A small and reputable brand, Doxa spoils the public with good value watches with an impressive heritage. Specialised in diver watches, the brand’s offer extends to cover several styles, sizes and complications. Today, we have a look at the large 45mm chronograph version, the Doxa SUB 200 C-Graph.
“Doxa” comes from the Greek word for glory. The brand story starts in 1889 when the 21 years old founder opened his own business bearing his name “Georges Ducommun, Fabriques Doxa”. His pocket watch was honoured at the “Exposition Universelle et Internationale,” at the World’s Fair held in Liège, Belgium in 1905 and in 1906 Georges’ anti-magnetic Doxa won the gold medal at the World’s Fair in Milan, Italy. George filed a patent in 1908 for the “8-Day Doxa Caliber” which became standard equipment on Bugatti’s racing cars – and an industry standard. Instrument panels in other automotive brands promptly featured a Doxa with ships and airplanes following soon afterwards. (Doxa Website)
In 1967, Doxa launches a professional-grade SUB dive watch – the first accessible to the growing community of sports divers – sealed technical credentials. The SUB was developed with diving-legend Jacques-Yves Cousteau and introduced radical innovations that made it the benchmark for military and professional divers, even to this day.
Doxa SUB 200 C-Graph
The SUB 200 C-Graph is a large dimension automatic diver featuring a classic “Y” layout chronograph. The C-Graph is the second chronograph of the SUB 200 collection, along with the vintage-looking turtle case SUB 200 T.Graph. In total, Doxa offers five collections with a total of eleven models (and some of them in six colours).
The exterior: case, bracelet and straps
Doxa SUB 200 C-Graph is a large 45mm stainless steel diver watch. The combination of proportions (solid case with short lugs), finishes (brushed case band, polished chamfer) and flat bezel gives the impression of a much smaller watch. But it has its fair share of weight on bracelet.
The short chrono-pushers make a nice figure on the right side of the case. A nice touch is represented by the partially protected screwed crown that features the orange lacquered Doxa logo. The watch is enriched further with a sapphire insert in the flat bezel. The domed sapphire crystal contributes to a professional (but also vintage) look.
The SUB 200 C-Graph can be fitted with a steel bracelet or a rubber strap. A total of six versions makes choosing the right colour more difficult ( or easier – depending on your personal taste). The metal bracelet is the Doxa’s legendary rice beads. For me, it is one of the most beautiful metal bracelets ever made. Seven elements (five polished rice beads and two brushed rectangular) are terminated with a metal folding clasp bearing the Doxa embossed logo.
The rubber strap is available in orange (Doxa‘s traditional colour), black, blue, aquamarine and yellow. The pattern imitates the rice beads of the metal bracelet but in a finer and subtler design. The straps come with a brushed pin buckle with an engraved logo.
Dials and colours
The Doxa SUB 200 C-Graph collection is available in six dial colours (and corresponding bezel match): orange, black, white, blue, aquamarine and yellow. While the combinations of dials colours and straps/bracelets are predefined, one can easily opt for a second, third (or more) strap to adorn his favourite dial colour.
The tri-compax “Y” configuration features running seconds on the left, a 30-min chrono counter on the right and a 12 hours totalizer at 6 o’clock. I like this type of configuration a lot. I use it sometimes as a second-time zone (due to the 12 hours display. And it is quite a game to synchronise the seconds.
The dial is adorned with applied rectangular indexes with Super-LumiNova. The baton hands are black lacquered on the coloured models while the black, white and blue dials feature silver hands. All hands without exceptions have Super-LumiNova (yes, including the running seconds).
The rest of the details are printed in black. A subtle detail is the circular pattern present on the slightly recessed subdials. The name of the brand and the collection is proudly printed on the upper side of the dial.
One of the most debated colours of the last months was aquamarine (or light blue) which is mostly specific to a prestige Maison – Tiffany & Co. But Doxa has this colour always present in its collection and it is available at an unbeatable price. Plus the added shades on the sapphire bezel makes this watch a stunner.
Unfortunately, the black and the white dial are missing from this set of features. So, I invite you to check the Doxa Website for more info about those two.
The movement
Doxa does not specify the base movement used in its SUB 200 C-Graph. Although it specifies some characteristics: a power reserve: 48 hours at 28’800 vph (4.0 Hz) and 27 jewels. We know for sure it cannot be a Sellita SW500 movement since those have only 25 jewels or ETA 2894 since those have 37. The ETA 7753 (that is used in SUB200 T-.Graph) has 27 jewels but only 42 hours of power reserve. It might also be an ebauche with chrono modules on top.
Leaving the mystery aside, the SUB 200 C-Graph is powered by a variation of Sellita, more precise the SW510b. The movement is further decorated and personalised by Doxa.
Final thoughts
Doxa SUB 200 C-Graph is an excellent diver chronograph offering a lot of value for its price. I think it wears much smaller than its specified size, it is not tremendously heavy on the bracelet and it has colours. I love both bracelet and strap options, having each its own advantages. One cannot go wrong with this one – robustly built, robustly powered, beautiful. The available colours make it an obvious choice for summer, or a watch to sweeten the cold winters.
DOXA SUB 200 C-GRAPH Technical Specifications
Chronograph, three counters
Indications:
- hours, minutes, seconds
References :
- 798.10.351.10 (orange dial, stainless steel bracelet)
- 798.10.351.21 (orange dial, orange rubber strap)
- 798.10.021.10 (silver dial, stainless steel bracelet)
- 798.10.021.20 (silver dial, black rubber strap)
- 798.10.101.10 (black dial, stainless steel bracelet)
- 798.10.101.20 (black dial, black rubber strap)
- 798.10.201.10 (navy dial, stainless steel bracelet)
- 798.10.201.32 (navy dial, navy rubber strap)
- 798.10.361.10 (yellow dial, stainless steel bracelet)
- 798.10.361.31 (yellow dial, yellow rubber strap)
- 798.10.241.10 (turquoise dial, stainless steel bracelet)
- 798.10.241.25 (turquoise dial, turquoise rubber strap)
Movement
- Swiss-made, chronograph, mechanical self-winding
- Power reserve: about 48 hours
Case
- Stainless steel – Diameter: 45,00 mm x 45,00 mm – Thickness: 17,25 mm
- Crystal: Glass box sapphire
- Unidirectional bezel, lug width: 20 mm
- Stainless steel screw-in case back – Screw-down crown
- Water resistance: 200 meters, 20 Bar, equivalent to about 650 feet
Dial
- Painted indices treated with a Super-LumiNova® luminescent coating
- Hands treated with a Super-LumiNova® luminescent coating
- Painted outer minute track
Bezel
- Stainless steel with a sapphire insert – unidirectional rotation
Bracelet – two options
- Stainless steel ‘rice bead’ bracelet with a deployant clasp featuring a diver’s extension and the ‘DOXA fish’ symbol.
- Rubber, in the dial colour.
- Tang buckle featuring the ‘DOXA fish’ symbol.
Suggested retail price:
- CHF 2’690.00 for the version with the stainless steel ‘rice bead’ bracelet, and
- CHF 2’650.00 for the version with the rubber strap.
