Described as sporty, colourful and robust, DOXA watches cater to professionals and novices alike with affordable price tags and a long and storied history that tells a story through each design. Accuracy, reliability, water-resistance and shock-resistance are key values that DOXA underpins in the development of each new watch. DOXA is well known for creating some exceptionally beautiful dress watches during the 1960s, many of which remain just as popular and as sought after as its expert diver’s watches. One dress watch example that stood out during this era was the DOXA watch model ref 1147. A vintage 38mm timepiece with a stark, minimalist hour track represented in Arabic numerals and stick markers. When the company came to manufacture its first dive watch, it partnered with Rolex to create the SUB 300T and collaborated with oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau to create some elements of its design. To this day, DOXA is still creating revolutionary watches for all genres. Many collectors invest in DOXA watches because of its traditional Swiss heritage since 1889, its wide variety of colour options, affordable pricing and its unmistakable designs.
It was 1889 when Georges Ducommun founded the company now known as Montres Doxa S.A. in Le Locle, Switzerland. Predominantly, the company focussed on creating reliable pocket watches and later ventured into beautiful dress watches followed by timekeeping tools for underwater adventure. The company adopts its name from the Greek word for glory. When the automobile industry called for a reliable dashboard mounted clock, DOXA responded to its requirements, fitting one with an 8 day powered calibre that would go on to become a standard piece of equipment on Bugatti’s racing cars.
When Georges Ducommun passed away in 1936, DOXA was left in the hands of his grandson who continued to develop exquisite watches with unmatched precision and reliability. These included technical advances such as a date-pointer and a jumping second hand. In 1957 DOXA created an instant classic, the Bauhaus-inspired Grafic dress watch collection. A decade later and the Swiss company was specialising in the design of the SUB, which Jacques-Yves Cousteau contributed to, making it a benchmark for military and professional divers. If not for the grim realities of the Second World War, the necessities of the dive watch may never have been in such demand. Precision under pressure suddenly took on a whole new meaning. Before DOXA’s expert range of diving watches was invented, the likes of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms watch and the Rolex Submariner had already been successfully received. When diving became more of a recreational activity a boom of specialist equipment for diving followed, sparking the beginning of DOXA’s range of SUB models in 1967. The Jenny family acquired DOXA in 1997 after the company experienced a turbulent time due to the devastating effects the quartz crisis had on the Swiss industry.
DOXA continues to create expert diving watches for professional and amateur divers. The quality of the SUB diver’s watch from DOXA has understandably led to a swathe of other models to follow in its footsteps, each one balancing from with function perfectly. The SUB 1500T collection references DOXA’s 1500 meter watcher resistant case in its name. A patented unidirectional rotating bezel and helium escape valve are some key features belonging to this dive watch collection. The SUB 200 is a sporty line with 6 available dial colours to choose from. Variations on a rugged stainless steel bracelet or a supple tone on tone rubber strap are available from this collection. The SUB 300T has an exceptional water resistance of 1200 meters and features the signature unidirectional rotating bezel with DOXA’s diving table with dive markings in SuperLumiNova. With a decompression dive time calculator, this is one of DOXA’s most sophisticated dive watches and comes in a variety of 6 dial colours and a wetsuit extension facility on the buckle of its stainless steel bracelet.
