Doxas are great because they are 1) lovable 2) legible 3) beautiful 4) dive watches for real divers 5) no-snob-factor 6) comfortable 7) cleverly designed 8) strap monsters 9) iconic 10) not expensive. Don't feel bound to take the orange, I have a Caribbean and the blue really pops!
I have the 300t Professional model and love it. Took it diving for the first time this summer and it performed as expected. I would add that it’s not a model I’ve ever seen on anyone else in public, it definitely seems to be an enthusiast piece. Great review, I enjoyed your take on it!
@Rosarito nah. If you are aware of someone else’s watch then you do care. Let’s say 95% don’t care and out of the 5% maybe half know about watches…. and half of the people who know about watches know what a doxa is. Doxa is far from being an obscure brand… you see something orange in a watch doxa should come to mind. Jacques Cousteau and his crew.. all doxa
My father was a diving instructor. When I was 10, I needed a watch to wear to school so I wouldn’t be late getting home. I went in my dad’s jewelry box and took his Doxa Sub 300 pro US Divers watch to school. I accidentally broke it. It was the worst whipping I ever got. I still feel bad about it. He’s passed away now, but I wish I could have replaced that watch for him.
The Doxa Sub 300 is the perfect watch. As a professional diver, I enjoy Dive Watches and would love to see a top 10 ISO Diver's Watches or watches that would be suitable for serious or professional divers.
Great vid, Teddy. Love all your videos. I bought this watch 10 years ago after seeing it on Matthew McConaughey's wrist in the movie "Sahara". Did some research shortly after watching the movie, I ordered the Dirk Pitt edition which was a Sub300.Fortunate for me, the watch was much, much cheaper back then. Loved the watch right out of the box. Never looked back. What a watch! Took it to many diving and snorkeling trips in the Caribbean Ocean. When your underwater with a mask this watch shines. It's extremely legible and solid. Watch out for barracuda's though, they love shiny things, Lol.It's rugged, reliable and wears very comfortable. Once bumped into a gentleman with his wife while in St. Augustine, FL during a July 4th weekend at breakfast in the hotel and he was wearing the same watch...Lol. It's a great conversational piece, we talked for an hour about the watch. Always received great compliments from other watch enthusiasts over the years when I wore it. Glad you made the video, Teddy. You truly know your watches and have great taste in horology.
@@_hector__ Early on I went through a long period where it was in the back of the drawer I needed a major service after that, at some point a little water must’ve got in as there was some corrosion, since then other than battery changes probably once every 10 years
I have no logical reason for “needing” this watch but I fell in love as soon as I saw it. And now I “need” it…for “reasons”. Thanks for the closer look!
As an owner of an orange dive watch, I can tell you that no matter how good it is.. the color does not work with almost all attire, and in the end you get tired of it. Just my .02c.
I bought the Searambler 300T (silver dial) on black rubber strap. It is a VERY handsome watch, very well made, and while not a COSC movement it is running within COSC specs: +3 seconds per day! I cant say enough good things about it. I like it so much I am going to get the 300T Sharkhunter as well. Doxa is badass.
This is the best and most complete Doxa review I have seen. I have owned a Sub6000t for 4 years, and love it. You are correct in that the Sub300 is the quintessential classic Doxa , and in hindsight I would have chosen that model if it had been available when I bought mine. Jacques Cousteau and Albert Falco both wore the Black Sharkhunter Sub300. I met Jacques’ son Jean-Michel Cousteau a couple years ago and he still wears a very well worn Sub600 Professional. To me the newer Sub200 case as well as the new Sub 600 T case just look generic and strange at the same time. Doxa had a reshuffling again in 2019, within the Jenny company and that’s when these Jenny sourced cases came about. Excellent video!👍
Is this a watch that goes with a suit? Is this something that would be looked down upon in business venture negotiations/business meetings? Considering the white dual color or the navy blue. If anyone has an opinion on this, reply. Thanks
Funny when you say it's not recognized as it should be. I myself being a watch freak, only found out about Doxa not long ago. So you are correct. My buddy owns one of the biggest brand names in the Scuba industry and he absolutely hates watches. But when we were talking about my Seiko Orange Monster, he immediately said "IF" he was to own a watch, it would be a Doxa. I was shocked. But goes to show that within the Scuba industry, it must be recognized as "THE ONE".
