Most famous for making distinctively styled dive watches in the late 1960s and 1970s, Doxa produces pretty much the same watches today as annual limited editions. The latest is the Sub 200 T.Graph, a remake of a 1969 diver’s chronograph – the flagship model of its day and now a rare, sought-after watch.

The watch was first reissued as a 50th anniversary commemorative edition with an 18k yellow gold case and bracelet at Baselworld 2019. Now the more sensible steel version has arrived, and is still faithful to the original in shape and style.

Typical of 1970s design, the case is a chunky cushion shape and matched with a “beads of rice” bracelet. The dial is orange – reputedly easier to see underwater than black – with block-style markers and hands, also typical of 1970s watches. And all the luminous paint on the dial is faux vintage Super-Luminova in “old radium” colour, meant to replicate the look of the aged tritium on the vintage originals.

And the bezel is Doxa’s own dual-scale bezel that has both the dive time in minutes and depth in metres, allowing for recording of time underwater without decompression stops.

The movement inside is a “new old stock” Valjoux 7734, which is vintage and dates to the 1980s, but is not the same calibre as in the original. The original was powered by the Doxa cal. 287, a hand-wound movement that was a rebadged cal. 310-82 from Eberhard, a sister company of Doxa at the time.

In its day, and still today, the cal. 7734 is a low-cost, entry-level movement, while the Eberhard cal. 310-82 was arguably more sophisticated. Most prominent amongst the differences between the two is the fact that the cal. 7734 relies on a cam to engage the chronograph mechanism, while the cal. 287 has a column wheel.

Key facts

Diameter: 43mm
Height: 15mm
Material: Steel
Water resistance: 200m

Movement: Valj0ux 7734
Functions: Time, date, chronograph
Winding: Hand-wound

Frequency: 18,000bph, or 2.5Hz
Power reserve: 45 hours

Strap: “Beads of rice” steel bracelet

Price and availability

Limited to 300 watches, the Doxa Sub 200 T.Graph in steel is priced at US$4,900, and will be available direct from Doxawatches.com starting September 2, 2019.