Wooo, hard to believe that the three watches on the top row of the image above are all at least 20 years old. The SUB 600T is from 2003, the 750T from 2005 and the 750T GMT from 2006. Where did the time go? As a famous actor once said: "how can I lie about my age when my kids are having face lifts!"

A lot has changed in those years and I've bought and sold a lot of watches. Some, I don't miss, some I regret selling and some I've bought back and some I just hung on to because I liked them so much. The SUB 600T falls into the last category. I love the case and the 60 click bezel, so much so I based my new watch: The Marauder on it, but more on that later. The SUB 750T and SUB 750T GMT are ones I sold but ended up buying back because I missed owning them.

So, I thought, maybe it is time to do a retrospective of the watches and compare them to the new versions which have been released 20 years after the originals.

First a little history for those who are new to DOXA.

Production of the vintage DOXA SUB ended sometime in the late 1980's. The Jenny family acquired the brand in 1998. DOXA continued to sell dress watches in Asia under a licensing agreement. Rick Marei approached the Jenny family with a view to resurrecting the SUB and in 2002 released the SUB 300T Reissue. Rick was the man behind the DOXA SUB resurgence until 2019 when there was a parting of the ways and Jan Edocs was appointed DOXA CEO. Sadly, the way DOXA took back control was less than professional and for some unknown reason they have failed to recognize the Marei era and what was accomplished during those years. But this is nothing new. For years they ignored the fact that it really was Clive Cussler and his literary hero: Dirk Pitt who kept the DOXA SUB alive. Eventually they recognized what he had done and now fully embrace it, so maybe there is hope for recognition of the Marei Era in the future! Those who forget where they come from are never treated kindly by history.

2019 to 2023 is what I call the ICE era, standing for: Innovation, Consolidation and Expansion. However, the ICE era really was a transition period. The watches released had their beginnings in the Marei era. It wasn't until 2023 that the Edocs era really started with the release of the spectacular Cussler SUB.

Jan and I got off to a rough start. I was particularly vocal in my criticism of how the Marei era ended. Really was none of my business so I emailed him an apology which he graciously accepted and we have spoken a few times since. Apart from a couple of watches which I haven't really liked, I do think he is taking the DOXA SUB availability in a direction it had to go. Rick pioneered online selling which was right for the times but under Jan you can now walk into dealers all over the world and actually try on a SUB.

Packaging

Before we get to the watches, lets look at something else. One of the most recognizable changes to the DOXA SUB over the last 20 years is not the watches but the packaging. The aluminum tube became synonymous with the SUB. Originally around 10 inches long with a 3 inch diameter it shrunk to about 8.5 inches and 2.5 inches diameter with the release of the SUB 1000T. What people didn't know was that the tube was Rick / Synchron's "property" and so when the Marei era ended so did the tube packaging. As can be seen from the photo, DOXA changed to a white outer cardboard box and an inner zipped blue case. I was never a big fan of the case, liking it to a camera case at best and a fried chicken box at worst. Although, I have softened my opinion on it and now consider it OK. As soon as the watch is taken out, the whole package gets tossed in a drawer which is exactly what happened to the tube. I often wondered why the inner box was blue rather than orange. The blue emphasized the orange Jenny fish and you all know how I feel about that logo poisoning the DOXA heritage.

OK now that is out of the way, let's look at the three Marei era SUBs. Jacque O'Rourke, the Sr. Director of Retail & Wholesale - Americas & Caribbean for DOXA was kind enough to lend me the new 750T and GMT so I could compare them with the original Marei versions. There has never been a reissue of the 600T so that's where the Marauder comes in.

I'll refer to this table during the review.

What you will notice here is that all the Marei Era watches use an ETA movement but the modern watches use Sellita. The reason for that is that Swatch own ETA and in 2020 they stopped selling ETA movements to anyone outside of the Swatch group of companies.

