You might have to be of a certain vintage yourself to remember how much of a cult following Doxa watches had amongst the recreational diving community in the 1970’s. Known for their characteristic bright orange dials, Doxa’s pioneering SUB would first plumb the ocean depths in 1967 as a dive watch purpose-built for the emerging recreational scuba diving market.
Doxa claims to be the first to feature a unidirectional bezel with dual markings for dive times and depths for calculating and monitoring no-decompression dives.
It was favoured by the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau, it also found a place in the literary world – Dirk Pitt, the adventurer and protagonist of many Cliver Clusser novels was known to have worn a Doxa. It was certainly on Matthew McConaughey’s wrist when he starred as Dirk Pitt in 2005’s Sahara. Lauded for its professional-grade quality and legible dials, the watch had slipped into oblivion for years before making a bit of comeback in recent years under a new management.
This summer the Swiss brand releases a regular production version of the SUB 300 and presents it in six colourways, much like it did with the SUB 300T models last year. Doxa first tested the waters in 2017 with a limited edition SUB 300 'Black Lung' Diver, which was based on a rare prototype model from 1967. Like the original SUB 300, the case of the new re-issue is carved from a solid block of stainless steel, measuring 42.5 mm in diameter 13.4 mm in thickness. The inserts of the diving scale through the inner ring of the bezel are black, with a dot at 12 o'clock. The depth indications in metres on the outer bezel ring are in colour – either orange, yellow or blue – for visual differentiation, with a lume pip at 12 o'clock.
It is fitted with domed bubble sapphire crystal and the brand’s signature steel “beads of rice” bracelet which tapers to an integrated wetsuit extension. In keeping with the times, Doxa has also introduced rubber straps in colours for a tone-on-tone match with the dials, a first for its collections and a sporty alternative to the steel bracelet.
It is powered by a chronometer-grade ETA 2824-2 automatic caliber. The watch is presented in six colour options - Orange Professional, Silver Searambler, Black Sharkhunter, Navy Caribbean, Yellow Divingstar, and Turquoise Aquamarine. It is priced at 2,950 Swiss Francs on the steel bracelet and 2,450 on the rubber bracelet and is available now on the brand’s website.
