Discovering and Diving with The New Doxa SUB 250T GMT

Doxa has been on a real streak these last few years, with new releases what feels like every few months. Since mid-2023 there have been two different Clive Cussler special editions, the whole “Beta” collection, the whole 200T collection, a destro 300T for you southpaws, a whole bunch of new emerald green variants, and a flashy, diamond-encrusted collection. Some have possibly missed the mark (looking at you, diamond encrustments) while some have been certifiable hits (the 200T has been quite popular), but it’s nice to see that a large majority of them lean heavily into, and try to subtly iterate on what is Doxa’s true bread and butter, that unofficial king of vintage divers, the SUB 300. We were lucky enough to take the watch that releases today on a recent dive trip and I am happy to report that it continues that classic approach, and in a way people have been clamoring for for many years. Say hello to the Doxa SUB 250T GMT.

That’s right, Doxa has finally released a GMT dive watch for the very first time since the limited edition 750T GMT way back in 2006. And in a much more user-friendly size than that 45mm behemoth. This newest member of the Doxa family is available in a whole slew of colourways – nine in total. You have the standard Doxa orange, silver, black, yellow, turquoise and navy blue, the more recent white and emerald green additions, and a brand new vintage gradient black. The gradient black is notable for having all-white hands, just like the Doxa Sharkhunters of yore, but paired with vintage-toned lume. I couldn’t see this one in the metal yet (and I’m curious to see it) but instead, I went diving with the all-time classic Professional Orange (what else…) Doxa SUB 250T GMT.

Following the form factor of last year’s popular SUB 200T, this new GMT Diver comes in a compact 40mm stainless steel case that measures a mere 10.8mm thick – that is honestly quite impressive and very welcome. It comes in at just 1mm larger in diameter than last year’s 200T, but since Doxas wear smaller than the numbers as a general rule – the lug-to-lug sits under 43mm – that difference is indiscernible on the wrist. It also retains the flat crystal of the 200T as opposed to the iconic domed crystal of the classic 300 line. In fact, the watch feels like a 1-to-1 clone of the 200Ts until you notice the little details on the dial, under the crystal.

First thing you’ll see is that very subtly understated skeletonized GMT hand, relegated to the Doxa vaults for the last 19 years and primed for a comeback. The next little nuance is the 24-hour scale around the chapter ring to keep track of that second time zone, with the nighttime hours of 6PM through 6AM shaded a darker colour, just in case you get really confused. There’s also a date window at the standard 3 o’clock position.

The bezel of the SUB 250T GMT, despite being a travel-oriented model, is the same classic and iconic Doxa bezel, which gives you no-deco timings on one scale, and also has a 60-minute scale for standard timing functionality. The crown screws down to retain water tightness down to 250 metres, proving that “250T” isn’t just a cool made-up name.  Down in the engine room, you will find the Sellita SW330-2 Elaboré automatic movement (an alternative to the ETA 2893, based on the 2892 architecture), an office of caller-style GMT movement sporting a 56-hour power reserve and beating at a 4Hz frequency. The caller style of GMT means that you independently adjust the GMT hand itself, rather than the hour hand with a local jumping feature. The movement and everything else is protected by a screw-on, solid stainless steel caseback.

The SUB 250T GMT is available on the iconic Beads-of-Rice bracelet or Doxa’s high-quality FKM rubber strap. Both are excellent and very comfortable. When diving, I had to quickly switch it to a third-party NATO strap as a misjudgement of the water temperatures left it too small for the wetsuit I was wearing; no fault of the bracelet, which has a handy dive extension that should cover all situations, except for this one caused by an overestimation of my body’s cold water tolerances and a rental wetsuit that was just a tad too thick for how I sized the bracelet at home – so you know why there’s a NATO strap involved here…

Wearing the SUB 250T GMT

On the wrist, this thing is very comfortable and suitable for any situation you might throw at it. The 40mm case wears much smaller than that number, feeling like 38mm to me, and the super slim profile makes it melt into the wrist; it’s about as small as a tool watch can be before it starts getting bullied by the other watches on the playground. Strapping the iconic orange dial of the Professional over a wetsuit makes it seem like it is finally in its element, the place it was born to be.

Wearing a mechanical wristwatch while diving in 2025 is probably 25% to have a backup timer and 75% to have a very cool totem, a reminder of a simpler time, one that we in the world of watches romanticise quite a bit. It’s also a bit of a membership card in a very cool club, albeit a club that you are likely to be the sole member of on most dive boats these days but hey, their loss. And there is probably no cooler version of that totem/membership card than a bright orange Doxa. On that note, let’s get this thing in the water.

The SUB 250T GMT Underwater

It has long been said that Doxa during the 1960s chose the colour orange for their dive watches as it is the last colour of the spectrum that disappears as you descend underwater, thus increasing the watch’s legibility beyond that of other colours. This is technically not true, and actually, the yellow of the Divingstar would stay visible longer and deeper than the orange Professional (red disappears first, followed by orange, yellow, green and blue). I’m not sure how this myth has persisted for so long, but I digress.

Color science aside, the Orange dial is highly visible during most recreational diving sessions and the contrast of the black hands makes it very easy to see at depth. And while the Doxa SUB 250T GMT functions beautifully as a backup to your hi-tech dive computer, it’s as the aforementioned totem of imagination that it truly shines. It’s exceedingly difficult to dive with a Doxa and not be transported to a different time. A simple glance at the wrist leads one to imagine oneself back at the dawn of sea exploration, breaking new ground with every kick of the fins and breath of canned air. A little imagination can come in handy when you’re crammed on a dive boat off the coast of Florida with a bunch of tourists of varying degrees of tolerability. As a companion for diving and really any other waterborne adventure, the SUB 250T really shines.

Final Thoughts

This new Sub 250T is a great addition to a Doxa collection that has been missing a GMT for far too long. If you’re out doing adventure-ish things that require a robust stainless steel dive watch, resistant to deep water and with multiple bezel capabilities, adding the ability to track a second time zone feels like a no-brainer. And putting all that functionality in such a compact and wearable package is just the icing on the cake, and moves the unassuming SUB 250T GMT to the top of the Doxa heap.

The Doxa SUB 250T GMT collection is released now as part of the permanent collection and retails for EUR 2,550, CHF 2,350 or USD 2,450 (rubber strap), and
EUR 2,590, CHF 2,390 or USD 2,490 (BoR steel bracelet). For more details, please consult our video review at the top of this article and visit doxawatches.com.

And here are some more photos of other editions of the Doxa SUB 250T GMT.