The New Doxa SUB 300β Collection, With Ceramic Bezel and Modern Look

Beta or β… The second letter in the Greek alphabet, but also the sign of renewal for Doxa. The second phase of its life… Sleeker, more modern, less instrumental and rugged, revamping the classic look we’ve known for years, with a more urban touch, but still the same diving capacities (what else would you expect from a Doxa…) The SUB 300 made for diving, and more. Still a technical, robust and reliable watch, with a design that will look good on land. Here’s the new Doxa SUB 300β Collection, a more modern and less rugged take on an all-time classic. 

For many years, we’ve come to expect this kind of watch from Doxa… A robust, tool-oriented dive watch inspired by the emblematic SUB 300 from the mid-1960s, with its barrel-shaped case, metallic no-deco rotating bezel, often with an orange or black dial and no frills whatsoever. Those days, fortunately, are not gone and the classic SUB 300 remains the brand’s bread and butter, its cornerstone model, the icon that doesn’t have to change. But Doxa can’t run as a company with a single product. This is why, in recent years, we’ve seen multiple new models, such as the bold and technical SUB 300 Carbon, the more affordable SUB 200, the robust SUB 600T, a cool SUB 200 chronograph or even the return of the Doxa Army. 

But what matters most is yet another watch, the surprising gold-and-ceramic Doxa SUB 300β Sharkhunter. The first watch to bear the β mention in its name, it opened the door to new territories, to new materials, to a more urban approach and to dive watches that are not solely designed to dive. It has become a sports watch that should work in every life scenario, and not only underwater – at least, this is what the brand claims. The SUB 300β Sharkhunter was a polarizing model, something radically different from what we’ve come to expect from Doxa. But the new steel-and-ceramic SUB 300β Collection, while taking some liberties compared to the original concept of the 300, feels more like an evolution than a deep revolution. For the best, should we agree?

This new Beta feels both highly familiar and rather different at the same time. Slightly slimmer, sleeker, more textured, more contrasted, more modern, it is based on the SUB 300T and not on the vintage-inspired SUB 300 here, with its domed crystal and retro-styled details. In this regard, it is closer to what’s used as a technical base for the Doxa Army. As such, the steel case retains the brand’s classic barrel-shaped design, with a rather wide (42.50mm) but short case (44.50mm). It’s also thinner than a SUB 300T, measuring now 11.95mm in height (compared to 13.65mm), yet without compromising the diving capacities.

As for the specs, the SUB 300β retains all the necessary features, such as a flat, anti-reflective sapphire crystal, a screwed back, a screw-down crown and a helium escape valve at 9 o’clock. And, as you’ve guessed from its name, it is 300m water-resistant. Despite the evolution, it remains a pretty robust dive watch. What has changed? Obviously, the bezel, which is now made of ceramic, with the crown made of the same material. No worries, it retains the classic Doxa double-scale, the saw-tooth profile and it is unidirectional. The result is, however, a great visual difference from a traditional SUB 300, with strong contrast – this is even truer on the Searambler model, the only one with a light-toned dial. Depending on the edition, the outer depth scale features orange, yellow or turquoise accents.

In the same direction, the dial feels typically Doxa, yet with some evolutions – sleeker, not as focused on the function, with more decoration… The base now has a sunray-brushed finish as well as a wave pattern, adding more depth and reflections depending on the ambient light. What hasn’t, however, are the block hour markers and the oversized, coloured minute hand, both allowing for a quick reading of the time underwater. The date has been retained too, which makes sense on a watch with a less instrumental vocation. Overall, the dial is still highly functional but also has more playfulness and refinement.

As always with the brand, the Doxa SUB 300β is launched as a collection, with multiple colours available. 3 of them have a black dial with coloured accents – orange for Professional, yellow for Divingstar and turquoise for Aquamarine – and then come the silver-toned Searambled and the navy-coloured Caribbean (note that the latter features a two-tone black-blue bezel). The only edition missing compared to other collections is the Sharkhunter, but this name was reserved for the black-gold edition.

In the same vein, Doxa offers the SUB 300β either on an FKM rubber strap in the dial’s colour, in black or in white (the latter for the Caribbean and Searambler references) as well as with the historic stainless steel ‘beads of rice’ bracelet. Both have a folding clasp featuring a wetsuit extension. Inside, no surprise, the brand relies on a Sellita SW200 automatic with a 38-hour power reserve.

Now available from the brand’s e-commerce platform and official retailers, the Doxa SUB 300β retails for EUR 2,410 on rubber strap and EUR 2,450 on steel bracelet. For more details, please visit doxawatches.com.