600T - As close as you can get to the vintage SUB 300T without a time machine

Released in late 2003, the SUB 600T was the closest thing you could get to an initial Vintage SUB 300T in over 45 years. It was almost dimensionally the same as the vintage SUB 300T except for the thickness which was a little more due to the slightly domed crystal. Like the vintage SUB the bezel was 60 click. Also like the vintage SUB 300T it was available with orange and black dials. However, there was never a silver dial version produced which seemed strange as orange, black and silver were the primary Initial Vintage dial colors. Instead, a yellow dial Divingstar Seahunters version was produced. This was also unusual as a yellow dial SUB wasn't seen until the 3rd generation Synchron Era watches which weren't produced until 1974.

The bracelet which resembled the original Beads of Rice (BOR) was much more substantial than the original but was really a 'faux' BOR bracelet because there were no individual beads. The links were machined and polished to give the effect of being a true BOR. Bucking the modern trend to use Solid End Links (SEL) or endpieces as they are also known as, the 600T used endpieces made from folded steel. That changed with the 750T, it and all other modern SUBs use SELs. However, the bracelets didn't change to individual beads until the SUB 1200T, years later.

The SUB 600T has become one of the most regarded and sought after Marei era watches and one in particular is a favorite amongst Clive Cussler fans: The SUB 600T Dirk Pitt. A total of 70 Dirk Pitt SUBs were made as a tie-in to the 2005 movie: SAHARA, based on Clive's book of the same name. 20 of these watches, which had no serial number, were given away by Paramount Pictures prior to the movie premiere on April 8th.

The SUB 600T was introduced in a Limited Edition of 3000 watches as a tribute to Dr. Clive Cussler and "his work and achievements". Clive received number 1/3000. The caseback of the watch proclaimed 'CLIVE CUSSLER EDITION XXXX/3000. 600 METERS-1968 FEET. SWISS MADE SINCE 1889'. The Dirk Pitt version had different wording on the caseback. The SUB 600T Divingstar also had the Sea Hunters logo on the dial and 'SEAHUNTERS EDITION' on the caseback. Like the SUB 300T Reissue and almost every DOXA SUB in the Marei era, the caseback included the Jenny fish logo. It was also on the crown and bracelet clasp. The exceptions are the SUB 250 which had no logo on the caseback or crown and the 50th Anniversary SUB 300 and 300T which had the sail boat caseback and DOXA on the crown.

The SUB 600T has to be one of my favorite DOXA SUBs ever. I used to own all three versions, but I gave the Sharkhunter to my uncle as a present and he subsequently gave it to someone else. My wife commandeered the Professional and Divingstar and refuses to give them up so I bought a Dirk Pitt version. There has been no reissue of the Marei era 600T, however a visit to the DOXA website will show there is a 600T available but it is a reissue of the angular case Aubry era watch. If I was to be completely honest about the 600T there are 2 small niggles I have with it. One is the slightly domed crystal. It catches far more overhead light reflections than a flat crystal and the caseback, which has the Jenny fish in the form of a separate medallion, which was known to fall out in early versions of the watch. This medallion necessitated an increase in the caseback thickness which knocked the wearability down a notch from the vintage SUB 300T. However, I was able to fix that!

Marauder - The 600T all grown up

In another universe where it was still the Marei era, this watch would be the DOXA Marauder, but even though I consider it an updated version of the 600T, it is not a DOXA. However, in many ways it sneaks in under the wire. In 1969, DOXA were struggling financially. It was the beginning of the Quartz Crisis and many Swiss watch companies were beginning to suffer the effects. The Synchron Holding company had been formed in 1968 utilizing Ernest Borel. By March 1969 DOXA and CYMA had been absorbed. Hence the Synchron era which lasted until 1978. In an amazing twist of fate, the Synchron brand is owned by Rick Marei and it was his Synchron company that distributed the DOXA SUBs during the Marei era.

