DOXA has seen an unprecedented surge in its reach and distribution. Starting with its initial points of sale in the UK in 2019, the brand has rapidly expanded into Europe, followed by the USA and Australia with the DOXA SUB line. Currently, there are over 140 points of sale around the world offering DOXA products.
Before the end of this year, DOXA will also be present in Singapore through a partnership with Watches of Switzerland, a subsidiary of The Hour Glass that has been active in watchmaking at the highest level since 1979.
In joining Watches of Switzerland, DOXA continues to build its international network with leading partners worldwide. Established in 1979 in Singapore by Dr Henry Tay and Jannie Chan, The Hour Glass has become the region’s preeminent watch retailer. With 45 boutiques across eight countries – Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand – the exclusive retailer is today a global authority in watch sales, placing Michael Tay among the top players in the watch sector.
Norman Ho, Group General Manager of The Hour Glass, said: “The Hour Glass has always stood firm by our vision in advancing watch culture and promoting horological excellence and impeccable craftsmanship. With their rich heritage dating back to 1889, DOXA Watches have made a name for themselves, particularly in the sea of diving watches. I am proud to welcome them to Singapore and for us to be their official partner. I am certain they will cater to the local watch community with their exceptional watches.”
Jan Edöcs, CEO of DOXA Watches, commented: “Today marks an important milestone as we establish DOXA’s presence in Singapore, a market known for its connoisseurs of Swiss watchmaking. We are extremely proud to join the range of premier brands offered by the prestigious Watches of Switzerland, a subsidiary of The Hour Glass in their Singapore boutique. The network and strength of The Hour Glass will significantly propel DOXA's growth in the region. Our brand’s rich legacy, the quality of our watches, and our commitment to innovation remain the pillars of the strategy envisioned by our founder, Georges Ducommun, in 1889: to design and manufacture high-quality, technically superior and reliable watches, and to offer exceptional value at an accessible price point.” Given the unique history and ethos of the brand founded in 1889, it comes as no surprise that DOXA pioneered the first professional diving watch for the wider public – with the iconic SUB 300 launched in 1967.
Developed in close collaboration with the famous American sports diving organization US Divers, then under the leadership of the legendary Commandant Cousteau, the SUB 300 introduced groundbreaking innovations that established it as a standard for military and professional divers as well.
Its orange dial, totally unheard of for a watch at the time, was the first colored dial to be chosen for optimum visibility at a depth of 30 meters. Another striking innovation: a novel unidirectional bezel with two scales – one for dive time, the other for depth – so as to easily calculate the time for a safe ascent without decompression stops.
Back then, the US Navy’s no-decompression dive table was the golden standard, used by all divers to track their underwater time as a function of depth to ensure a safe and direct return to the surface.
DOXA’s engineers adopted the US Navy’s system, embedding two scales into the watch bezel: an orange outer ring for depth and a black inner ring for minutes – a DOXA patent.
Based in Biel in the canton of Berne, Switzerland, DOXA Watches is part of the Walca Group, an industrial firm under the stewardship of the Swiss Jenny family for over 40 years.
True to the blueprint established by Georges Ducommun in 1889 for producing high-quality Swiss watches at affordable prices, DOXA’s independent status enables the brand to act quickly, adapt to market changes – and focus its efforts on creating watches that combine performance, precision, engineering, reliability, functionality and style at consistently competitive prices.
Today, the brand is helmed by Jan Edöcs, CEO of DOXA Watches. Under his leadership, the brand has undergone a remarkable revival over the past two years, reiterating its commitment to technical and aesthetic innovation while remaining true to its DNA and storied legacy.
