Doxa S.A.



Montres DOXA S.A. is an independent Swiss watch manufacturer founded in 1889. Doxa is best known for its dive watches. The name Doxa (Δόξα) is the Greek word for "belief" or "opinion", or in Christian contexts, "glory".

After the Swiss watch industry was devastated by the introduction of quartz watches in the 1970s, the company changed ownership several times.

History
Doxa, founded in 1889 by Georges Ducommun, began as a maker of dress watches and other timepieces. Over the years, Doxa grew and branched out into other timekeeping markets.

In the late 1960s Doxa planned to produce a watch to be used while diving. Tests indicated that an orange face was more visible in murky water. Doxa also consulted with divers, including Jacques Cousteau, then chairman of "U.S. Divers," and Claude Wesly. A staff of engineers and professional divers was assembled to create a watch with the required features, the Sub300t. Between 1968 and 1979 the model was purchased by the Swiss Armed Forces for a newly established unit of combat divers.

The Doxa Sub300t has an orange face, and a rotating bezel with the official US Navy air dive table for no-decompression dives engraved onto its surface. Other watchmakers then introduced similar bezels. The watch can be used to calculate decompression times, and other information useful to divers. It was originally rated to a depth of 300 meters, later increased to 750 meters.

In 1968 DOXA became part of Synchron S.A. Soon after the introduction of the Sub300t, the Swiss watch industry was devastated by the introduction of quartz watches. Accurate, reliable and small timepieces could now be made with quartz crystal mechanisms instead of the mechanical clockwork movements that the Swiss specialized in. In response a group of Swiss watchmakers, which Doxa joined, was set up to consolidate resources. This eventually failed. In 1978 DOXA S.A. was acquired by Aubrey Frères S.A., then ceased operations in about 1980. The Jenny family of Switzerland acquired Doxa in 1997. In 2002 Doxa introduced re-editions of its watches and timepieces in limited quantities.

Doxa began production of 92 limited edition Sub1000t watches to support Project AWARE in 2008. In 2012, Doxa introduced the Sub1200t with Project AWARE, limited to 300 watches, with part of the price of each watch sold going to support Project AWARE.

A search of Internet auction sites finds Doxa watches of various ages offered for high prices. Advertising material is also offered.

Naming conventions
Doxa's dive watches are named according to the face color: "Professional" is orange, "Sharkhunter" black, "Searambler" metallic silver, "Caribbean" blue, "Divingstar" yellow, "Aquamarine" turquoise, and "Whitepearl" white.