DOXA SUB 600T Sharkhunter B&W Review

Prior to starting Hourstriker, I had never really had any hands-on time with watches from DOXA. I was very familiar with the brand and their history of being one of the pioneers in the creation of the dive watch. Recently I have been able to go hands on and live with two vastly different versions of their SUB 300 watches, one being in carbon with a fully lumed dial and the other being the classic steel case and orange dial. Both watches were awesome and I left my time with those watches really impressed with the brand.

Today we'll be looking at a watch from DOXA that has a different case shape from the classic SUB 300 series, but before we get into that, let's first go over a quick history of DOXA. DOXA was founded as a watchmaking workshop in Le Locle, Switzerland by Georges Ducommun in 1889. The name DOXA was derived from a Greek word for "glory". DOXA quickly earned a reputation for developing very high-quality pocket watches. The first major recognition of the brand happened in 1906, when an anti-magnetic DOXA pocket watch won a gold medal at the Milan International Exhibition.



One early innovation from DOXA was the creation of an 8-day mechanical caliber which found a perfect application in the dashboards of cars and planes. Bugatti even picked to use DOXA clocks in the dashboards of their race cars, cementing the brand's legacy with performance and durability. Although today DOXA is best known for their dive watches, the brand actually had a tie to motorsports well before the dive watch was even created.

In 1936, Georges Ducommun passed away and his son-in-law, Jacques Nardin, took over DOXA. Jacques had a very strong family tie to the watch industry, with his grandfather being none other than famed watchmaker Ulysse Nardin. Under Jacques, DOXA expanded the types of timepieces it produced including creating chronographs, alarm watches and also starting to make wristwatches.



The 1950s saw the explosion of recreational diving with the introduction of SCUBA diving. Soon the first two iconic dive watches were released in the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and Rolex Submariner. DOXA thought that they could contribute to this market and after years of development released their SUB 300 dive watch. The SUB 300 was created in collaboration with professional divers, including Jacques Cousteau, and deviated from other dive watches at the time by having a bright orange dial. Orange is one of the last colors to fade at depth and vastly increased low light visibility.

The biggest difference between the SUB 300 and other dive watches, was the inclusion of the rotating bezel with a built in no-decompression dive table along with the standard dive time scale. This tool would allow divers to quickly and easily calculate their ascent times, which is crucial for their safety. The SUB 300 was a huge success with recreational, professional and military divers, truly cementing DOXA with the world of diving.



Another first that DOXA developed for dive watches was the world's first helium release valve equipped on a commercially available dive watch, which was fitting on the SUB 300T Conquistador. The helium release valve is crucial for saturation divers, whose watches can become saturated with helium that can force a watch's crystal to pop off during decompression. The release valve when activated (when not automatic) will safely allow the helium to escape the watch and keep the timepiece from getting damaged during decompression.

Following the quartz crisis of the 1970s, DOXA found itself in a tough spot in the following decades. The brand changed hands several times and never made much of a mark on the watchmaking landscape during that time. The SUB collection was never forgotten though and a diehard group of collectors kept the memory of the SUB alive.



In 1997 the Jenny family from Switzerland ended up purchasing DOXA. The Jenny family had a long-standing history in the production of cases for dive watches and vowed to bring DOXA back to its former glory. Today DOXA is still independent and family owned and produces a full range of dive watches both paying respect to the brands heritage while also pushing the boundaries of modern watchmaking by using such advanced materials as forged carbon. DOXA continues to expand its collections while also refining their core models like the SUB 300.

Initial Thoughts

The model we're going to be taking a look at today is the SUB 600T in the Sharkhunter B&W (Black and White) colorway. The SUB 600T was released in the 1980s and became a very successful watch for DOXA. The SUB 600T used a much more angular tonneau shaped case in contrast to the rounded soft cushion case of the SUB 300.



When the watch arrived, the first thing I noticed about the SUB 600T was naturally its case. Being so used to the SUB 300 and having only reviewed models of that family previously, the sharp lines of the SUB 600T really took me by surprise. The case shape is actually more in-line with what you'd see on integrated sports watches like the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak then the case of the SUB 300. The cushion case of the SUB 300 did take some getting used to for me, but I was instantly at home with the case shape of the SUB 600T.

