The Best Dive Watch Under $1,000 Just Got a Lustrous, Vintage-Inspired Update

Thanks to a dedicated fanbase and unmistakable design language, Doxa has become one of the hottest brands in the sports watch space over the past decade.

Since being revived in 1997, the Swiss watchmaker has remained dedicated to its most adored designs from the 1960s and 1970s. The Sub 300 and Sub 200T are flagship models drenched in nostalgia from the mid-twentieth-century golden age of dive watches.

Doxa

Overshadowed by those dazzling retro divers is the more approachable and affordable Sub 200, with a simplified look optimized for everyday wear that still packs respectable diving specs.

Introduced in 2019, the Sub 200 collection now includes a polished steel bezel option for all eight dial colors. Additionally, it is marked with a minute track missing from the existing sapphire crystal inlay version.

Doxa

Quietly tucked into this update is a nylon NATO strap, only available on the Sea Emerald green dial. This economic strap drops the price below $1,000, making it the most affordable watch Doxa currently sells.

A shiny new bezel

The Sub 200 is the most approachable Doxa watch, but it offers much of the aesthetic appeal of its higher-performance counterparts. All eight of the brand’s core nautically titled dial colors—orange, navy, light blue, steel, white, yellow, green, and black—are available, as are the distinctive hour, minute, and second hands.

Doxa

All eight dial colors are available with the same stainless steel “beads of rice” bracelet found throughout Doxa’s catalog or, aside from Sea Emerald, a rubber pin-buckle strap with a texture mimicking the “beads of rice” design.

Previously, the Sub 200 was only available with a black bezel featuring a sapphire crystal inlay. The five-minute scale displayed numerals every ten minutes with dashes in between and a lume-painted triangle at twelve o’clock.

Doxa

The new polished stainless steel bezel recreates the same track, but adds smaller dashes for each minute. While it is made of the same material as the case, the case’s brushed texture creates the same contrast as Doxa’s polished-and-brushed steel bracelet.

Best in class

Doxa fans have been drawn in by the retro look and hooked by the brand’s impressive history. Every watch it makes holds up a reputation for professional-grade performance.

Doxa

Given the impressive specs, Doxa offers a good bargain in the $1,500 to $2,500 price range occupied by most of its watches. However, the Sub 200 is priced just above $1,000 because it cuts back on a few features that most owners will never actually need.

Compared to Doxa’s marquee Sub 300, the Sub 200 has a simplified bezel, streamlined case and thinner crystal. It has 100m less water resistance, but few people will ever dive deeper than 200m.

Doxa

The Sub 200 also has the simplest dial in Doxa’s catalog, with baton applied indices, a dash minute track and an outlined date window at three o’clock. While it removes some of the retro appeal that the brand is known for, it creates a more versatile appearance.

It took more than five years for Doxa to substantially update the Sub 200 line, which is understandable as it is the brand’s most overlooked collection. But what it lacks in vintage vibes and top-tier dive performance, it overcompensates for with general wearability and exceptional economy.

Doxa

The Sea Emerald dial is arguably the best-looking option in the group because it is the only one with a radial brush texture. What is for certain is that the NATO strap option is the only way to buy a new Doxa dive watch for under $1,000.

Availability and pricing

The Doxa Sub 200 is available now from Doxa for $1,090 with a stainless steel “beads of rice” bracelet and $1,050 with a rubber pin-buckle strap.

It is available with the new polished stainless steel bezel or the old black sapphire crystal inlay bezel.

The Sea Emerald color is the only option with a nylon NATO strap for $920.

Doxa

Doxa Sub 200

Specs

Case Size	42mm
Movement	Sellita caliber SW200-1 automatic
Water Resistance	200m

• $920 at Doxa

Related Topics