more of your thing. In terms of prices, this diver will set you back $666 USD on the stainless steel bracelet (push pins, quick-release spring-bars, double-pushed deployant clasp with five holes of micro-adjustments,) $614 USD on a matching Tropic rubber strap, and $573 USD on a matching nylon one. I got to try the bracelet and Tropic and they are both excellent. 

Thanks for reading.