Encore Edition
BY Dean L. Bump
Sustaining DNA
There are only a few watches that are truly distinctive and unique and whose design stands the test of time. Like a Reverso or a Datejust, the DOXA’s SUB 300T Diver is one of those perennial favorites.
As has oft been quoted, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” So, it was that in 1964, the then President, Urs Eschle, pulled together a team of watchmakers and outside consultants who were involved in the professional as well as recreational diving world, and set out to create the perfect dive watch. Not that there weren’t dive watches currently on the market. The Rolex Submariner, Blancpain Fifty-Fathoms and Breitling Superocean had all been produced within the previous 10 years. What Mr. Eschle desired was a dive watch that was more legible and more comfortable. Durability and reliability were, of course, other factors but the competitors had those features already.
After three years of research and design, DOXA was ready to launch the SUB 300T at the 1967 Basel Watch Show. The watch was an immediate success, and DOXA began selling the SUB 300T in over 80 countries. In the USA, the SUB300T was introduced as the US Divers Company dive watch. Two years later, after further research, DOXA released the Conquistador, the first wristwatch fitted with a helium release valve (HRV). This had been developed in conjunction with Rolex, who had also been working on one. Since the two companies had a good working relationship, they partnered their efforts. Rolex released the Sea Dweller with HRV in 1971.
In 1968, DOXA joined with other partners just one year before to form one of the first watch conglomerates, Synchron S.A. Among their partners were Girard Perragaux, Eberhard & Co., Zodiac, Borel, CYMA, and Tavannes watch companies. The goal of this convergence was to be able to produce all parts and thus self-sufficiency. However, even though DOXA had read the writing on the wall and taken steps to ensure their survival against the “possible” detriment which the more accurate quartz watch could inflict on the mechanical watch, no one was ready for the onslaught brought about by Seiko when they launched and then flooded the world market with inexpensive quartz watches, beginning in 1969.
By 1978, DOXA had to decide to either go out of business, or to change hands. The latter choice was agreed upon and Aubry & Frères S.A. purchased the company. They scaled down distribution, eventually pulling out of the United States, and finally focusing exclusively on Europe. Fourteen year later, in 1992, the Jenny family, which had supplied cases for DOXA for many years, purchased the brand. What would happen next was fate.
In 1996, Rick Marei, a Canadian living in Vienna, who had both Watchmaker and Computer Science educations, was looking for parts for DOXA watches. He had become a dive watch aficionado and collector, and would tinker with his mechanical toys and often service them, so this led him to make contact with the Jenny family. Three years later, in 1999, he convinced them to re-launch the SUB 300T, and to do so over the Internet, since there was no distribution in the US. Although that was a bold move (some would say, “insane”), DOXA, again, began to be talked about among divers, watch collectors and fans of the famous first orange faced watch.
Fast-forward to 2007. DOXA has a following in the US, their website is linked to a DOXA watch web forum (http://www.doxaforum.com) and DOXA has released diving chronographs as well as time-only dive watches. They’ve also released upgrades to the original SUB 300T with the SUB 750T, and the SUB 1000T, selling them to the US market exclusively through the Net. This year, however, Rick Marei and DOXA have done something that only a few would dare to do. They asked forum readers, lurkers and posters to create in their minds their “dream SUB” or “the ultimate SUB.” The result is the SUB 5000T, also known as the Sea Conqueror.
Cracking the Genetic Code
One of the first requests was for a higher-grade movement. Instead of the pedestrian ETA 2824 with 38-hour power reserve, DOXA opted for the very best ebauche ETA provides, which is the customizable 2892 with 42-hour power reserve and more robust architecture. Incabloc shock protection helps to ensure smooth and constant running in case of hard knocks, which is of value to any “sport” watch which will ultimately see field use. Another heavily requested item was a helium release valve, which has been absent from DOXA watches for many years. As a result, the Seaconqueror pays tribute to DOXA’s supreme cult-object, the Conquistador of 1969.
Another throwback to the 1969 Conquistador is found on the dial. For the Seaconqueror, DOXA has chosen to replicate the hands from the 1969 classic. Since almost half of those polled asked for greater luminosity, DOXA responded by applying solid steel indices that are welded to the dial, which permit more copious amounts of Superluminova to be applied. With black and orange dials available, the orange being a limited edition of 5000 pieces, the Seaconqueror is sure to please the most discriminating divers, as well as loyal fans.
The Seaconqueror has serious wrist-presence since its case measures a full 45 millimeters in diameter (the original was 42) and 15 millimeters in profile. The cambered (domed) sapphire crystal is 3 millimeters thick and is coated on both sides with anti-reflective coating. It curves down to a stainless steel uni-directional bezel which is engraved with the US Navy maximum no-decompression limit times clearly marked out in feet (sorry, no metric version available). Additionally, a deeper water resistancy rating was requested, and DOXA responded by incorporating extra “O”-rings, bringing the watch’s depth-rating to 1,500 meters (5,000 feet).
