Hamtun Kraken H3

Update June 2022 – We have had a couple of reports from people who backed Hamtun Watches that they have not received the watches they bought and that the company has stopped updating the Kickstarter campaign and is not responding to their emails. This article has been left live as a matter of record.

Potential buyers are advised to proceed with caution. 

One of our favourite watches of last year, the Hamtun Kraken H2, has now been upgraded for 2020 with new movement options and a GMT model. Introducing the Hamtun Kraken H3.

Hamtun Kraken H3 – Coming to Kickstarter

The new Hamtun watch takes everything we loved about the Kraken H2 and improves on it. It is still light (being built of titanium) and scratch-resistant, but the brand has added new movements, new colour options and even a GMT version for those who need to track multiple time zones.

Hamtun Kraken H3 Classic

The basic three-hander remains the same as the successful H2 model, but now with a choice between a standard or premium automatic movement. The affordable PT5000 is a high-beat movement based on the ETA 2824 – and costs just £239 for early birds. Hamtun’s blog has a helpful entry explaining the switch away from the Seiko NH35A to this movement. The key difference is that the lower-cost version can now be thinner. The premium model has the tried and tested Sellita SW200-1 inside and is still a bargain at £239.

There are also plenty of new colour options, based on sales and customer feedback from the H2. The latest all-new white model has a full-lume dial, which should look pretty spectacular in low light. But our pick would be the “blood orange” option.

Hamtun Kraken H3 GMT

The flagship GMT version of the Hamtun Kraken has a Soprod C125 movement inside. It’s a quality Swiss movement that should give years of trouble-free operation. This model starts at £449.

At the heart of the Kraken H3 GMT is a Swiss-made automatic movement that allows you to track a second-time zone. The precise movement will depend on stock availability, but it will undoubtedly be based on the well-regarded ETA design. We are torn between the ceramic and titanium bezel designs, both of which look fantastic, but the all-blue just about edges it.

First Impressions

We were very much enamoured with the Kraken H2 and it almost made it as our watch of the year for 2019. We were disappointed not to be able to test the scratch-resistant coating, and we found the pressed clasp to be a bit too thin feeling. We hope this will be improved in the H3 model but – at the price – it is not a deal-breaker.

 

By Mike Richmond

Mike spends what little spare time he has writing for WRUK; and what little money he makes building up his collection of timepieces.