- 13/10/16
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DOXA diver dials ... is it a virus or just an obsession ?
- Thread starter manodeoro
- Start date
- 13/10/16
- 3,917
- 2,391
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So ...
Some months ago a watch lover contacted me to ask if I could make a new dial for his Doxa SUB.
He specifically wanted an early 300 T dial, the orange one with an "Aqua Lung /U.S. Divers" logo.
Aqua Lung is the US name of a French company, "La Spirotechnique", who's chairman was the French "lieutenant de vaisseau" Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
I'm French too and when I was about 10 I spent hours and hours looking at "Le Monde du Silence" from Commandant Cousteau.
So there was no way for me to say "no" ... and I said "I'll try to" ...
But let's talk about the history behind the watch ...
Aqua Lung :
In 1943 Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Émile Gagnan patented their invention of diving equipment, a regulator inspired by the one patented in 1860 and 1864 by Benoît Rouquayrol and Auguste Denayrouze.
Once the war ended, in 1945, they patented an improved their model under the names of "Scaphandre Cousteau-Gagnan", "CG45" (for Cousteau-Gagnan 1945) and "Aqua Lung", the latter name being for export to English-speaking countries. .
In 1946, Air Liquide founded "La Spirotechnique", its own division destined to conceive and mass-produce regulators and other diving equipment, and marketed the "CG45".
The latter's English-speaking name, "Aqua Lung", became the common name of the company itself, which nowadays is officially called "Aqua Lung / La Spirotechnique", although it communicates only under the "Aqua Lung" name alone.
U.S. Divers Company :
At the end of the 40ies, the company "René Sporting foods", based in Los Angeles and directed by René Bussoz, bought the rights to import Aqualung for the east coast of the United States.
In 1952 René Bussoz changed the name of his company to "U.S. Divers Company" and registered the Aqualung brand in the United States.
In 1957 he sold his company and the trade name to "La Spirotechnique".
By the end of 2016 Air-Liquide sold "Aqualung International" and it's US branch, "U.S. Divers Company", was renamed Aqua Lung America
Doxa SUB 300 T :
Doxa is a Swiss watch brand founded in 1889 by Georges Ducommun.
At the end of the 1960s, Doxa decided to produce a professional diving watch.
The brand hired Jaques-Yves Cousteau, then director of US Divers Co., and Claude Wesly, a well known french diver, to write the specifications of that watch ... (some years later Claude Wesly worked at Comex with Henri Germain Delauze).
In 1967 the Doxa SUB 300 T was produced and "U.S. Divers Co." (American branch of "La Spirotechnique") commercialized it in the United States with its own branding added on the dial ... including both the name "Aqualung" and the name "US Divers Co.".
Subsequently Doxa produced other diver watches, independently or in collaboration with different companies specializing in scuba diving, like "Poseidon", or non-profit organisations like "Project Aware" ...
Some months ago a watch lover contacted me to ask if I could make a new dial for his Doxa SUB.
He specifically wanted an early 300 T dial, the orange one with an "Aqua Lung /U.S. Divers" logo.
Aqua Lung is the US name of a French company, "La Spirotechnique", who's chairman was the French "lieutenant de vaisseau" Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
I'm French too and when I was about 10 I spent hours and hours looking at "Le Monde du Silence" from Commandant Cousteau.
So there was no way for me to say "no" ... and I said "I'll try to" ...
But let's talk about the history behind the watch ...
Aqua Lung :
In 1943 Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Émile Gagnan patented their invention of diving equipment, a regulator inspired by the one patented in 1860 and 1864 by Benoît Rouquayrol and Auguste Denayrouze.
Once the war ended, in 1945, they patented an improved their model under the names of "Scaphandre Cousteau-Gagnan", "CG45" (for Cousteau-Gagnan 1945) and "Aqua Lung", the latter name being for export to English-speaking countries. .
In 1946, Air Liquide founded "La Spirotechnique", its own division destined to conceive and mass-produce regulators and other diving equipment, and marketed the "CG45".
The latter's English-speaking name, "Aqua Lung", became the common name of the company itself, which nowadays is officially called "Aqua Lung / La Spirotechnique", although it communicates only under the "Aqua Lung" name alone.