There are a number of things I don't particularly like about the modern SUBs. The NoDeCo bezel is outdated, even thought the Imperial version uses the US Navy dive table, other diving agencies like PADI, NAUI, SSI etc have more conservative and safer tables. It is not symmetrical, with most of the numbers grouped around the 1 o'clock to 2 o'clock position, it is also a scratch magnet and you need a different bezel for Imperial and Metric watches. The HEV on the SUB 1200T and 300T are badly offset towards the top of the case and the faux BOR endpieces which are an artifact from the Marei era just look wrong to me. The flat endpieces from the vintage watches look far better in my opinion.

So, I set out to design a better SUB and based it on the 600T. I have a patent pending for my new NoDeCo bezel. It incorporates the most conservative dive limits. It has both Imperial and Metric and is symmetrically aligned. It is easy to use. The bezel is divided into 2 rings. The outer showing 60 minutes and the inner separated into segments showing depth in both feet and meters. The minute number aligned with the center of the depth segment is the maximum time that can be spent at that depth without needing a decompression stop during the diver's ascent back to the surface. For example, at 120 feet or 36 meters the maximum time is 10 minutes and at 70 feet or 21 meters the maximum time is 40 minutes.

I also wanted the bezel to have the number 60 at the 12 o'clock position. The only other dive watch that I could find that has it is the 60th Anniversary Omega Seamaster.

This shows the Marauder HEV compared to the SUB 1200T.

Just like the 600T, the bezel is 60 clicks but the crystal is flat, the caseback is thinner with a smoother profile enabling the watch to be 11.85mm thick and the HEV is perfectly centered on the case. For those who have read my History of the Vintage SUB book, you will recognize that the HEV was done to mimic the prototype SUB 300T Conquistador.

The watch you see in these images is the only "real" prototype. I made others using the Seestern case. This one is made by Synchron. I only wanted 10 made for my family as a way of remembering me and my obsessive watch writing habit. That's why there is KMK and the DWL logo and Millar Edition on the dial. The KMK is the logo seen on my books and is a backward and forward K either side of an M and represents my children's names. The caseback will have the DWL helmet.

Rick Marei was kind enough to say he would make them for me so I added Synchron to the dial. A number of people asked if they could buy one so it was decided to make a total of 300 watches but 290 would have a slightly different dial. 50 of the 300 watches will have a 60 click bezel, the rest will be 120 click. Not my choice but Rick felt people would prefer 120 click. The image above is the final production dial for the 290 watches.

One other thing I stipulated in the design was that the lume should be face melting. We went for solid blocks of C3 - X1 lume. The above image shows the lume degradation profile of the Marauder, The Seiko Monster and the SUB 300T. No-one will complain about the lume on this watch.

The Marauder has been in development hell for about a year and a half now and is still months away from production. A second prototype is being made. The bezel lines are thinner, the numbers bigger and the lume dot bigger. Also a cool caseback is being done. I tried to photoshop the bezel to show this.

In the end I just did the AI thing and the image above shows what the final bezel and caseback should be like. The crown will also be changed to the SUB 600T style crown. When it is finally released, I hope people will see it as a worthy successor to the Marei era SUB 600T.

SUB 750T - The more things change, the more they stay the same

When the SUB 750T was released in 2005 it was the largest true Tonneau cased SUB that DOXA had ever made. The SUB 300T Reissue from 2002 was definitely bigger but it wasn't a Tonneau case. The 750T was basically the 600T but just beefed up and with a flat crystal.

The 750T was the start of the proliferation of different versions within a model. The 4 standard dial colors, orange, black, silver and yellow were available, then came the Caribbean with a blue dial. There were intentional and unintentional Limited Edition releases. A Sharkhunter with all white hands as opposed to the orange minute and seconds hands and a Caribbean spelt Carribean.

When DOXA announced they were doing a reissue of it in 2025 I wondered if it would be a smaller sized version as the trend now seems to be going in the opposite direction to making watches the size of hockey pucks, But, no, the new 750T (on left side of image above) is almost a doppelganger of the original, except it is thinner by over 1.5mm. That reduction in height coming from shaving some thickness of the midcase and caseback which accounts for the slight reduction in weight of the watch head.

