Shared from GQ
As one of the most-hyped watches of all time, the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 “Tiffany Blue” limited edition requires little introduction. With just 170 pieces produced (among those who copped: Jay-Z, LeBron James, Leo DiCaprio, and, er, this dude) your chances of owning one are about the same as Aaron Rodgers’ odds of hosting Jeopardy again. Not to be discouraged, fans of Tiffany’s hallmark shade of robin’s egg blue who don’t have LVMH scion Alex Arnault on speed-dial have been snapping up every turquoise-dialed watch in sight, causing the price of previously low-key models like Rolex’s Oyster Perpetual to spike into the stratosphere. For anyone who doesn’t fancy spending the price of a luxury car on a grey market OP 41, however, there’s good news. The DOXA Sub 200 Aquamarine is one of the coolest dive watch reboots of recent years, and it comes with a dial and bezel in just the right shade of turquoise.
Not only will the Doxa Sub add a crucial pop of baby blue to your next big fit, but it also comes with one of the more interesting backstories in the dive watch world. In the mid-1960s, thanks in part to TV shows like The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, scuba diving was becoming an increasingly popular hobby, but dive watches were still expensive and not widely available to the public. DOXA, a Swiss watchmaker once known for making dashboard clocks for Bugattis, created a new kind of dive watch to fill the gap. Released in 1967, the original DOXA Sub was the first pro diver’s watch made available to the general public, as well as the first to feature a rotating bezel, which divers could use for timing their ascents. With its bright orange dial, iconic “beads of rice” bracelet and solid Swiss engineering, the Sub was an immediate hit, and not just with weekend warriors: by 1968 Jacques Cousteau was sporting one aboard the Calypso, and had gone into business selling them to would-be divers in the US.
Here in the 21st century, DOXA is still all about bold-looking, high-quality dive watches, and now offers dozens of versions of the Sub adapted from their greatest hits of the 1960s and ‘70s. The Sub 200 may be the entry-level model, but—in the spirit of DOXA’s very first Sub—it’s designed to offer maximum underwater performance and midcentury style for minimum spend. With a stainless steel case, sapphire crystal, Swiss mechanical self-winding movement, and 200 meters of water resistance, the Sub 200 is every bit the functional diver’s tool it’s always been. Add a dial and bezel markings in this year’s hottest hue (plus an optional matching rubber strap if you want to go full LaMelo Ball), and you don’t need a red beanie to appreciate it.
Three More Budget-Friendly Blue Watches
Images and Article from GQ
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