A very practical request was for a dive-extension that could be built into the clasp which would be operational without having to take off the watch. Less expensive brands had already produced bracelets with a dive-extension, and DOXA fans demanded that a brand with such a legitimate dive history also find a way to incorporate this user-friendly device. Now, all the wearer needs to do is to push a button between the index and thumb and “voila!” extension and retraction. Another improvement was to the bracelet’s integrity. Whereas in the past spring bars had been used to secure and adjust the bracelet, now screws are used, adding additional robustness and security.
[Photo of Dive Extension]
Finally, DOXA truly gives you two watches in one by offering a signed rubber strap in addition to the bracelet, to which the watch is already mounted upon arrival. The two are easily interchanged, since the Seaconqueror comes with a high quality Bergeon screwdriver. The watch and its collateral parts come in DOXA’s famous “scuba bottle” presentation case made of heavy anodized aluminum.
A Man With A Mission
In late November, I had the opportunity to talk with Rick Marei on two different occasions about DOXA. What emerged from our conversations was a humble, revealing look at not only a brand that is reclaiming its rightful place as the true and ultimate dive watch, but a look at the Swiss watch industry. What follows is a piecing together of our diverse conversation.
DB: Rick, thank you for your time, as I know that your passion for DOXA keeps you very busy. Let me start out by asking you, what makes DOXA, as a brand, “special”?
RM: DOXA has been in business continuously since 1889. It’s not like so many of the Swiss companies which went out of business and then were purchased and re-launched. Although it changed hands several times, the product offerings from DOXA have been constant. More than that, from 1889 until 1954, DOXA was run by family members. The granddaughter had married the grandson of Ulysse Nardin, so it was a competent, even excellent, watch company.
The 1967, merger of DOXA with other brands in the Synchron conglomerate was signed by a family member. Synchron was special because Synchron was one of the first conglomerates to be able to manufacture all watch components within the group. In 1978, instead of going bankrupt, DOXA was purchased by Aubry & Brothers, who, although they pulled out of the US, continued to market the brand in Europe. Today, in countries like Poland and Hungary and other surrounding nations, DOXA is one of the top five sellers of watches.
DB: Tell me about the current owners and how they got involved with DOXA.
RM: Romeo Jenny, the current CEO’s father, had worked with DOXA in the 1960s because the Jenny family owns a case manufacturer that happens to be the number one supplier of cases for deep-depth dive watches. One of their patents is the 1,000-meter dive watch case. They’ve been supplying cases to a number of Switzerland’s top companies for years, and DOXA was one of them.
DB: I know that you initially got involved with DOXA due to your passion for collecting dive watches. What drives you, now, to make DOXA the #1 dive watch?
RM: Historically, this watch appeared on almost all of the Cousteau family’s wrists and their teams, as well as most of the major professional divers in the USA and around the world, but the history seemed to be lost. I approached the Jenny family to re-launch this division. In the markets where DOXA was strongest, DOXA was supplying classic round and rectangular watches, and the Jenny family thought it would have no marketability in those countries. So, I came up with the idea of re-introducing it through the Internet. This wasn’t readily accepted, and took some persuasion. The reason is that the Swiss industry is very traditional, very father-to-son, and the Internet was not viewed as “how we do things,” if you know what I mean.
If you think about it, the Swiss watch industry is the only mechanical product that remains true to its roots. The technology, with only a very few recent exceptions, has been largely unaltered for over 200 years. In the auto industry, you still have internal combustion, but the technologies have changed dramatically. If you tried to market a car engine that was made the same way as engines in 1910, you wouldn’t be in business for very long.
DB: But what about quartz technology. It’s very different from spring and escapement technology.
RM: True. But quartz is a by-product, even though, by the numbers, it dominates the Swiss industry. The mechanical industry is growing stronger every year, and even those companies who abandoned it in the 1970s are rushing to offer something mechanical. This is why the DOXA SUB watches are becoming popular again. And it’s not just about being “mechanical,” but “Swiss Made” mechanicals. The Swiss Watch Federation raised the standards of watch components made in Switzerland to 80% for mechanical watches last June. This is important for those brands who truly want to be “Made in Switzerland,” rather than, say, a fashion brand, who might get cases and bracelets from the Far East, place a Swiss ETA movement into it, and print the words, “Swiss” on the dial.
DB: This is what I call the “Swiss-name-game.”
RM: I would agree. Obviously, you can’t have every component made within Switzerland’s borders, because you might need gaskets or adhesives, for example, from Germany or France, or Superluminova from Japan. But all of the major components are of Swiss Origin.
