Why We Love It
Here at Analog/Shift, we’re known for our love of DOXA. In any flavor, any color, from the common yet wonderful orange-dialed Sub 300T Professional to the black-dialed Sharkhunter, the Army, any anything in between, we’ve counted them in our personal collection and offered them on our site. But our love of the brand doesn’t end with the vintage versions. DOXA is still around, and still manages to surprise us. Such is the case with this watch, a Sub 300T Divingstar 'Poesidon'.
While not a 1:1 reissue of a vintage model, the Divingstar Poesidon pays tribute to two vintage greats: the DOXA Divingstar, which is commonly known as the rarest color dial of all vintage Sub 300T models, and Poseidon Diving Systems AB, a legendary Swedish dive equipment producer.
Their characteristic 'fish and trident' logo has adorned some of the highest-quality diving equipment produced since their launch in 1958, and goes hand in hand with DOXA as producers of tough-as-nails tools for sub-aquatic exploration. This special edition not only captures the spirit of 1960s-1970s undersea exploration, but has proved to be the most popular DOXA model produced in history, selling out all 500 units in under 24-hours through an invite-only online offering.
This particular example is in brand-new, unworn condition, its bracelet and clasp still wrapped in plastic installed at the factory. Inclusive of its iconic 'tube' packaging, warranty card, bracelet-adjustment tool and informational DVD, this piece is as complete and perfect as they come, making for either a great collector-grade example for the safe or the perfect daily-wearable summer timepiece. We'd recommend ripping that plastic off and going for the latter!
Further information on this sold-out Limited Edition model can be found , at DOXA's Official Website.
The Story
DOXA began Research and Development for the Sub 300 in 1964, under a team helmed by Urs Eschle, the brand's head of operations, who consulted professional divers including none other than the father of SCUBA himself, Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
Since wearability was crucial, Eschle designed a large case with wide rounded lugs. For the dial, the team tested many colors (orange, yellow, turquoise, and red) in the waters of Neuchatel Lake. An unprecedented amount of tritium was also used on the hands and hour indices.
The team implemented a unidirectional bezel with an innovative insert: the U.S. Navy No Decompression chart, with the outer depth scale in orange and the minute scale in black, to allow divers to gauge how much air was in left in their tanks. Rounding out the Sub 300's innovative design was a beads-of-rice bracelet that was the first to implement an ratcheting expandable clasp capable of fitting over a diver's wetsuit without having to remove links.