Doxa has for the longest time been the watch of ”successful people” here in Romania. During communism they were the go to for those with power and this has carried on up until now. In the previous 10 years though you would associate it with old school, out of fashion people. They have tried to regain a fashionable status through a lot of time pieces but with little success. I have owned a few and honestly though the years saw a little bit of quality drop to the point that my latest Doxa, bought 2 years ago broke after 2 weeks and had to be replaced. This new series has been extremely present in the market lately, with a lot of OOH communication materials popping up all the time everywhere. I am pleasantly surprised to see a review from you Teddy, and a good one at that. My take on this watch is that it is gorgeous, however, the price is impossibly high. I think though the point of this watch is to boost brand perception and gain consideration rather than sell on its own, and for this they are hitting the mark big time.
After test fitting both the Pro and the T, I went with the T. Felt more substantial on the wrist, better clasp and I liked the flat crystal. One of the things that I like the most are the high gloss painted hands. Not sure why but they seem to pop compared to a stainless or gold option. It was a grail and I love it.
T is a better deal both in price, legibility, fit and more true to the original with the escape valve, COSC and 0.5 mm less height for 700euro more is a pass. If you get lucky your T runs well inside the cosc spec anyways.
@@danewithers9628 I much prefer the flat glass on the 300T. For me the domed crystal of the 300 looks 'ancient and old fashioned' rather than 'retro traditional'.
I put mine on an orange Nato strap. It looks great and is easier to adjust the size, especially when you are working out in the gym, and your wrists expand. I am off to the gym in 10 minutes. --Old Guy
That's all you have, well that was enough, vg presentation, nice shots, fine designed piece, especially love the bezel, just overall well balanced diver, and orange. . . :>/
I own that watch. Love it! I wanted something with history, something that had some unique attributes. The very excellence of modern watches and their superior materials often makes them a bit sterile. Not this Doxa. It's got character and a great pedigree. You make an excellent point referencing the price, though. I do think it was a couple of hundred dollars on the high side relative to what you get. But that is a quibble. Buy once, cry once. Overall a unique piece, superior performance (COSC) and a noteworthy history. Oh, and I am indeed a Clive Cussler fan. If you haven't seen the movie Sahara, check it out. Dirk Pitt (Matthew McConaughey) wears this watch! Great movie!
I opted for the yellow 300t divingstar variant in the end, the hardest thing about buying a doxa is choosing the model, color and the strap. I needed a fun , colorful watch in my collection so i was going back and forth between the yellow and orange but i feel like yellow is even more quirky and rare to spot in the wild so i went with that. Went for the bracelet as it seems its harder to procure than a decent silicon strap, ill pass on the OEM one as doxa wants 500 euro for that lol. Also thinking of getting a nice shark mesh, i feel like this is the watch itll be the best used on. Finally i chose the T model as i dont like the bent sapphire as much, makes the legibility less, already own a watch with this style of glass and finally it makes the dial look even smaller. I feel like cosc and 0.5 mm of height is not worth an aditional 700 euros and i also feel the T model will fit my wrist better while it also has a gas valve which is more true to the original.
I have a 750t GMT Sharkhunter - bought it when it was first released many moons ago. Looking at picking up a 300sub now - and you're right, picking the colour is going to be ROUGH. The orange is "original", yet I still love the Sharkhunter, but the Caribbean and Aquamarine are both stunning too...
Nice review! I thought Doxa had been putting the Sellita SW200 in their watches for a number of years now. Are they still putting ETA movements into the SUB 300s?
Watches really aren't a big thing for me, I'm not a collector, and as long as I have a reliable way of knowing the time I'm happy.......I THOUGHT that this summed me up anyway but today I find myself in a position where I've just bought myself a Sub 300T. It's the last one that Beaverbrooks the jewelers has in stock in the whole UK, so it's not going to arrive until next week, but I'm really looking forward to getting my sticky little paws on it!
Having recently bought a sub 300, i agree with your great review, except the lume on the dial which is very weak. Almost like vintage lume! Other than that its a lovely watch.
I’ll be picking one of these up in the future, likely the classic orange dial though the black dial on a black rubber strap is quite interesting as well
Bought the Sub 300T Professional a couple of months ago. Amazing for the money. Feels very solidly built with surprisingly good finish and a very nice bracelet. Handsome on wrist. Excellent accuracy. The 300T has a much nicer clasp than the 300 shown here.
I have the 300T and 300(carbon). I love both and they wear as different watches - albeit with a similar look. I like the bracelet though didn’t like the OEM rubber strap and replaced this with a tropic. The 300T is in the dark blue but the carbon 300 has the full retina burning orange.