The next thing I noticed during my initial time with the DOXA SUB 600T was the lack of color on the dial and bezel. Typically DOXA watches have a very strong orange minute hand which helps a diver locate the hand in low light. The Sharkhunter B&W has a white minute hand along with white lume. Also all other dial and bezel markers are white as well. This gives the SUB 600T a very clean look, looking much different from other DOXA dials.



The final thing I took note of during my first viewing of the SUB 600T was the crown position. Typically most watches feature the crown at 3 o'clock, while the SUB 600T has the crown positioned at 4. The choice to have the crown at 4 alleviates some of the need for crown protectors since this is a more shielded position for the crown. Dive watch case maker Squale popularized this style of crown, called the Von Buren crown, and also Squale used to produce cases for DOXA, including some used on the original 1980's SUB 600T. It's nice to see DOXA give a little nod to history with the use of this style of crown on the modern SUB 600T.

Technical Specifications

The case of the DOXA SUB 600T is crafted out of 316L stainless steel and has a case diameter of 40.3 mm and a lug to lug length of 47.7 mm. The watch weighed in at 118 grams on the two piece NATO styled fabric strap with pin buckle. At its thickest point the SUB 600T is 14.5 mm tall.



The SUB 600T has a slightly domed sapphire crystal that has multiple layers of a scratch resistant anti-reflective coating applied to it. Underneath the super clear sapphire is a matte jet black dial. Around the outside of the dial is a minute track printed in white with thin hash marks representing each minute. DOXA uses a mixture of white dots and diamonds (shark teeth) for the hour markers on the SUB 600T. The Super-Luminova on the hour markers glow a strong bluish green in low light. 12, 6 and 9 o'clock get diamond hour markers and 3 is omitted to house a white backed date window.

There are three centrally mounted hands on the dial of the DOXA SUB 600T being the hour, minute and seconds hands. The hour and minute hands are fence post shaped, while the seconds hand is slender with a blocked tip. All three hands feature lume that matches the lume found on the hour markers. DOXA and "automatic" are found at 10 o'clock with SUB 600T and "sharkhunter" found at 4. Finally "Swiss Made" is printed at 6 o'clock rounding out the dial.



Moving past the dial is the 120 click uni-directional bezel complete with a black ceramic inlay. The bezel is very nicely scalloped and offers a ton of grip. The action is nice and sure and each turn results in a satisfying audible click. Only the triangular marker at 0/60 is lumed and matches the dial markings when glowing in low light. The inner part of the bezel is setup with the traditional 0 to 60 minute dive scale with each 5 minute interval marked with an Arabic numeral and the other minutes represented by a thin hash mark.

The real star of the show here is the US Navy no-decompression dive table which is featured on the outside of the bezel. When a diver is about to start a dive, they would set the zero marker of the bezel at the current minute hand. This scale will now show them how long they can stay at each depth without needing to do decompression stops. Say if the diver wanted to go down to 100 ft, the bezel would show them that they could stay at that depth for around 10 minutes without needing to do decompression stops. If they wanted to go down to 70 feet, then they could see that they could stay that deep for 50 minutes. It's kind of a fool proof system that is welcome by divers since sometimes even simple logic can be challenging during serious dives. The deeper a diver goes, the more their minds are effected, similar to having one martini on an empty stomach per 10 meters of depth.



Looking at the case, you can tell that the DOXA SUB 600T is a serious tool watch with most of its surfaces being brushed in finish. There are some polished areas to the watch like the chamfers, top of the crown and some areas of the bezel that add a bit of visual flare to the case. Looking at the profile of the SUB 600T, you can see a gentle curve to the case of the watch that follows the curvature of your wrist. The right hand side features the screw down crown at 4 o'clock which is also nicely scalloped like the bezel. The screw down crown aids in the 600 meters of water resistance of the SUB 600T and features the DOXA logo on top of it. Once un-screwed, you can manually wind the automatic movement in its resting position. Pulling the crown out to position one allows you to set the date and pulling it out to position two stops the seconds hand and lets you set the time. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump in the minute hand and getting the crown to catch to screw back in doesn't require any additional care.

