How about a DOXA Review post?...

DOXA 1000T Divingstar review with PICS... Originally posted: October 17 2009 at 5:02 PM



Okay guys I got the DOXA back from the Jewelers and the bracelet situation has been fixed. So on with the review.

When I first picked the watch up it was lunch time and I brought the watch back to work. Of course I opened the package in the car at the FedEx depot to have a quick look at it. Well the first time I saw the watch in person, I have to say I thought that the watch was a bit small. I didn't have time when I went back to work to look at it again. So I waited until I got home.

When I got home I took off the packaging on the dial, case-back, and bracelet. And put the watch on even with the un-sized bracelet. Once the watch is on it doesn't seem so small. Then after a few minutes it started to become the perfect size watch for me. I have a 7 inch wrist. Now don't forget, I have been used to wearing the Big 44mm Hamiltons as of late so I was used to a bigger watch on my wrist. But like I said, for some reason after wearing the watch for a bit, the size just seemed to be perfect.

The reason the watch seems a lot smaller than it really is, (its 42mm), is that the dial is smaller than other watches of this size. I think that's because of the double bezel that DOXA uses. It makes the necessity of the dial to be smaller. And the dial is smaller than the 6309. The DOXA has a 28mm dial, whereas the 6309s dial is more like 31mm, but has the same size case. So the DOXA does look a little smaller.

Pros:
Sapphire Domed 3mm Crystal with AR Coating on inside only
DOXA Rotating Bezel with US Navy non-Decompression table
Nice beads of Rice Bracelet
ETA 2824-2 Automatic Movement Decorated by DOXA
Hand wind option
Hack feature
Really nice Case-back signed with Limited edition XXXX/5000
Matte Yellow dial, not too busy with no logo at 8:00
Date at 3:00
Beautiful case finish
Superluminova instead of Tritium

Cons:
None that I can think of, other than the Beads in the Bracelet being brushed instead of polished, DOXA should have offered both versions.
Bracelet Pins are way to difficult to remove.

Movement:
The 2824-2 ETA movement is very nice, it has the hacking feature which I love and also the hand winding option, which I think is great, but I probably wont ever use it. 42 hour power reserve, 28800 beats per hour, and decorated by DOXA. No complaints with this movement, especially since ETA will not be supplying movements to outside manufactures soon, so I feel lucky that I was able to get one in this DOXA.

Case and Case-back:
The cushion case of the watch is just Vintage. I love it. The top is brushed and the sides are polished, just like the original 300T from 1967. Its made from a single piece of 316L Stainless steel. The finish is just beautiful. The Screw Down Case-back is also very nice, but a bit big. The bigger size of the Case-back makes the watch have a higher centre of gravity so it does move around a bit more on my wrist than some of my other watches with a lower profile Case-back. But this is minimal and is not really noticeable after wearing the watch for a bit. The good thing about having a higher Case-back is that the crown is further away from your wrist, so it cuts down on the crown digging into your wrist. But I think I would prefer a lower profile Case-back just the same.

Crystal:
The 3mm Domed Sapphire crystal really makes the matte dial pop! Its so clear, and with the addition of AR coating on the inside only, it really brings out the deep blacks of the dial. Contrasted with the matte yellow and the slightly green Superluminova, it just all brings the dial together perfectly.

Bezel:
I really love this part. DOXA has the US Navy non-Decompression table bezel as they do on all their divers. Its just a really cool setup and excellent invention, not that I'll ever use it, but it does have that cool factor about it. It ratchets very nicely 120 clicks, with clear intervals between clicks. The other thing that I really like about the 1000T Divingstar bezel is that DOXA used yellow for the markings. I think that most of the other Divingstar models still used the orange colour for the bezel markings that the Professional model used. I always felt that that was kind of odd, given the yellow colour of the Divingstar dial. I always thought that the bezel markings should be the same colour of the dial for the Divingstar. Well DOXA fixed that with the 1000T Divingstar. It just fits and makes the watch look like its more together. Good job DOXA!

Crown:
What I really like about the crown is that its recessed. It is signed with the Jenny fish and screws in smoothly. But for some reason when I use the winding feature the crown does seem a bit flimsy, the Hamiltons are the same. The crown seems to also wobble a bit when winding it. I get the feeling that the crown will just pop out while I'm winding it, so I won't be doing that. The knurling on the crown for some reason I don't like. To me, it just looks cheap.

Bracelet:
Okay, I definitely have some issues here. First, I do like that DOXA has used a screw pin set-up instead of the very stupid Pin and Collar setup that all their other bracelets use. The Seiko Orange Monster also uses the Pin and Collar system. But the problem is that it is almost impossible to get the screws out without stripping the top of the pins. That happened to me last night when I attempted to re-size the bracelet. Even after I heated up the bracelet a little, I still managed to strip the pins. Consequently I had to take the bracelet to my Jeweler and he had to drill out the stripped pins. The other thing that I really wanted was to have the beads polished, which I think I will do on my own. I really think that DOXA should have offered the option of ordering either brushed beads or polished. This would be keeping in with the vintage reproduction of the original 300T from 1967 that DOXA says the 1000T is all about, (the original had polished beads). But beyond that, the bracelet is very nice and much better and stronger than the original as the links are all solid, whereas the original had all individual beads. But it still has that vintage look. I was debating about putting on an Omega Mesh bracelet onto this watch, but after some investigation, I think that I will be polishing the beads myself. I will post some pics of that project when its done.


Pricing, shipping, and DOXA customer service:
Well, I got this watch during DOXAs summer pricing sale, (I know summer is over), but DOXA has kept the sale running, but it will end in November 2009. The retail price on this watch is $2390 U.S. The summer sale price for the 1000T Divingstar is $1490.00 + $45.00 shipping. That's an amazing price for a watch of this quality. I don't think you can get too many watches with a 1000 meter rating for this price. DOXA also holds its value very well and if I ever do decide to sell this baby, ( which I don't think I ever will, it's just too nice), I'm sure I would be able to get my money back.

Shipping was super fast from Switzerland to Toronto, Canada. I ordered the watch last Sunday, and it arrived on Friday. I was in communication with DOXA as to when the watch would ship after I ordered it. It shipped on the Wednesday. I also did not get a FedEx tracking number by Thursday, so I email DOXA and got a response within a few hours with the FedEx tracking number from DOXA. I had also misspelled my shipping address during the initial ordering process and DOXA once again responded within a few hours of my email and fixed the mistake. Thanks to Karin at DOXA for the fast emails and great customer service.


In Conclusion:
All in all I have to say that the DOXA 1000T Divingstar is a fantastic watch. Its the most expensive and nicest watch that I own. I got a great deal on it and I'm very happy with it. The only things that DOXA should fix would be the bracelet issues that I mentioned above. This watch is the closet to the original 300T from 1967 made by DOXA yet. It is a very Vintage looking watch with the added advantage of having all the modern technology of a new watch. This is what drew me to the 1000T. So if any of you guys have been sitting on the fence about buying a DOXA, you should do it now when the summer pricing sale is still going on.

Enjoy the Pics and I hope everyone found this review informative.

Todd.
OSWF Owner.










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