How is the ETA 2824 (or whatever) COSC certified in the 300 but not in the 300T if it’s the same movement and COSC certification only evaluates the naked movement?
I was about to pull the trigger and order a DOXA, however, the company is not what it used go be it, they do not manufacture their watches and they source parts out from other countries (mostly likely China) and assemble in Switzerland. Discovered this through this video by a DOXA collector. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HanbRlqLzp0.html. I was really inspired by your video on DOXA, but for the price and the fact that its Swiss made claim is questionable, has made me stray away from the brand. Too bad as I got really attached to its great and interesting history, especially the connection to Jacques Cousteau, as I met and had a pretty good conversation with his son Jean-Michelle.
The clasp on the bracelet is not underwhelming, it's absolutely adequate. I really don't understand why people want a huge machined clasp that's as heavy as the watch. This one matches the vintage aesthetics of the watch perfectly and it's very durable and light. I've used my SUB 300 and my SUB 1200T for everything (including diving) and the clasp has never been a problem.
These clasps are adequate, my Sinn U50 is criticised for having a stamped clasp. It does the job, its not bulky. At the price point, maybe it could be a bit better finished, but I wouldn't want anything like the huge clunky clasp on the 300T
The shape & look is a bit weird, but time goes by and more often i see that timepiece i have to admit i fell in love with it… Sheeesh: Owner of SUB 200 / DS Super PH 500M Do i need 300t? Help me please
The doxa sub 300 t also has 1200 meters water resistance as opposed to the 300' 300 meters. Doxa's nomenclature is very confusing. The 300 has 300 meters water resistance (which makes sense) the 300 t has 1200 meters. Also when I see 2 identical watches with the same designation I just figure the one with the t is titanium. Nope not here. Plus the 300 t with it's far better water resistance is several hundred dollars less than the 300 because of its cosc cert. And don't even get me into the 600 and 600t. But my 300t aquamarine is still one of my favorite watches.
Subscribed yesterday , very glad i did ! You provide excellent and to the point evaluation and commentary on the history and the function of watches. Thanx for making decisions much less difficult. 🥂
The sub 300 should have COSC on it's dial. Would be a selling point. I used to see Clive Cussler at the grocery store in Paradise Valley. AZ. He was in fact wearing his orange Doxa. It was a bi beat up.
Just wanted to throw in my vote. Love it love it love it. Next watch on my wish list but my collection is very dive watch heavy and this is a missing link for me
Teddy, I love all of your videos because of the in depth reviews and beautiful camera views. There’s a watch I’d like to see you feature and it’s the WatchCo Seamaster 300 because of its interesting history and timeless design.
Love my Doxa..so we'll made and the color of the orange is so appealing. The beads of rice bracelet and the adjustable divers extension is THE BEST ON ANY DIVE WATCH!
There's a Chinese "homage", the Seestern Sub 300T, which costs less than $ 200 and was a bestseller at the November Alixpress sales. Some youtubers claim that watch is unbelievable good for the price
As a brand, I appreciate Doxa tremendously! Think it has something to do with pedigree. My Doxa 600T whitepearl fits right in my collection of divers, that include watches like the Seiko Marine Master 300 SLA021, Seiko SKX007J1, Tag Heuer Aquaracer 300 pro, Tudor Pelagos 42, Oris Aquis relieve and my 1965 Seiko 62MAS. What I love most about these watches, is their story, history and the important role they played in the diving community. I'm still hunting for the original Doxa Sub 300 Professional, because it's ... well, [speaks-with-a-French-Jacques-Yves-Cousteau-voice] one of my personal heroes [/end-voice], just like Jacques is (God rests his beautiful soul). 🥰
Beautiful photography Teddy. I first saw this watch on Chillin Wit Watches, and Pete was wearing it as a wristwatch check. I love it and Pete's channel. It's achievable too at the price. I settled for a MOP dial Seestern brand homage from AliExpress, but it's not a real Doxa is it? Just looking at your photography of the dial tells me that. I need to save for the real deal. Great video. 👍
@@haping1 It certainly is but having seen Teddy's macro shots of that dial is pushing me in that direction. One content creator reviewer, I think that it was Jody on Just One More Watch, reckoned that the build quality wasn't far off what we would be paying a thousand British pounds for, or whatever the current price is. I can't see the dial being that good somehow but I'll look again. 👍
@@markgrieves1307 Hope the build quality is ok. I'll receive the MOP in one of these days. and of course the Seiko movement isn't near the Doxa movement. in fact it looks like the NH35's get worse regulated over the last couple of months (including my Seastern MAS62 hommage).
