DOXA SUB 300T Divingstar “Poseidon Edition”

Doxa is a watch brand that is mainly known to ‘those in the know’. Dive watch enthusiasts for instance. The brand is best known for the orange-dial dive watches they manufactured in the 1960’s and 1970’s when scuba diving became a popular sport. We’re talking about the iconic (and I’m not exaggerating) Doxa Sub 300T. In the past years, Doxa has recreated several highly collectable pieces from the 1960’s and 1970’s, like the Sub 300 50th Anniversary and the Sub 300 Black Lung. And now there’s another recreation of an old and highly collectable Doxa, again one that collectors will line up for. Here’s the Sub 300T Divingstar ‘Poseidon Edition’. 

For frequent MONOCHROME readers, it will come as no surprise that I’m a big fan of the brand, their story and this, in my eyes, stunning dive watch. Some years ago we published this Historical Perspective, giving a thorough overview of the history and watches from the brand.

While Doxa is mainly known for the orange dial SUB 300T that was introduced in 1967, it’s important to note that there were other versions as well. All of these featured the same tonneau-shaped case and bead of rice bracelet, however, with different dial colours. A black dial version, for instance, was named Shark Hunter, and a silver dial version was the Searambler. Plus, there was a short-lived version with a bright yellow dial, known as the Divingstar.

Back in the day, Doxa also created several series of SUB’s together with well-known companies or organisations related to the world of diving, and the Swedish dive equipment company Poseidon was one of them. If you’re searching for a vintage Doxa SUB you might find one with the Poseidon logo on the left lower side of the dial, but these are extremely rare. Let alone finding a yellow dial (and thus Divingstar) SUB 300 with this logo. The new SUB 300T is an exact recreation of the original pre-Synchron era Doxa SUB 300T, with almost identical case dimensions.

While the old and new SUB 300T Divingstar “Poseidon Edition” look quite alike, there are of course some difference. But differences for the better! The crystal is now a sapphire crystal and thus much more scratch-resistant, the movement is the tried tested ETA 2824-2, and last but not least the depth rate is now 1,200 meters of water resistance, four times that of the original SUB 300! Of course there’s no tritium on the hands and hour markers, but strong luminescent Super-LumiNova. The steel bracelet, still the old bead of rice style, is of a much more solid quality than that old rattling bracelet from the 1960’s. And so on… everything is updated with modern technologies, but the looks, style and heritage are 100% Doxa SUB.

One last feature that deserves some attention, is the helium escape valve on the left case flank. This is a feature that will remain unused for pretty much all recreational divers and desk divers, as it’s intended for divers who have to spend longer periods in underwater habitats like a diving bell. The reason for highlighting this (for most) pretty useless feature, is that back in the 1960’s Doxa was the first brand to offer it publicly on a watch.

The Doxa 300T Divingstar “Poseidon Edition” is a limited edition of 500 pieces. Retail price is USD 2,490 and it’s available exclusively from www.doxawatches.com