U.S. Divers Company :
At the end of the 40ies, the company "René Sporting foods", based in Los Angeles and directed by René Bussoz, bought the rights to import Aqualung for the east coast of the United States.
In 1952 René Bussoz changed the name of his company to "U.S. Divers Company" and registered the Aqualung brand in the United States.
In 1957 he sold his company and the trade name to "La Spirotechnique".
By the end of 2016 Air-Liquide sold "Aqualung International" and it's US branch, "U.S. Divers Company", was renamed Aqua Lung America
Doxa SUB 300 T :
Doxa is a Swiss watch brand founded in 1889 by Georges Ducommun.
At the end of the 1960s, Doxa decided to produce a professional diving watch.
The brand hired Jaques-Yves Cousteau, then director of US Divers Co., and Claude Wesly, a well known french diver, to write the specifications of that watch ... (some years later Claude Wesly worked at Comex with Henri Germain Delauze).
In 1967 the Doxa SUB 300 T was produced and "U.S. Divers Co." (American branch of "La Spirotechnique") commercialized it in the United States with its own branding added on the dial ... including both the name "Aqualung" and the name "US Divers Co.".
Subsequently Doxa produced other diver watches, independently or in collaboration with different companies specializing in scuba diving, like "Poseidon", or non-profit organisations like "Project Aware" ...
- 13/10/16
- 3,917
- 2,391
- 113
The first thing I'vedone is to download a bunch of pics from the web and use them as template to design the "professional" dial.
After hours spent on Illustrator I achieved to get what I would call a "nice design" ...
After finishing the design I wanted to check how it would look when printed, so I did a first "test print" on a blank copper dial plate
Along the process the guy asked me if I could try to make a "sharkhunter" ... so I designed that one too and made another "print test", still on a blank dial plate
After hours spent on Illustrator I achieved to get what I would call a "nice design" ...
After finishing the design I wanted to check how it would look when printed, so I did a first "test print" on a blank copper dial plate
Along the process the guy asked me if I could try to make a "sharkhunter" ... so I designed that one too and made another "print test", still on a blank dial plate
- 13/10/16
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- 2,391
- 113
SUB 300 T "professional"
outlined "U.S. Divers Co." Aqua-Lung logotype
I won't detail all the making process of that dial as it could be a little boring ...
I'll just say that it included :
- multiple coats of solvant based spray paint
- a kitchen oven that can heat up to 572 F° (never try to bake a cake that hot
)
- some film-free decal sheets
- a professional laser printer
- a ceramic hair-dryer that could put your hair in fire
- some beers and samoosas ... and chopsticks of course to keepmy hands clean while working
... plus patience, thoroughness and some of those tricks you can learn only from too many failures and too rare successes ...
outlined "U.S. Divers Co." Aqua-Lung logotype
I won't detail all the making process of that dial as it could be a little boring ...
I'll just say that it included :
- multiple coats of solvant based spray paint
- a kitchen oven that can heat up to 572 F° (never try to bake a cake that hot
)- some film-free decal sheets
- a professional laser printer
- a ceramic hair-dryer that could put your hair in fire
- some beers and samoosas ... and chopsticks of course to keepmy hands clean while working
... plus patience, thoroughness and some of those tricks you can learn only from too many failures and too rare successes ...
- 13/10/16
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- 2,391
- 113
SUB 300 "professional" no T ... nicknamed "blacklung"
black "U.S. Divers Co." Aqua-Lung logotype on yellow background
That one is the last I've made ...
I just finsihed it 2 days ago after wandering some time in the "hommage" and "modded seiko" lands ...
But as it's the second "real" Doxa Sub dial I've made ... printed on a vintage ETA 2783 dial plate and ready to be put in a Doxa case ... I post it just after the first one ...
I used the same making process ... apart from the fact that there were much more steps along that making ...
The orange background was made first, then the general black print without the "blacklung" ... Then I made the yellow disk on the 3rd quadrant and printed the "blacklung" on it ...
Below is a close-up on the "blacklung" ...
"Hmmm ... not that crispy" one could say ... but please remember that the yellow disk is 6.5 mm only (dial diameter is 27.5 mm) ...
black "U.S. Divers Co." Aqua-Lung logotype on yellow background
That one is the last I've made ...
