Doxa Sub 200 Professional Review: No One Needs a Diver, but...

Does anyone need a diver? 

I realize that this is probably not how I should start a review about one of the most iconic diving watch brands of all time, but let me be the first to state: I do not need a diver. I love swimming, but I don’t get a lot of opportunities to swim in a pool deeper than 4 feet (if that) in my area of Japan. The nearest swimming pool to my house doesn’t even allow you to wear a watch (not even an Apple watch - how can I track my calories?!). However, as watch collectors, water resistance is one of the most important specifications. What’s the case size? What’s the movement? And what’s the water resistance? Realistically, the most water most of our watches will ever see is from the sink as we’re washing the dishes. So, why does it matter, if we don’t need it? And why do we need a diver? 

My Doxa Sub 200 Professional

These are all questions I asked myself, and questions I secretly wondered, even as I saw terrific divers from my friends, such as the Tudor Pelagos with its 500M of water resistance, or the Omega Seamaster 300M with its helium-escape valve, as well as the 300M of water resistance. All of these are so cool! But why? 

My question was finally answered when I was visiting family in Manila, and I walked past a watch store, and saw in the display window the Doxa Sub 200. The first sentence that came to mind after seeing it in person? I need it. 

Every Watch Has a Story

It’s Marketing 101 that having a cool story behind a product or a brand makes a prospective customer more likely to buy it, than if it didn’t have a story at all. I’m aware of that as someone who works in Marketing, and as someone who studied it in University. But, damn, Doxa’s story is too cool. 

Doxa was founded in the famed Le Locle region of Switzerland by twenty-one-year old Georges Ducommun in 1889. I guess that’s impressive. When he was 21, he was a true watchmaker, and created a brand that would outlive him by almost an entire century. When I was 21, I was pushing a car up a mountain during a blizzard, but hey, it’s fine. Maybe in the next life, Georges can reach my level. 

Doxa initially distinguished itself through alarm watches, anti-magnetic watches (this even won an award), automobile clocks (they made the first one to have an 8-day power reserve) and dress watches. Imagine everyone’s surprise when they unveiled the 42.5mm Doxa Sub 300 Professional at the Basel Watch Fair in 1967. Making a diver after Rolex and Blancpain and Omega is one thing; making something like the Doxa Sub 300 is another thing entirely. While the Rolex Sub featured a steel bi-directional bezel with an anodized black aluminum insert, the Sub 300 had a patented “dual-ring” system to fulfill its “no-deco” concept. Instead of simply having a countdown timer, Doxa worked with professional divers (most notably Jacques Cousteau of U.S. Divers), and realized that no other diver had a de-compression bezel. This meant that divers could now use the bezel of their Doxa to calculate how quickly and how much they could rise up to the surface without contracting Bends. Doxa would continue to capitalize on the success of this model for the rest of the decade and the early 70s before the dreaded Quartz Crisis essentially shut them down for the rest of the 20th Century. 

The original Doxa Sub 300 Professional, circa 1967 (Credit: Analog Shift)

It wasn’t until the Jenny Family took over in early 2000s that Doxa was properly revived, and they began releasing Doxa watches again. Then, right before the pandemic, they released the Sub 200 series, which shrunk the case of the Sub 300, dropped a hundred meters of water resistance, and looked more “normal” than ever. But that’s exactly where the story of my Doxa watch starts. 

Doxa Sub 200 vs. Doxa Sub 300

Before seeing both the Sub 200 and Sub 300 in person, I really wanted the Sub 300. After all, it had the history, and it had all those pictures of Jacques Cousteau wearing it! I had to have that one. But, when I actually tried both on the wrist, I realized that the dial was smaller than I originally thought to accommodate the dual-ring bezel. It made sense, but it also made it slightly less legible. When I tried on the Sub 200, in contrast, it was like night and day. The orange seemed brighter, and more eyecatching to me. I also loved the contrast with the black sapphire bezel, and the orange in the bezel, as well as the goldfish logo on the screwdown crown. 

Both watches are 42mm (42.5 for the Sub 300), but because of the Sub 300’s unique case shape, the dial looks and feels considerably smaller. The Sub 300 has - surprise, surprise - 300 meters of water resistance, while the Sub 200 “only” has 200 meters of water resistance. I don’t know about you, but I have no intention of diving that deep anyway, but I must admit that the 300 meters of water resistance is an advantage over the newer Sub 200. 

But, the biggest factor in choosing the Sub 200 over the classic Sub 300 was the movement. Why is that? Well, both watches feature the same Selitta SW-200 movement (although they don’t officially declare that, as they previously used ETA 2824), which is a solid Swiss movement, but safe to say, outdated in comparison to other more modern movements. Yes, it beats at 4hz, but it only has a power reserve of 38 hours. That means that a Miyota 9015, a Seiko 4R, and a LJP all eclipse the movement’s power reserve. However, there is a whopping 1,500 USD difference in price between the Sub 200 ($1090) and Sub 300 ($2500). It’s worth noting that the Sub 300’s version of the same movement is COSC certified, so it is literally more accurate than the Sub 200, but is a slight advantage in accuracy and water resistance worth this price delta? 

As someone who has an - admittedly - strange rule about avoiding owning two watches with the same movement, I just didn’t see myself spending such a significant sum on a watch with a movement that can be found on another watch that is just as good… within the same brand. This weighed on my mind, but the deciding factor, ultimately, was how both watches felt on my wrist. The Sub 200, on the wrist, feels like a substantial, solidly built diver, while the Sub 300 felt as if it was demanding my attention. Due to the tonneau-shaped case of the Sub 300, it wears considerably larger, and I couldn’t see myself wearing it that often outside of weekends and the rare beach trip. 

Side by side: Doxa Sub 300 Professional vs Doxa Sub 200 Professional. Note that any Doxa called "Professional" has an orange dial.

The Sub 200 is a true desk diver that can work just as well while I’m typing at my keyboard, or when I’m catching some sun during my once-a-year visit to the beach. Sadly, I couldn’t see the same being true for the Sub 300. 

One Year Later: Any Regrets?

None. It has been a year since I bought the Doxa Sub 200 Professional, and I have had zero regrets about this watch. I have worn it quite often, although I definitely wore it more often during spring and summer. There is a reason, after all, it wasn’t one of my choices for Best Winter Watches. 

There’s something about the vibrant orange color that immediately draws me in, and the beads-of-rice bracelet is the most comfortable one I own. I have been tempted to put a rubber strap on it, but the BOR is just too good that I can’t be bothered. Do I see this as a permanent part of my collection? Perhaps. I have considered trading it for the GMT version of the same watch, but for now, this watch is so good that I can’t even justify getting another diver in my collection. 

To answer the question I initially asked at the start of this review, the answer is: no. In fact, no one even needs a watch nowadays. But, when you get a chance to learn about the history of a brand like Doxa, and you see this loud, orange color which supposedly is perfect for when you’re diving into the depths of the ocean, it’s almost too easy to say: I don’t need it, but I want it.

Movement	SW-200
Power Reserve	38 Hours
Case Diameter	42mm x 46mm
Water Resistance	200M / 656 ft
Crystal	Sapphire
Bracelet	Stainless Steel “Beads of Rice”