Microbrand
HGP (Hommes Grenouilles de Paris)
hgp-watches.comBorn in 1970, HGP flourished as a prominent diving equipment store in the heart of Paris, outfitting French Navy frogmen and civilian divers with masks, regulators and dive watches commissioned from French and Swiss partners, including watchmaker Georges Monnin whose distinctive case design became a signature. The shop closed in the 1990s and the name went dormant until it was revived in 2023, returning to production at MNP Solutions Horlogeres in Pierrefontaine-les-Varans in the Franche-Comte. Each watch is now assembled by hand in France with movements regulated in-house, and the lineup leans on vintage utilitarian diver aesthetics from the 1970s and 1980s. HGP has also drawn attention through a high-profile collaboration with tactical brand Prometheus Design Werx on a Monnin-case 200M diver.
Worth knowing
HGP relies on off-the-shelf Seiko NH-series automatic and Seiko mecaquartz movements rather than in-house calibers, and 'assembled in France' is not the same as fully French-made, so buyers seeking horological prestige or manufacture movements should look elsewhere; the appeal is heritage styling and value, not haute horlogerie.
The watches