For a big watch the 750T wears remarkably well and even on my 6.75 inches wrist it is one of the best wearing DOXAs ever. The new versions continues that wearability. Was there any noticeable difference wearing either watch? Honestly I couldn't really tell, both are just great wearing watches.

There are other differences, some subtle and two not so. The not so is the caseback. The Jenny fish has been caught and cooked. In its place is the DOXA sailboat. Back where it should be.

The other not so is the bracelet. The original watch used the pin and collar system on faux BOR links. The new bracelet uses real beads and screwed pins and also includes half links, which I think is a really nice touch. The clasp is a more modern affair with an inbuilt wetsuit adjuster which is operated by push pins on the clasp side. It makes the clasp thicker and heavier and interestingly enough if you compare the two watches sized for my 6.75 inch wrist, the modern 750T is actually heavier than the Marei era one. 179 grams to 177 grams which negates the lighter watch head of the new 750T. I personally prefer the old clasp, but the new one does have a distinct advantage and it is the adjuster which allows the wearer to fine tune the size should their wrist swell or contract due to summer / winter conditions. I did find myself using it during the time I had the watch.

The subtle differences are on the dial. The font has changed on the new watch. The lettering is much thicker and compact and I think this is a bit of a misstep. The old saying applies. If it ain't broke don't fix it and I thought the original size and font was perfect. There is also a longer line beside the date window on the new 750T and if you look closely you can see the marker printing and lume is slightly different too.

The other difference is the 60 minute marker on the bezel. Whereas the Marei era watches used a fill of luminous material, the new SUBs have gone for black paint. As you can see in the image above the 750T and 250T GMT on the bottom row have no lume on the bezel. What is also quite noticeable is the different color and noticeably weaker lume on the 250T GMT

How similar are the Marei era 750T and new 750T? Well, even though there is a slight difference in the midcase, the endpieces fit the old 750T which means if you have an old 750T on a strap and want a bracelet. The new one will fit perfectly.

Would the bezel fit the Marei era 750T? Hmmm, on looks alone I would say there was a good chance. From my measurements, both ODs and IDs are the same. As the new 750T was a loaner, I wasn't going to even attempt to remove the bezel to check the thickness and underside profile. However, they both look to be pretty close in thickness and may indeed be the same and I can see no reason why the underside profile would change as they are both a 120 click bezel. DOXA say the new bezel won't fit the old one. How about the crown? The crown measurements are 6.55mm for the Marei era 750T and 6.48mm for the new one. So dimensionally there isn't much in it and a new crown would definitely fit in the crown recess. As far as I'm concerned a new 750T crown and tube is a definite replacement for the old 750T. Sadly, again, DOXA don't agree and they won't sell you one anyway. This is a really sucky situation because it means that even if the bezel and crown would fit, DOXA have left the Marei era 750T unrepairable other than the movement which any competent watchmaker can service or replace.

If you go back and look at the image above of the 600T Professional and Dirk Pitt watches you will see the Dirk Pitt has a different Metric bezel. That's because the original bezel was trashed when I got the watch. DOXA could not replace it, but I found that a Maranez Vintage Samui SUB homage bezel fit so I used it.

Marei era watches are now classics with some approaching vintage status. Sadly, just like the vintage SUBs, replacement parts for a number of the models are non existent. You have to hope that DOXA's mission statement isn't....."Don't try to repair your old SUB, because you can't. Just buy a new one!"

I think it is safe to say that the Marei era 750T got it right the first time. There really wasn't any reason to change it and thankfully DOXA didn't. Little bit thinner and some cosmetic changes but the watch is a true brother to the original. The only differentiator is the movement. There are people out there who prefer the ETA 2824 over the Sellita SW200-1 and if given the choice would go for the Marei era 750T. That watch is almost neo vintage, it is a classic now but are hard to find in pristine condition. However, if you want the best wrist advert for an orange DOXA SUB, it has to be the new 750T. It is a fantastic wearing watch, a true successor to the Marei era version and just screams DOXA SUB from the other side of the room.

