The Doxa story began with its inception in 1889, in the Swiss Jura mountains, and continued underwater when the brand released its first dive watch in 1967 and co-developed the helium release valve: a vital feature when deep diving. Today the brand proposes nothing but dive watches, including the iconic SUB 300T.
Doxa saw daylight in Le Locle in 1889, when Georges Ducommun opened the Doxa watch factory. It soon earned a reputation for quality pocket watches and equipped some of the first automobiles, Bugattis among them, with dashboard clocks. By 1915 the company employed a workforce of several hundred, had amassed numerous prizes and filed multiple patents. When Georges Ducommun died in 1936, the business was taken over by Jacques Nardin, grandson of Ulysse Nardin. In 1960 the new owner, backed by head of development Urs Eschle, took a momentous decision for Doxa’s future: to make dive watches.
This was a time when diving was gaining traction as a sport, but the only dive watches available were for professionals and out of most recreational divers’ price range. Doxa came up with the idea to develop a reliable, affordable watch for the scuba-diving public.
After extensive testing in Lake Neuchâtel, in 1967 Doxa released the first watch to be water-resistant to 30 metres. The 300 boasted a revolutionary orange dial for underwater visibility, an enlarged minute hand and a rotating bezel for measuring dive times. The modern dive watch was born. In 1969 Doxa became the official watch of the Swiss army’s elite diver unit. Jacques Cousteau oversaw distribution of Doxa dive watches in the United States.
That same year, Doxa equipped the 300 with a helium release valve – co-developed with Rolex and a vitally important invention. Divers are at risk if the nitrogen that dissolves in their blood as they descend isn’t released by gradual decompression. The same goes for a dive watch: helium can enter the case during descent and cause the watch to explode when the diver resurfaces. The helium release valve does exactly what it says: allows the gas to escape from the case without letting in water, which would have potentially disastrous consequences for the mechanism. The brand enjoyed immense success but then began to flounder.
When Jan Edöcs took the reins in 2020, Doxa had lost its way, swimming against a tide of dress watches and engagement watches which had drowned out its dive-watch DNA. Edöcs decided it was time the brand reconnected with its past.
Mission accomplished! Doxa is back on the international watch scene with an offering composed exclusively of dive watches, its best-seller being (what else but) the SUB 300T: a re-issue of the 300 from 1967. This new icon comes in six dial colours - orange, yellow, navy blue, aquamarine, silver and black - and is joined by other models, all respectful of the Doxa DNA and all powered by automatic movements. They include a chronograph on a rubber strap or steel bracelet; the SUB 200, which is a more urban iteration of the SUB 300; forged carbon cases; gold insets and a military version in honour of the partnership between Doxa and the Swiss army.