One of the outcomes of this new ruling is that the consumer will see a leap in Swiss watch prices. To have a watch produced, assembled and cased in Switzerland means having to pay for the higher standard of living costs associated with it. But that’s okay because there is a level of expectation that comes with being “Made in Switzerland.”
The consumer expects the best. It’s why a person buys a German automobile, or Italian shoes. There is craft and an attention to detail that you expect when buying a product from that country, so you are willing to pay more. You don’t expect to pay $80,000 dollars for a car manufactured in Korea. That’s not to say that they couldn’t produce a nice car, but if you’re going to pay $80,000 dollars, you’ll go to a German car company because of the level of expectation. It’s the same with watches. Although Japan makes interesting watches, you don’t expect to pay $3,000 dollars for a basic Japanese mechanical, with perhaps the only exception being the Spring Drive (created by Seiko). What this means is that gradually every “Swiss Made” watch under $500 will disappear because you can not afford to have all parts and labor come from Switzerland and still have a retail price under $500.
Getting back to the original question, what drives me to make DOXA the #1 dive watch in the world is that we have a genuine “Swiss Made” product with true Swiss and Dive Watch DNA built into it. Brand DNA is extremely important. Only those brands that stick to their DNA and stay the course will be successful in the long run.
DB: As has been said, “Do one thing and do it well.”
RM: Right. Whatever we produce, now or in the future, must be visually distinct; it must be unmistakably “DOXA.” With the DOXA SUBs you have real “character.” You either like it or you hate it. As far as aesthetics, it is what it is. But our goal is not to be everything to everybody. Our goal is to be #1 in dive watches.
People might say that the SUB 300T, for example, looks “too retro.” But there are many people who want the association that accompanies owning a piece of history. For some it’s the melancholy feelings of good times that they associate with when the watch first came out. For others it’s the understanding and appreciation of the initiative and effort it took to be the first at something. For us, the dial is orange because of history. We’ll offer a different dial here and there, but we’ll always have “DOXA orange.”
It’s funny, actually. After all the testing we had done, we settled on orange, even though a few years later it was scientifically proven that yellow is actually better, and we have offered yellow dials, too. But orange is our color.
DB: If DOXA is going to become the #1 dive watch, it would seem to me that you will eventually need to sell through retail stores and dive shops, since most people I know, even if they want to buy online, want to physically try on the product first.
RM: DOXA will appear in dive shops, eventually. We actually started retailing in the US very recently, and the reception has been very, very good.
DB: What was the size of the original 300T?
RM: It was 42 millimeters. The 1000T is an exact repro.
DB: Then, by necessity, the DOXA SUB was a watch that was ahead of its time. In a day and age when the average watch was 34 to 36 millimeters in diameter, the 300T was 30 years ahead of the industry.
RM: Exactly! You’re the first person I’ve spoken with to pick up on that. Every detail made it revolutionary: the size, design, helium release valve, the dial color. Other brands, especially from Japan, copied the dial color and size, but it was, and remains, avant garde by nature.
Design By Demand
DB: So tell me, then, about the 5000T.
RM: In 2000, we didn’t plan an attack with the Internet. What the Net did was to bring us closer to the customer. The 5000T is a response to the requests of our fans through our forum. As we sifted through the requests being made, we applied what we thought was reasonable and available and what wouldn’t destroy the DNA.
For example, while many of our loyalists wanted the unique looks of the DOXA SUB, they preferred a thicker, more contemporary design for the bracelet. Some thought the rice-bead bracelet just looked a little too old fashioned. So, we created a thicker, modern, five-link bracelet. Along the same lines, we had requests for a dive extension. Interestingly enough, we had created a dive extension back in 1967, that was activated by squeezing two buttons on each side of the clasp. With it you could extend or retract the extension without taking the watch off of the wrist. A company from Japan had copied it. On the SUB 5000T we included it.
Besides a better movement, many asked for an increase in size, in keeping with current trends. So, the 5000T is 45 millimeters across by 15 millimeters tall. People also wanted the highest luminosity available on a dive watch. So the dial has applied markers that have deep side walls. This feature allows for more Superluminova to be applied.
All-in-all, the 5000T is the next step in the brand’s evolution. We’ll always have the 1000T. But for those who think it’s too retro, the 5000T is the right watch.
DB: Thanks, Rick, for all of your time. Are there any thoughts you’d like to leave with our readers?
RM: I’d just to tell all of our fans, “Thank you for your enthusiasm and for the loyalty to the brand over the decades. We hope you enjoy the SUB 5000T Seaconqueror. It is, after all, the watch designed by you.”
To see more of the brand, please go to http://www.doxawatches.com .
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