Although the brand’s field and pilot’s watch offerings generally receive more attention from enthusiasts, Hamilton has a robust dive watch legacy dating all the way back to original Hamilton Frogman built for the U.S. Navy in 1943. The Frogman nameplate has been reserved for the marque’s boldest and most capable dive watch offerings ever since, and for 2022 Hamilton returns to the Khaki Navy Frogman series with an imposing, purposeful new look. The newly refreshed Hamilton Khaki Navy Frogman Automatic series blends aggressive modern styling with impressive finishing and robust performance, creating a genuine contender in the hotly contested professional dive watch segment.

At 46mm-wide and 13.58mm-thick, there’s no denying that the stainless steel case of the new Hamilton Khaki Navy Frogman Automatic should carry a hefty, muscular presence on the wrist. Although the sizing is aggressive, the actual case design is clean and angular, with a handful of unique visual hallmarks. The lugs are classic diver fare in images, with tapering angular profiles and strong, flat brushed planar surfaces. The gear-toothed unidirectional bezel is another diver staple given a beefier twist, with a matte insert in either black or bare metal topped by a raised, brightly polished dive scale. Where the Khaki Navy Frogman Automatic begins to build a distinctive identity, however, is through its case sides. The 9 o’clock side of the case features a squared-off projection topped with an engraved Hamilton emblem to counterbalance the low-profile crown guards in images, along with a smooth continuous polished chamfer from lug tip to lug tip. In addition to the traditional crown guards, however, the Khaki Navy Frogman Automatic’s chunky 3 o’clock crown is protected by a bold, stylized loop-style outer crown guard. This gives the design a touch of heavy-duty Ploprof-style industrial solidity in images, and should effectively prevent the crown from being accidentally knocked out of position while underwater. The optional black PVD coating gives these clean, squared-off lines an added dose of sinister aggression in images, replacing the brushed finishing with simple matte surfaces and giving the design a stark monochrome look. Hamilton finishes this case design with an etched solid caseback, featuring a stylized scuba mask motif. This heavy, purposeful design language isn’t just for show, as Hamilton rates the Khaki Navy Frogman Automatic for a deep sea-ready 300 meters of water resistance.

Like the case, the dial of the new Hamilton Khaki Navy Frogman Automatic delivers a more muscular take on the classic dive watch formula in images. This no-date layout is remarkably simple at first glance, with a textured matte black dial surface topped by simple applied rectangular indices and blocky stencil-style applied Arabic numerals at 12 o’clock. Hamilton forges a stronger character for this layout through its handset, with a blunted arrow-style hours hand coupled to a similarly blunted dauphine minutes hand edged in blazing signal orange. A matching signal orange tip for the central seconds hand keeps the layout cohesive in images, while also drawing the eye towards the most crucial timekeeping elements at a glance during a dive. As with the case, the black PVD model gives this layout a more dramatic, tactical feel with low-contrast black lume and dial hardware in polished black.

Hamilton powers the Khaki Navy Frogman Automatic with the ETA-based H-10 automatic movement. As Hamilton’s variant of parent company Swatch Group’s Powermatic 80 line, the H-10 is a ruggedly modern powerplant with an excellent 80 hour power reserve at a 21,600 bph beat rate. An advanced Nivachron balance spring helps the H-10 to offer a solid level of magnetic and temperature resistance as well. Hamilton fits most variants of the Khaki Navy Frogman Automatic with accordion-style rubber dive straps in either black or khaki tan. For the bare metal bezel model, however, the brand instead opts for its take on the classic three-link oyster style bracelet in stainless steel.

With a fresh and aggressive new look, sharp finishing, and solid capability, the new Hamilton Khaki Navy Frogman Automatic line gives the brand’s long-running diver line an exciting new lease on life. The Hamilton Khaki Navy Frogman Automatic series is available now through authorized dealers. MSRP for the Hamilton Khaki Navy Frogman Automatic series ranges from $1,195 to $1,295 as of press time. For more information, please visit the brand’s website.