Iconic Swiss dive-watch brand Doxa has once again revisited its famous SUB 300 design with a new limited-edition model housed for the first time in a forged carbon case. Here’s what you should know about the SUB 300 Aqua Lung US Divers.
The SUB 300 — which was first released in 1967 and quickly made a name for itself with its super-luminous orange dial and incredibly sturdy monobloc steel case — has long been both a go-to watch for professional divers and a favorite of dive watch enthusiasts, particularly those with an inclination toward vintage styles. With the new carbon forged variation, Doxa continues its mission over the past few years of bringing together the past and the future into a single model — bridging the historical design of the SUB 300 with an innovative and forward-looking carbon material and yellow-accented color scheme.
The SUB 300 Aqua Lung US Divers features a silhouette familiar to fans of the brand, hosting the same 42.50-mm barrel-shaped case seen in the classic SUB 300 series but now in ultra-light and durable forged carbon. The crown on its side uses a screw-down construction, helping to provide the model with a 300-meter water resistance, while a unidirectional rotating bezel, which has both an inner 60-minute scale and outer “air dive table” to assist in timing no-decompression dives, framing the dial.
Beneath the box-shaped sapphire crystal, we find the “Sharkhunter Carbon” dial of the watch (Doxa uses this name for its distinct color), complete with applied markers for each hour, a simple white minute ring, and a 3 o’clock date window. The dial also hosts a Doxa logo on its top left and the watch’s descriptors on the bottom right. Opposite these descriptors, on the bottom left, we find the Aqua Lung logo that has frequently adorned the SUB 300 models since 1968, when SCUBA brand Aqua Lung secured an exclusive deal with DOXA to market watches through its American brand, US Divers. Sweeping over each of these features is a large yellow pointer for the minutes, with a slimmer hand for the hours and a rectangular-tipped hand for the seconds.
Inside the new model is the reliable ETA 2824-2 — a chronometer-certified movement with a 42-hour power reserve. The mechanism is protected via a solid chamber and a screw-in case back, which departs from the carbon-forged construction of the rest of the case in favor of a still super-lightweight, black-coated titanium. Securing the watch to the wrist is a matching black rubber strap complete with a black PVD-coated folding clasp signed with Doxa’s alternative fish logo.
With the latest SUB 300 model, Doxa continues a trend of interesting releases in the past year, most recently last fall, with the updated SUB 300T Conquistador, and prior to that the new SUB 200, now frequently cited as one of the best-value sub-$1,000 dive watches on the market today. If the watch proves successful, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to expect Doxa to venture into even more unconventional case materials and colors, maybe even experimenting with “camouflage” designs.
The new SUB 300 Aqua Lung US Divers will begin shipping in August 2020 and will be limited to 300 editions, with a pre-order price of $4,790. To learn more and to inquire for purchase, you can visit DOXA’s website, here.
I guess DOXA had to make a black watch but I prefer their s/s and orange look.