@@haping1 Not getting my notifications. The build quality is excellent. I believe Jody at Just One More Watch was commenting on this in his video. I've now ordered the orange one. I should push for the real deal really. I don't mind the NH35 movement but recently I got a watch from AliExpress with a Miyota movement. I'm still astonished at the accuracy of it considering the bad rep it's got. Anyway, let's up the game, stop buying what could prove to be junk and aim for the Doxa. 👍
@@markgrieves1307 I get borred of the NH35 movements and now Miyota. Although I never had any issues with both of them I also use them for my builds. But... The real deal is abselutely better. Just compared a real Longine with the Cadisen ;) But there is a point that the quality isn't getting any better, but prices still go up. For me that is around €3.000... Enjoy.
Doxa actually developed the HEV on the seadweller, in the older Rolex literature mentioned this Rolex has since recanted and say they developed the HEV.
The response from Doxa when another youtuber asked about their manufacturing. “What you need to know is that Doxa is not a watch manufacturer (and has never communicated as such). The components of Doxa are not manufactured in-house. A network of the best Swiss suppliers around Doxa, and also foreign suppliers, each selected for their specific know-how, the quality of their components and their reliability, supply Doxa. A fact is that each Doxa watch exceeds the minimum values of Swiss Made. The quality of Doxa watches remains the #1 value for the Jenny family.” A Doxa spokesperson Kinda put me off a bit when I first heard this. They are just sourcing, assembling the parts, and selling. Does it really matter? Am I being a snob? I'm sure other companies are doing the same thing to some extent. Still want a Sub 300.
Anyone who is overlooking the criticisms of the bracelet on a $2,500+ watch are not looking at this watch as a luxury Swiss watch. If you can shrug at at pressed clasp for that price, you aren’t worried about getting value for your dollar.
Grant me one more comment: my best Doxa experience was in Cape Cod, Mass., way back when. I was skinny dipping in Great Pond on a clear midnight. When I floated on my back, I could see the Milky Way stretching all across the sky, and when I turned over and was actually swimming, I could see the hands of the Doxa glowing brightly through the inky water. That was a special night. --Old Guy
My uncle has a 1970 us divers aqualung shark hunter which he bought new back then. As a kid i always thought it was soooo cool. Now im in a position to buy my own. Although i still might not get one lol
i have the 1st Generation Doxa Sub 300 Professional "no T" thin case" c.1967 with the original bracelet It is a beautiful watch and comfortable to wear despite its size.
Another great review Teddy .. I’m thinking of getting the Doxa Sub 300 Caribbean and this video is such a well informed balanced review …. Always look forward to your reviews
This was a really well thought out presentation, Teddy. Your visuals are also quite impressive. The less expensive variant is not COSC certified but, when placed on a time graph, displays the same level of accuracy, at least my Doxa Sub 300 is really accurate. They are the same movement. Maybe I just got lucky. The less expensive version also has a much better clasp. Then there's the lume. It is lacking, just like other aspects of Doxa's operations. I only mention this out of personal experience. YMMV. As you point out, when getting a Doxa, you are getting a "mixed bag" as it were.
I just ordered a 1200T, it comes in tomorrow :D, I believe that is the best variant for those with smaller wrists due to the female end-links unlike these new ones where the bracelet somewhat overhangs due to elongated beads of rice which attach to the case.
While i’m here i just wanted to ask, i’m still a beginner at watches and i’ve been looking for a watch that has a blue face (not too dark or navy, something quite bold) paired with a rose/gold colour case. all the watches i’ve ended up finding with a nice blue face end up having that kind of silver/chrome colour which is not really what i’m looking for. does anyone have any recommendations? in terms of budget i’m kinda looking for around the few hundred dollars mark, but may be willing to go all the way till sub 1k. thanks!
Nicely done. I have the 300T and swear by it. Another classic dive company is Jenny. I have the 300 Caribbean. Check them out. You will be pleasantly surprised.
I currently own a doxa tc five 890.10. No one I know has ever heard of that watch. Theres only 100 of them ever made. It was gifted to me from a friend. I dont know anything about the watch. I cant even find articles about it lol i like the way it looks though.
