Doxa Dive Watch
Doxa, founded in 1889 by George Ducommun, was the creator of the first dive watch in 1967. This was the Sub300T. Doxa started out as a manufacturer and designer of dressy watches and timepieces. As the years went by, Doxas grew and branched into other timekeeping products and markets.
One of its timekeeping expansions, prior to the dive watch premieres, was a service to the transportation and automotive industry. Ducommon patented and developed a timepiece that had a power source that would give it 8 days of reserve power. Called the eight day movement, it was introduced in 1908 and immediately put into use by railroad personnel and race cars by Bugatti. Bugatti is legendary as the maker of high-end Italian sports cars and the best sports cars in existence anywhere in the world.
It was the realization in the 1960's by the folks at Doxa that diving was gaining popularity that inspired its dive watch. Jacques Costeau and others of like fame and legend heralded in this new diving interest. Doxa executives were determined to put effort and resources into their manufacture of a dive watch. They tested and realized that a watch with an orange face would be seen more clearly in water, especially if it was murky. They worked with noted divers.
Jacques Costeau was one of the famous Aquarians that helped Doxa create its dive watch. Other renowned associates in the project include a Costeau friend Claude Wesly, who became the first person to spend a week underwater at a depth of 33 feet.
The dive watch design team was composed of engineers and divers of professional acumen. The result was the world's first dive watch for commercial use, the Doxa Sub300t. U.S. Divers, the Costeau firm, bought a large quantity of the dive watch and then resold them in the U.s. Divers flocked to purchase this dive watch, and it sold out quickly.
The Doxa Sub300t has the recommended orange face and a bezel that rotates. It also sports the air diving table of the U.S. Navy engraved on the dive watch surface. This table helps the watch calculate, among other things, the time needed for decompression.
This first dive watch could work to a depth of 300 meters, while the most recent model of this dive watch has expanded to a depth of 750 meters.
The next watchmaker to follow suit with its own dive watch was Rolex,. The Rolex dive watch was named the Submariner.