Flip the watch over and you are greeted with a screw-down solid case back that has an engraving of the DOXA logo over a wave pattern. All the important information about the watch is also engraved around this image as well as "DOXA SUB 600T". Underneath the case back beats the Swiss made Sellita SW200-1 automatic movement. The movement only has 38 hours of power reserve, which isn't the most, but should be fine for a daily worn or weekend only watch which the SUB 600T lends itself to. The movement beats away at 28,800 vph (4Hz). A nice positive to the SW200-1, is that it is an extremely well known and widely used movement, so most local watchmakers should be able to fix and service it when needed. On our timegrapher the DOXA SUB 600T showed an accuracy of +3 seconds per day when averaged out over several positions, which is extremely accurate.



The DOXA SUB 600T has a lug width of 20 mm and comes on a two piece, NATO-Style, black fabric strap with quick release spring bars. The strap has no taper to it and features brushed stainless steel keepers and a pin buckle branded with the DOXA logo. The watch is also available with a stainless steel bracelet. Being a thinner fabric strap, the strap was very supple and needed no break-in time to be comfortable. With a lug width of 20 mm, the SUB 600T can also accept endless amounts of aftermarket straps if you'd like something a bit different on the watch.

On The Wrist

On the wrist the SUB 600T is a comfortable wear. The majority of the weight of the watch is found in the case, so being on such a lightweight strap gives the feeling that the watch is a bit top heavy. The fabric strap does do a good job of keeping the watch centered on my wrist though. At just under 48 mm of lug to lug length, I felt the watch seemed a bit small to my personal preference of preferring watches with just over 50 mm of lug to lug length. I feel like there was a bit of wrist left on each side of the case when on my 7.25 inch wrist with a 55 mm flat area. If the watch was on the bracelet or a more substantial strap, it might have appeared to wear a little larger though.



The black and white aesthetic of the SUB 600T Sharkhunter went perfectly with my typical dress of a black t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. I wore the watch out and about on normal everyday errands as well as out to dinner and drinks. I feel the watch excels in casual settings and never called any un-needed attention to itself. The SUB 600T isn't a heavy watch, but at 118 grams I did notice it on wrist and it never really disappeared. The watch case does have some nice heft to it that is easy to feel while wearing it. That being said, even on longer periods of wear, the SUB 600T never became a bother or caused any wrist fatigue.

To test the legibility of watches I use a very simple test where I see how easy it is to tell the time while driving at just a glance. With this test, dive watches do the best with their large high contrast dials and hands. Skeletons and complicated pieces end up doing the worst since those types of watches normally don't focus on legibility. Not to my surprise, the DOXA SUB 600T aced my legibility test with the jet black dial contrasting amazingly well with the stark white hands and indices. It really took no time to decipher the current time at a glance. Adding Arabic numerals might have marginally made time telling at a glance easier, but would drastically change the look of the dial. The SUB 600T is also covered with a good amount of luminous material, so low light time telling was a breeze.



The SUB 600T really flies under the radar when being worn out. The all black and white look of the watch is by far the most subtle version of the SUB 600T. I didn't notice many people looking at the watch when I was out and about, which I guess is perfect for a pure tool watch. I'm sure if I was wearing a yellow, aqua or orange version of the SUB 600T that it would have received a ton of looks though. I did show the watch to a few friends when out and most people were really impressed by the feel of the watch as well as the story behind the dual purpose bezel. Everyone was also very impressed by the price.

Value and Position in the Market

Speaking about price, the DOXA SUB 600T Sharkhunter B&W retails for $1,650. For that price you're getting a watch from one of the most respected names in dive watches and a very unique looking stainless steel case able to go down to 600 meters. Now is the time in the review to look at other watches with similar features and specifications to see how the SUB 600T stacks up value wise.



First up we have the Matic from Squale which has a 44 mm case made out of stainless steel. The Matic has a more traditional rounded case and features the same 600 meters of water resistance. The Matic is also powered by the same Sellita SW200-1 movement with 38 hours of power reserve. The Squale is a little bit less expensive than the DOXA at $1,595.

