Doxa Sea Emerald watch review
At Geneva Watch Days 2024, Doxa unveiled five new references each featuring ‘Sea Emerald’ green dials. The new hue is now available on the SUB 200, SUB 300, SUB 300 T, SUB 300 Carbon and the SUB 600T. Mark McArthur-Christie, a self-confessed admirer of robust divers’ watches provides an overview of this handsome ticking quintet.
Image – Doxa SUB 300
Doxa watch
Commander Walter F. Mazzone was one of the most remarkable naval submariners and divers of his generation. Born in 1918, he enlisted after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. Having endured 38 hours of being depth-charged on his first submarine deployment, he dedicated his working life to improving underwater survival. He’s also significantly responsible for the colours one sees on the dials of diving watches.
Image – Doxa SUB 200 (left) and SUB 600T (right)
Dial colours x diving
Mazzone spent a good chunk of 1967 underwater, looking at 20 cm aluminium floats painted in different colours. He started in the cloudy, silty water of the Thames River – the one in Connecticut – before moving on to Long Island Sound (‘moderately turbid’), then the clearer Gulf of Mexico, just off Panama City, before finally ending up under the surface of the crystal waters at Morrison Springs in Florida. Rather than being slightly eccentric or doing it for a bet, Mazzone was conducting an experiment to see which colours are most visible in different types of water.
His conclusions were, in summary, that orange wins in murky water and blue-green comes out top in clear water. Fluorescent paint is always easier to see than a non-fluorescent paint of the same colour. If you haven’t got orange or green, white is the next best. Grey and black are the hardest to see – odd, given how many divers’ watches use black or grey dials.
Image – Doxa SUB 300 Carbon
So if you thought Doxa’s penchant for bright orange dials was just a bit of a ‘60s fashion fad, think again; there’s a reason the brand call it ‘professional orange’. And now the firm has added ‘emerald green’ to its palette. Handy if you’re ever underwater in Morrison Springs but clearly just as visible by the fish counter in Morrison’s.
Offering more colours than Dulux, you might wonder why Doxa needs another shade of dial. But green has been conspicuous by its absence in the Doxa lineup and it’s become la couleur de l’année with several makers introducing it of late, including Vacheron Constantin and H. Moser et Cie.
Doxa Sea Emerald – first version in 2023
It seems Doxa’s initial plan was to keep Sea Emerald for the (comparatively) slimline 39 mm SUB 200T range, but it’s gone down so well that they’re rolling it out across the SUB 200, 300, 300T, 300 Carbon and 600T models too. You’ll have to wait until November before the new dials hit the shops but they’re already on the website.
Image – Doxa SUB 300T
Unless you know your way around the Doxa lineup, it’s not easy to work out which model is which. A handy tip is that the numbers after the SUB designation indicate the depth of water-resistance. So here’s a run-down of the various newly green-dialled models.
Doxa Sea Emerald SUB 200
The Doxa SUB 200 saw the light of day at Baselworld 2019, so it’s been around a while now. Like almost all of Doxa’s output, it’s a classic 3-hander with a 42 mm stainless steel case in 316L. Although you could easily use it as a diving watch (it’ll descend to 200 m with no fuss at all) today it’s more of a do-everything sports watch.
Image – Doxa SUB 200
Though it’s not as focused as Doxa’s other watches, there’s still a screw-down crown, caseback and a unidirectional non-deco bezel that’s designed to give divers the time they can stay under at particular depths without having to worry about decompressing as they ascend. Even if you never venture further than the bath, a bezel like this is thoroughly useful as a basic timer – and often a lot easier to read than a chrono subdial. This one should also hold up well under heavy use as it has a sapphire insert.
You have a choice of attachment, too; a 19 mm NATO or a 316L beads of rice bracelet with a dive extension. At just £170 more for the bracelet model, it almost seems rude not to.
Image – Doxa SUB 200
To echo the domed plexi that used to be a feature of dive watches like this, the sapphire (double sided anti-reflective) has the same curvature. And the hands, markers and bezel are coated with Super‑LumiNova. Commander Mazzone wouldn’t have struggled with this one.
We’ve not had a chance to peer behind the caseback – and Doxa only lists the movement as ‘Swiss mechanical automatic, self-winding’, but the SUB 200 used to run a decorated ETA 2824-2. No matter the maker, it’s listed as running at 28,800 vph and will keep doing so for 38 hours before running out of steam.
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Doxa Sea Emerald SUB 200 – £920 (Green NATO) / £ 1090 (Bracelet) – RRP as of 14.10.2024
Doxa Sea Emerald SUB 300
The SUB 300 has been around since the late 1960s and it was one of the first accessible diving watches. That said, it didn’t take long to be adopted by professionals too, helped by Jacques Cousteau’s advocacy. In fact, the French diving genius was so enamoured of Doxa’s watches that his company, U.S. Divers, became their sole distributor in the USA.
Image – Doxa SUB 300
It’s easy to see why; water resistant to 900 ft/300 m depth (hence the name), it had a patented dive bezel that turns only one way and carries depth and dive times for decompression stop free ascents, a screw-down crown and that fab orange dial. Now there’s a green version to sit alongside. It has also got that oversize minute hand that makes it easy to see. If you’re timing hours underwater you have more to worry about than your watch.
The case is a wearable 42.5 mm in 316L stainless steel and, like its compatriots, houses a self-winding ‘Swiss mechanical automatic’ movement that’s decorated, COSC-certified, runs at 28,800 vph and has a power-reserve of 38 hours.