GMT - Completely different watch

Look at the image above and focus on the 24 hour outer ring around the dial. On the 250T GMT on the left the number 24 is aligned with the 12 o'clock lume marker as it should be. On the 750T GMT the 2nd time zone 24 is aligned correctly at the 12 o'clock lume marker but the 12 'o'clock number for the 3rd time zone is moved off to the right. If you rotate that outer ring using the top crown and align it correctly, then the daytime / night-time split at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock shifts to 2:45 and 8:45. That simple error drove me nuts. So much so that I ended up selling the 750T GMT. Bad mistake. Something I regretted. Thankfully I was able to get another and I've learned to live with it.

Little historical tidbit here. The 750T GMT Caribbean is one of the exceptions to the Marei era dials. Normally all use capitalization for Professional, Sharkhunter etc but for the Caribbean GMT they used lower case. All post Marei era dials use lower case lettering.

The Marei era 750T GMT has become a cult classic and the blue dial "Caribbean Queen" is definitely its star. It is highly sought after and rarely comes up for grabs. One of the reasons for that is it is the first GMT SUB DOXA ever made. It broke new ground for the SUB. It was still a kick ass dive watch but now it had a GMT function, actually it had 2 GMT functions. An inner rotating 24 hour chapter ring allowed for 3 time zones to be set. It was available in orange, black, yellow and blue dial versions.

DOXA fans had been clamoring for a new GMT for a number of years and there was genuine excitement when it was announced a new one was coming. However, it tuned out to be a very different watch. I've done a full review of the 250T GMT here so I'm not going to repeat everything.

As you can see from the dimensions in the table above and this image, the 250T GMT is a fraction of the size of the 750T GMT. It also has one less crown so it has only 2 time zones rather than the 3 of the 750T version. I don't think the loss of the third time zone is a negative as I think it was really a bit of a luxury that few people would utilize. However, it did remove the need for a second crown, which aesthetically set the 750T GMT apart from every other SUB before or after it and it also meant that the daytime orange part of the chapter ring was moved to the bottom of the dial in the new 250T GMT. It may seem like a small thing, but for me, I much preferred the look of the orange at the top of the dial.

The 40mm width and 11mm height make the watch really wearable and on my 6.75" wrist it is almost a put it on and forget it watch.

However, I do feel that the trend towards smaller watches which DOXA fell into with the SUB 250T GMT does make it more of a woman's watch. My wife agrees. She has liberated my SUB 300, SUB 300T, SUB 600T and Coppa Milano Sanremo and she says the SUB 250T GMT wears better than any of them.

From comments seen on the DOXA forum and various Instagram and Facebook posts, there are many people who would have preferred that the new GMT had been made using either the new 750T or existing 300T case. I definitely wouldn't bet against either being used in the future.

The Marei era not only resurrected the DOXA SUB but moved the design needle forward with bigger cases, titanium and a GMT SUB. A lot happened in 17 years which paved the way for the global expansion you are now seeing. I think it was the right move to bring back the 750T as a near clone of the original. Not everyone would agree with me but I think the new 750T is better than the Marei version. Not just because it is slightly thinner but because DOXA have spare parts for it.

The 250T GMT is the opposite. Yes it is a nice watch but it is too far removed from the Marei era watch for me to consider it a true replacement, but I expect DOXA will address that in the future. Things don't move fast in the watch world but changes do happen. I'm particulary ecstatic that slowly but surely the Jenny fish is disappearing from the SUBs. I've always believed that the DOXA SUB should be a "pure" DOXA entity like it was with the Initial Vintage watches and not adulterated with other company / owner names and logos.

My review, so I'll leave the last word to my watch. The Marauder started out as a vanity project for me and my family. It's not a DOXA but it is nice to think that in years to come people see it as an evolution of the classic Marei era SUB 600T and maybe it may be considered a classic itself one day.