Doxa Revitalise the Sub 300β with New Steel and Ceramic Collection

Earlier this year Doxa released the brand new Sub 300β Sharkhunter and between you and me, it was a bit of a miss. It was billed as a new urban-cool Doxa built for the streets but the odd, half-stealth, half-luxe colourway didn’t really do it for me. So now I am more than pleasantly surprised to find that the standard Doxa Sub 300β in steel and ceramic that Doxa have just launched is fantastic.

The new collection does represent a pretty drastic makeover for the watch compared to that original Sharkhunter edition. The full ceramic case has been replaced with stainless steel, immediately giving the watch a better tool watch aesthetic and the golden rim on the ceramic bezel is gone, leaving us just with the ceramic. With just those two changes I am already falling in love with this watch a thousand times more than before. It looks like a proper Doxa now and in my opinion, it has instantly become one of the better looking Doxas.

It obviously has a lot in common with the Sub 300, that’s the model it’s based on, such as the curving, turtle-like shape of the case as well as the overall design of the bezel and display. It’s also broadly the same size at 42.5mm x 44.5mm but much slimmer at a thickness of just 11.95mm.

The main difference between the Sub 300 and Sub 300 Beta is the ceramic bezel, the colours of the dial and the pattern on the dial. I think the contrast between the black ceramic bezel and steel case makes it much more striking than the basic 300. It also doesn’t make reading the diving scale on the bezel dramatically harder despite first impressions.

Zooming in on the dial, I’m a fan of the new wave pattern that Doxa have added here. It will inevitably draw comparisons to the Omega Seamaster Diver 300m but I think it adds a lot of character to the watch. Plus, as it’s the street/urban/boardroom edition of the Sub, it’s less important to maintain a hyper clean dial for professional diving. It manages to fulfil that cool, more artistic concept while still being a tool watch, which is where the Sharkhunter went wrong.

In terms of colours, there are 5 different variations to choose from in each of Doxa’s signature colourways. The Professional has a black dial with orange accents, the Divingstar has a black dial with yellow, the Aquamarine is black with turquoise and the Searambler has a silver dial with orange accents. The final colourway, the Caribbean, is unique in that not only is the only one with a dark blue dial, it’s also the only one with a coloured bezel to match.

I would list out the corresponding reference numbers but each colourway is available on three different strap and bracelet options and each one of those combinations has a unique reference. If you really need to know them, you can find them in the tech spec below.

The strap options are a steel beads of rice bracelet, FKM rubber matched to the colour of the dial or an FKM rubber strap matched to the primary accent colour of the watch. My personal favourite is the Professional with the orange rubber strap because I like how it highlight the importance of the colour to Doxa’s heritage.

When I saw that Doxa were releasing more Sub 300 Beta watches I was initially sceptical. But I genuinely think these watches do a good job of being cool, everyday watches appropriate from the office to the beach. They manage to overcome the sour taste of the Sharkhunter edition and then some. Good job Doxa, you’re back on track.

More details at Doxa.

​Oracle Time 

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