Another domed sapphire here, echoing the original 1967 plexi, but this time with anti-reflective coating. It covers the dial and features Super-LumiNova markings and hand infils.
Image – Doxa SUB 300
You get the choice of the Doxa ‘beads of rice’ stainless steel bracelet or a NATO strap to match the dial colour. The folding clasp of the bracelet comes with a wetsuit extension.
If you’re after a traditional Doxa divers’ watch but with the new green dial, this is the one.
- Doxa Sea Emerald SUB 300 – £2420 (Green NATO) / £ 2590 (Bracelet) – RRP as of 14.10.2024
Doxa Sea Emerald SUB 300T
If the SUB 300 is a proper, no-nonsense scuba dive watch, the 300T is its saturation diving big brother. In 1968, DOXA launched the SUB 300T Conquistador, the first divers’ watch made for the general public. Fitted with a helium release valve, the SUB 300T is a modern interpretation.
Image – Doxa SUB 300T
You don’t need a helium release valve unless you’re a commercial sat diver and even then it’s questionable. But even if you never go near helium, except for the occasional party balloon, you can’t deny it’s a cool case-complication to have.
More usually spotted in Professional Orange, the new Sea Emerald suits the 300T, pointing up the contrast with golden hands.
Image – Doxa SUB 300T
Like the 300, the T will give you 300 m of water resistance. It comes in a 42.5 mm, 316L stainless case and has a decorated Swiss movement that will run for 38 hours without a wind. This one’s also a COSC-certified chronometer.
- Doxa Sea Emerald SUB 300T – £1530 (Green NATO) / £ 1890 (Bracelet) – RRP as of 14.10.2024
Doxa Sea Emerald SUB 300 Carbon
Another 300 m water-resistance model (you’ve got the hang of this by now), the 300 Carbon is identical to the SUB 300 but ditches the 316L in favour of a carbon and titanium capsule combination. This one came off the bench at Doxa in 2021, but now gets the new sea emerald dial.
Image – Doxa SUB 300 Carbon
Flip the watch over and you can see how things work; the caseback is titanium and screws into the inner titanium (as does the crown) case. So you get a much lighter watch without compromising rigidity or real-world strength.
The combination of the carbon swirls and the emerald dial is pretty striking. Add in the carbon bezel with its stark white markings (the outer ring looks after depth, while the inner ring manages the minutes) and it’s not subtle – but do you really want a subtle diver? Doxa has enhanced the ‘grr’ factor with the standard SUB oversize minute hand too.
Image – Doxa SUB 300 Carbon
With the Carbon you get a choice of a cut-to-length rubber strap or a green NATO. The rubber might suit the watch a little better as there’s rather a lot of green going on with the NATO and the emerald dial. The rubber also follows the line of the case and lugs smoothly where the NATO leaves a step between the strap and lug ends – it also has a thoroughly appropriate (and grippy) wave pattern on the reverse.
- Doxa Sea Emerald SUB 300 Carbon – £3540 (Green NATO) / £ 3890 (rubber) – RRP as of 14.10.2024
Image – Doxa SUB 300 Carbon
Doxa Sea Emerald SUB 600T
If you want to channel your inner Magnum PI, this is the model for you. The new green should go a treat with your red 308 GTS too. Not sure about the Hawaiian shirts, mind.
It’s kind of ‘80s shoulder pads and Wham slub trousers all rolled into one. This is not to say it’s all big hair and no substance. It’s a proper bit of kit – 600 m water resistance, screw-down crown and a case that looks like it would shrug off a twin Doberman attack.
Image – Doxa SUB 600T
There are three variants to choose from in the new colour; two NATO-strapped variants, one with a ceramic bezel insert or an alternative in sandblasted steel, and a bracelet model with a sandblasted steel bezel.
Image – Doxa SUB 600T
The ceramic/stainless bezels provide a choice between one that’ll wear in splendidly with scratches and dings and one that’ll stay as near to immaculate as makes no difference.
Image – Doxa SUB 600T
The 600, despite being practically a bathyscaphe, is smaller than its 300 siblings at a wearable 40 mm. But the faired-in case sides and large dial make it substantial enough to take it seriously, helped along by a proper diving bezel to calculate a safe ascent without decompression stops. The high caseback gives it quite a bit of lift on your wrist and it feels more substantial than its 40 mm diameter would suggest.
Image – Doxa SUB 600T
Timing is courtesy of another Swiss 28,800 vph self-winder. Whether it’s Sellita or ETA (probably the former, as we reviewed the 600 in August ‘23), as a three-hander it’ll be an easy movement to like – simple, tested, effective and you’re unlikely to hit parts issues or servicing complications.
You’ll be able to see what you’re doing underwater as anything that matters has been coated with Super-LumiNova, including the distinctive ‘shark tooth’ markers at 3, 6, 9 and 12.
- Doxa Sea Emerald SUB 600T with steel bezel inlay – £1250 (Green NATO) / £ 1390 (Bracelet) – RRP as of 14.10.2024
- Doxa Sea Emerald SUB 600T with ceramic bezel inlay – £1350 (Green NATO) / £ 1490 (Bracelet) – RRP as of 14.10.2024
Image – Doxa SUB 600T
Doxa Sea Emerald – closing remarks
Even if you’ve never swum deeper than the 2.0 m mark in your local pool, there’s a lot to like about these Doxas. They’re designed to take anything you can chuck at them; you never have to worry about babying a diver. And there’s always something satisfying about a watch that’s been designed to do a job rather than follow a fashion. So, apart from being the closest thing to undersea-indestructible this side of the Trieste, these are all watches you could wear everyday and enjoy.
Image – Doxa SUB 600T