Heimdallr has released a new model called Tactical Frog. I mean yeah, why not? It’s a budget dive watch with 200m depth resistance, a steel case, screwdown crown and some nice lume. Makes an interesting alternative to an Orient Kamasu, a Seiko Divers 200 or one of the many Indie brand watches that are rated at 200m.
There is also a teal/turquoise dial colour option, which is pretty rare on a 44mm gents watch we think. Here’s the tech spec – price on Ali Express is $179 at the mo.
Movement: Japan NH35 automatic, 41 hours of energy storage.
Case material: Surgical grade stainless steelcase
Bezel: 120 click unidirect rotational bezel
Finish:brushed
Band: Stainless steel watch band. Note: It doesn’t fit any straps in our store
Watch mirror: sapphire crystal with AR coating.
Water resistance: 200 m / 20 ATM
Luminous: Swiss C3 green
Crown: Screwdown Crown
Case back: Screwback Case
Hands: hacking second hands (second hand stops when setting the time)
Watch Dimension
Case Size: 44x43mm
Case thickness: 12.9mm
Lug width: 20mm
Wow, that’s a beautiful Doxa Sub homage, from a really underestimated maker.
Heimdallr doesn’t seem to be just an “homage” maker, they often make watches with specs that exceed the watch they’re modeled after. And Heimdallr has, in my limited experience with one watch, amazing attention to detail and quality and feel (not something you can usually say for something coming from Communist China!).
I will post my review of the Heimdallr Sharkmaster:
I’m one of those people who DOESN’T take his phone everywhere – in fact I often leave it at home – so I wanted an automatic watch for ~$200 that I could take everywhere – camping, hiking, swimming, working in the mud and water, to job sites… and after some research into VALUE for MONEY (plus me just liking the old Seiko’s)…. I got the Heimdallr Sharkmaster 300 (in the Turtle case style, looks like the Seiko SRP777, but with the older style indices and hands, black dial and bezel)
To sum it up quick – Built like a tank, 300m water resistance rating (gasketed screw down crown), sapphire glass and ceramic bezel, never have to worry about batteries – for $140 – as far as I know, that’s UNBEATABLE!
Bought it in June of 2021, it’s since gone swimming several times in both lake water and chlorinated pool (and no discoloration!), I don’t dive but I took down to just a meter or so and it was on my wrist every day swimming and working in the water at the lake… and yet NO condensation or moisture visible at all when you go outside on a cold day months later. It’s been on my wrist on job sites, and while doing landscaping and trenching – and I wasn’t easy on it, it got bumped and scraped against things, exposed to vibration and impact, it’s come somewhat close to a few magnets, without any real damage and the Seiko NH35 movement is keeping decent time for an auto, I set it one day then checked at the same time next day and it was 8 seconds ahead.
Perhaps most amazing is that the crystal and bezel surfaces are COMPLETELY SCRATCH FREE after all that abuse, there are a few tiny nicks in the steel around the edge of the bezel and some dings and scratches on the case, but every single time I thought I had scratched the sapphire or ceramic, I found that it had actually taken a slight bit of material off whatever I hit it against, and when I scrubbed it with a washcloth and warm water, the “scratch” vanished!However, with it being sapphire, shattering it with the wrong type of impact is still a risk.
The bezel works great, clicks really smoothly, lines up well, and doesn’t wiggle or move at all without you intending to move it . The screw down crown also is very smooth when screwing it back in, I didn’t tighten the hell out of it either, just enough to be snug, and I got no water inside. The Lume is very bright in the first 5 -10 minutes or so after charging it up, and it dies down noticeably over time but hours later with dark-adjusted eyes you can still see the time no problem.
The only minor complaints I have, and they are very minor: the rubber strap it comes with is like 4mm thick. It’s massive, hard to wear under a jacket or sweater and it had to be on the 2nd hole and I don’t even have tiny wrists. I got a similar looking Seiko “pressure vented” strap from Ebay for it, they’re closer to 2.5mm thick and not quite as long. Also, this watch doesn’t have a day of week wheel like the Seiko it is designed after does. It would have been nice to have, but it’s not really a big deal to me, for that price they have to economise somewhere.
And no, Heimdallr didn’t pay me to write this! I just like it that much!
In fact I have been unable to even track down the actual source of these watches, theres one heimdallr site (but spelled wrong!) and yet another site (won’t name either, they could be scams, I got mine on Ebay anyway) and they both sell the same watches and claim the other site is “blacklisted” from selling them.
Thank you Bob for your detailed review of the Heimdallr Sharkmaster – really appreciate the reader feedback!