I just finsihed it 2 days ago after wandering some time in the "hommage" and "modded seiko" lands ...
But as it's the second "real" Doxa Sub dial I've made ... printed on a vintage ETA 2783 dial plate and ready to be put in a Doxa case ... I post it just after the first one ...
I used the same making process ... apart from the fact that there were much more steps along that making ...
The orange background was made first, then the general black print without the "blacklung" ... Then I made the yellow disk on the 3rd quadrant and printed the "blacklung" on it ...
Below is a close-up on the "blacklung" ...
"Hmmm ... not that crispy" one could say ... but please remember that the yellow disk is 6.5 mm only (dial diameter is 27.5 mm) ...
- 9/7/12
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Well done, that last dial looks very good.
I really like these vintage Doxa Subs, I had one of the modern Subs for a while but didn't wear it very often. The sapphire crystal and fake beads of rice bracelet didn't have the charm of the older models, and for $2.5k you don't get a lot of watch TBH (they are made in Hong Kong, final assembly in Switzerland).
To minimize the 'orange peel' effect on the dial surface you can use wet and dry paper to cut back the paint surface.
Spray with lacquer, let it dry and remove the high spots/peaks with 1000 grade paper. Spray again, and remove peaks/high spots with 1000 grade paper. Spray again and cut back till the dial surface is completely flat, then spray for the final time.
Make sure the paper is perfectly flat and held in place firmly - use tape to fix it flat to the table surface. Back and forth movement is best, 2 or 3 strokes of the dial using moderate pressure, rotate dial 90°, repeat etc until you've sanded the dial in all 4 directions. Make sure dial is scrupulously clean before final spray.
This method will give you a flat, smooth surface to the dial.
I really like these vintage Doxa Subs, I had one of the modern Subs for a while but didn't wear it very often. The sapphire crystal and fake beads of rice bracelet didn't have the charm of the older models, and for $2.5k you don't get a lot of watch TBH (they are made in Hong Kong, final assembly in Switzerland).
To minimize the 'orange peel' effect on the dial surface you can use wet and dry paper to cut back the paint surface.
Spray with lacquer, let it dry and remove the high spots/peaks with 1000 grade paper. Spray again, and remove peaks/high spots with 1000 grade paper. Spray again and cut back till the dial surface is completely flat, then spray for the final time.
Make sure the paper is perfectly flat and held in place firmly - use tape to fix it flat to the table surface. Back and forth movement is best, 2 or 3 strokes of the dial using moderate pressure, rotate dial 90°, repeat etc until you've sanded the dial in all 4 directions. Make sure dial is scrupulously clean before final spray.
This method will give you a flat, smooth surface to the dial.
Last edited:
- 13/10/16
- 3,917
- 2,391
- 113
- 13/10/16
- 3,917
- 2,391
- 113
Thanks tripdog
I'm thinking about a way to avoid the "peau d'orange" effect but I'll probably won't use lacquer.
The paint I use is really water resistant ... I've let a dial soak in water for days and nothing happend ... and most spray lacquer are not.
The only water resistant lacquer I know is two-component varnish and is shiny or matte, not semi-matte as I want my dials to be.
Today I've spoken with a friend who is a seasoned model hobbyist ... he has seen my wotk and think the best way to get a perfect flat finish is to use a single action air-brush.
Next week he will lend one to me so that I can make some tests and if it proves to be the right tool I'll buy the same one.
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PALAWAÏ SUB 300 T ... Doxa hommage
"Adopt a Dive Site" logotype
Some weeks after I finished the first SUB 300 T dial my elder son saw it and asked me if I could make a Doxa hommage based on a Seiko turtle.
I ordered a blank NH35 dial from a Seiko parts website, measured the date window dimensions and position and modified the general dial design so that it could fit the dial plate.
The I worked on the "name" and "logotype" ...
Name :
Around his 20ies my son had an "ephemeral" surf shop ...
The shop name was "Palawai" ... from Palavas in south of France, where his shop was based, and Hawaï ... guess why ...
So the name of that Doxa hommage had to be "PALAWAI" ...