Next up is the Super Sea Wolf Compression Diver from Zodiac which has a 40 mm case crafted out of stainless steel. The Zodiac again has a more traditional case design and offers only 200 meters of water resistance. The Super Sea Wolf is powered by the same Sellita SW200-1 movement as the other two waters as well. The Zodiac is less expensive than the DOXA at $1,395.



Moving on is the U50 from Sinn which is made out of submarine steel and has a 41 mm case diameter. The U50 also has its crown set at 4 o'clock and offers a little less water resistance at 500 meters. The Sinn runs the slightly upscale Sellita SW300-1 movement with 56 hours of power reserve. The U50 is a good deal more expensive then the DOXA at $3,240.

Finally we have the Superman Dato CMM.10 from YEMA which has a 39.5 mm case made out of stainless steel. The Superman has the look of a traditional vintage dive watch and runs off of a manufacture movement with 70 hours of power reserve. The Superman only has 200 meters of water resistance and is decently more expensive than the SUB 600T at $2,090.



Looking at the above four watches, you can tell that the DOXA SUB 600T is priced very well when compared to these divers with similar specifications. The SUB 600T sits firming in the middle in terms of pricing and more on the higher side when speaking about specs. This price range of divers is a very competitive segment of the watch market, and in the end the choice of which watch you choose comes down to personal preference.

Closing Thoughts

So in the end, is the DOXA SUB 600T for me? While I like a lot about the SUB 600T, there are just a few things that don't gel with what I collect personally. The first issue is the use of stainless steel for the case. I know most collectors love stainless steel and the luxurious heft it gives off, but I'd love to have seen the watch offered in titanium. DOXA did previously offer the SUB 600T in titanium in a limited edition model, so it would be nice to see titanium in the normal catalog. This would stop the watch from feeling top heavy as well. Also if the watch was two or three millimeters larger, it would fit much closer to the size of watch I like to collect. The SUB 600T didn't seem small, just a bit smaller than I tend to collect personally.



Otherwise, I love the black and white look of the watch and really appreciate the call back to the 1980s case design. 600 meters of water resistance is great and much nicer to see than the common 200 or 300 meters seen on most divers. The decision to use the Sellita movement also means that the watch can be worked on by just about any watchmaker and the watch wouldn't need to be sent back to DOXA for most non-warranty repairs and services. The price of the SUB 600T is also more than fair and gets you into one of the most well known pioneers of dive watches at a fraction of the price of modern Blancpains and Rolexes.

Would I then recommend the SUB 600T to somebody looking for a rugged vintage looking dive watch? Based on my time with the watch, I would have zero pause in recommending the SUB 600T. Like I said earlier, this is a very saturated and competitive area of the market and there are endless choices. I feel the DOXA looks very unique and stands out from the crowd though, it also is from a brand that contributed a lot to the development of the dive watches we know today. I would strongly urge somebody to take a close look at the SUB 600T if they're interesting in adding this kind of diver to their collection. Even better, I feel the SUB 600T needs to be seen in the metal to really be appreciated.



I'd really like to thank DOXA for sending us this SUB 600T to review, it's the first watch we've had in hand from the brand which doesn't use the cushion shaped case of the SUB 300 and it was interesting to compare it to those both on wrist and in hand. There are a few more recent DOXA releases that I'd like to get in for review. So please keep an eye out for our next review from the brand in the near future.

For more information about the SUB 600T please visit : DOXA

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: 861.10.101B.20-N

Retail Price: $1,650

Case Size: 40.3 mm

Lug to Lug: 47.7 mm

Thickness: 14.5 mm

Weight: 118 grams

Case Material: 316L Stainless Steel

Bezel: 120 Click Uni-Directional Bezel with Ceramic Insert

Strap: Two Piece Fabric Strap with Stainless Steel Pin Buckle

Movement: Swiss Made Sellita SW200-1 Automatic Movement

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds and Date

Power Reserve: 38 Hours

Water Resistance: 600 Meters