The Doxa SUB 300 Black Lung A Cult Legend Returns

July 12, 2013

Balazs and I arrived to the Doxa booth one afternoon at Baselworld 2017 for a meeting with Rick Marei, the General Manager and spirit of the lauded brand. If youve never met Rick, hes unlike anyone in the established watch business. As someone who runs a business that sells entirely without distribution, you could liken him to the owners of most micro or start-up watch businesses. But C he runs Doxa and Doxa is no startup.?? Sure, theyre not or Omega, but theyre a brand well known to those who dive or most who care anything at all about the history of watches. So, its interesting to hear Rick speak and how open and honest he is about what hes doing, why he does things his way and to pick up on some interesting insights about the industry in general. The biggest plus, though, is that he has the ability to move quickly and release pieces that fans want. Todays debut is a perfect example. So without further ado, lets look at the Doxa SUB 300 Black Lung.Foreshadowing the Doxa SUB 300 Black Lung at Baselworld 2017For 2017, Doxa didnt show any novelties at Baselworld. Fresh from the release and serious coverage of the sublime 50th anniversary SUB 300 reissues, the brand was catching its breath and figuring out what to do next. When we asked about more vintage reissues, Rick gave a wry smile and essentially said that nothing was off the table and that he was considering all sorts of things. And then, he showed us what was on his wrist, swore us to secrecy, and mentioned that he wanted to create a limited edition of the cult-famous Doxa SUB 300 Black Lung. Of course, on Ricks wrist was a real vintage Black Lung.A Rare Prototype from 1967As the story goes, Doxa was testing its watches in 1967 and had signed an agreement with US Divers, which allowed them to place the logo of the dive equipment maker on the dial. Initially, a logo with a black background was tested, but this caused visibility issues when the hands (also black) were over the motif.? As a result, the US Divers logo became the black outline, with dial color background, that we know of today. But what became of the prototype black background watches? Well, apparently a bit more than 10 were made, some survived, and they took on the name of the Doxa SUB 300 Black Lung. Incredibly rare and appropriately valuable, these watches cause a serious stir when they come up for sale. So, yes, Balazs and I undoubtedly enjoyed seeing Ricks in the metal.Similar to the 50th Anniversary PieceIf youre familiar with the 50th anniversary SUB 300 pieces C the Professional, the Shark Hunter, and the Searambler C then the Doxa SUB 300 Black Lung wont surprise as its the exact same watch physically.The classic 42.5mm stainless case, beads of rice bracelet, US Navy no deco bezel, and domed sapphire crystal are all here and they look sublime.An ETA 2824-2 with COSC certification is included as well (as stated on the back and again, this is a prototype that I tested so assume the 50th anniversary comes off the case back). You may think that this was a bit of a lay up in terms of just issuing another variant on a watch that had already been created, but theres a bit more to the story.Aqua Lung s 75th AnniversaryThe Doxa SUB 300 Black Lung will ship in December and that essentially makes it a 2018 model. Thats significant because the year marks the 75th anniversary of Aqua Lung. If youre a dive fanatic, youll note that US Divers consolidated under the Aqua Lung in 1998.?? A watch like this is the perfect celebration of a storied equipment brand and its great to see the two brands coming together again.Hands-On and it s a BeautyYou know our general disdain for using press photos here at Fratello Watches, so were thankful to Rick for sending over a Doxa SUB 300 Black Lung for hands-on testing. What I can tell you is that this watch is fantastic.It wears like a vintage watch and that includes some good old-fashioned bracelet rattle (I love the stamped end links and clasp). Its slim, especially when compared to my later Synchron version, and the domed sapphire crystal is on a par with the Omega Seamaster 300 reissue I recently reviewed.Despite the lack of vintage taper on the beads of rice bracelet, I still enjoyed it and found it very easy to adjust due to simple screws. One of the things I cannot stop staring at is the bezel. Its so beautifully finished and the unidirectional bezel has such great weighting. It truly reminds me of precision equipment.300 Pieces Available for Pre-Order TodayI was very close to ordering last years reissue, but I held off in the hopes of finding an original. That has proven to be a fruitless search, so I have already placed my order for a Doxa SUB 300 Black Lung. Doxa will only produce 300 of these gems, all in orange Professional guise C yes, far more than the original run of Black Lungs C and I expect that theyll sell quickly. Pre-orders open today at a very reasonable $2,190. If any are left, the retail price will be $2,590. Frankly, I wouldnt count on any left at the higher price.For more detail, head to Doxawatches.com