Logotype :
My son, though working as an Oil and Gas engineer, is involved in ocean protection ... plus he's a seasoned diver ...
So I've decided to place an "adopt a dive site" logotype, from Project Aware, on the 3rd quadrant of that custom dial ...
Of course the dial feet are placed for a date window at 3:00
The dial was supposed to be yellow at first, as it's a Divingstar hommage, but lately my son asked me to make it orange ...
Someone on another board suggested me to put an outlined US DIVERS logo in the 3rd quadrant in place of the one from Project Aware ...
But that watch is "French Made" so if I would change the logo I would prefer to use the logo "La Spirotechnique" (which was the parent company of Us Divers Co).
"Adopt a Dive Site" logotype
Some weeks after I finished the first SUB 300 T dial my elder son saw it and asked me if I could make a Doxa hommage based on a Seiko turtle.
I ordered a blank NH35 dial from a Seiko parts website, measured the date window dimensions and position and modified the general dial design so that it could fit the dial plate.
The I worked on the "name" and "logotype" ...
Name :
Around his 20ies my son had an "ephemeral" surf shop ...
The shop name was "Palawai" ... from Palavas in south of France, where his shop was based, and Hawaï ... guess why ...
So the name of that Doxa hommage had to be "PALAWAI" ...
Logotype :
My son, though working as an Oil and Gas engineer, is involved in ocean protection ... plus he's a seasoned diver ...
So I've decided to place an "adopt a dive site" logotype, from Project Aware, on the 3rd quadrant of that custom dial ...
Of course the dial feet are placed for a date window at 3:00
The dial was supposed to be yellow at first, as it's a Divingstar hommage, but lately my son asked me to make it orange ...
Someone on another board suggested me to put an outlined US DIVERS logo in the 3rd quadrant in place of the one from Project Aware ...
But that watch is "French Made" so if I would change the logo I would prefer to use the logo "La Spirotechnique" (which was the parent company of Us Divers Co).
- 13/10/16
- 3,917
- 2,391
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SUB 300 T "Divingstar" ... no logo
The first Seiko modded dial, the "Palawaï", looked really nice IMO, so I decided to make some more dials for Seiko watches ...
Some are just hommage and are still "in progress" ...
But I love the yellow "Divingstar" so much that I've decided to make it exist ...
The first Seiko modded dial, the "Palawaï", looked really nice IMO, so I decided to make some more dials for Seiko watches ...
Some are just hommage and are still "in progress" ...
But I love the yellow "Divingstar" so much that I've decided to make it exist ...
- 13/10/16
- 3,917
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Here is the last one ... for some days or weeks as that Doxa game is pretty addictive
SUB 300 T "searambler"
outlined "U.S. Divers Co." Aqua-Lung logotype
To be 100% honest, I'm definitely not a real fan of the "searambler" ... I prefer those with funny colours ...
But I really wondered if I could make a sunburst Doxa dial so I had to try ...
SUB 300 T "searambler"
outlined "U.S. Divers Co." Aqua-Lung logotype
To be 100% honest, I'm definitely not a real fan of the "searambler" ... I prefer those with funny colours ...
But I really wondered if I could make a sunburst Doxa dial so I had to try ...
- 9/7/12
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Yes, that will work - may need a little practice to get the technique/dosing right.
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Thanks buddy
I really don(t think they will ever Rep a Doxa ... and if they do that won't be a SUB 300 T but probably a carbon one
Nevertheless ... a Maranez Samui Steel will do ...
The case is a little too thick and the crown a little too big but well, I think I'll pull the trigger for one when the new batch is ready for sale ...
I'll do a special dial for it, replace the handset, possibly re-engrave the bezel ... and it will do the job
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Thanks ... I'll try do make one with "La Spirotechnique" to see how it looks ...
I'll print the logo on a yellow circle, just like the blacklung 300 T
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Another design ... just a project for now ...
I had seen the "Irish Star" Doxa made for the Flying Doctor and it looked to "modern style" IMHO ...
So I plan to redo it, "vintage style" and with a real shamrock ...
I had seen the "Irish Star" Doxa made for the Flying Doctor and it looked to "modern style" IMHO ...
So I plan to redo it, "vintage style" and with a real shamrock ...
