We are used to DOXA watches kind of being one of two things. The independent Swiss watch company made its name by providing divers with the serious tool watches they needed. Their orange dials, meant to be the most readable in the most deep of waters, became a need before they became a fashion statement. They became quiet but personal gifts by people like iconic ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau to those they valued before there was ever a marketing push by any major brand.
They became much appreciated when early on they became valued pieces in the all-black tactical watch world, thanks in part to the use in the ground-breaking series “24.”
They even combined the two, first in a prototype that was never meant to go into production but was seen when Calibre saw one lying around the Baselworld one year and asked for one, and was told it would never work. Calibre disagreed, telling the DOXA owners that their brand was more than they realized. Then later when the supposedly unsellable combination went into its second production run.
Now DOXA is combining worlds once again. The well-known and well-loved Sub 300 Sharkhunter was launched at Geneva Watch Days 2023 with a black ceramic case with gold (18k, not just a color) bezel and crown. The DOXA Sub 300 Beta Sharkhunter takes the historic dive watch model and goes black, but not like before with PVD on steel or with carbon fiber. Here it goes ceramic, and with a very interesting textured face that looks a bit like rough concrete.
The big news though is really the 18k gold bezel and crown. Not super in-your-face really, the bezel insert is still black so the gold really just appears as an outline if you are looking at the watch head-on (or face-on) with the crown peeking out towards the right. It is meant to be a combination of the historic strengths of the independent brand but adding a little of what they call urban flair.
Is it for everyone? No. But we remember several years back at Baselworld when DOXA quietly and honestly unknowingly released a detail on a production watch that no other watchmaker ever really did. It was, they said, just something they wanted to try.
DOXA is in the unusual position of being so tied to a heritage that it is hard to break out, they are so identified with diving. But they did break out, with the all-black tactical watches. This new watch may be the needed flexing of muscles to bring more attention to a watch company that is an excellent example of why independent watch companies are considered the backbone if not the future of the watchmaking world.
