Late last month, Doxa – the reigning cushion case champ and many divers’ brand of choice – released a dazzling new line of Sub 200T references. Media coverage has been sparse. This isn’t really surprising, as the new drop is… a lot to take in. Even though many journalists in the industry appear to be reserving their judgment thus far of the new Doxa Diamonds, social media users are happy to fill in the vacuum with their no-holds-barred opinions. There seem to be a few discussions happening on various watch forums, but the real heartbeat of public opinion can be found amongst the Instagram comments on Doxa’s official brand posts. 

In case anyone is removed from the world of the socials, allow me to pick a few gems for your reading pleasure: “This is an abomination.” “April fool’s territory.” And, my personal favorite, “Cousteau and Cussler are rolling in their graves.” These are found, of course, in between a punctuating handful of green seasick emojis that really work to tie together the whole sentiment. In sum, Doxa fans think this new series is a swing and a miss for the brand.

The drop is clearly reaching for a different market segment than Doxa’s typical consumer base. Though the move into jewels may bring more female buyers into the fold, it’s important to mention that some of the models wearing the Diamonds watches in Doxa’s marketing materials are men. This indicates the new line is meant for all and shouldn’t be relegated to the dusty glass cases of the lady’s section. The watch world needs variety in all areas, including men’s watches. But the watch world is not lacking in male buyers. Gender stereotypes are alive and well and notions of what men are wearing and “ought” to wear – celebrities and otherwise – are certainly worth exploring. However, that conversation is separate from this one, for now.

The fact is, the majority of the models promoting these new Doxa Diamonds references are women. Women also appear to be the primary target audience of this new release in a way they weren’t with the standard Sub 200T earlier this year. This is the crux of the conversation.

The argument that this release strays from Doxa’s “brand history” is a valid one. However, that particular language, when used in the larger context of who is typically brought in (and left out) of a brand, is worth exploring deeper. Women’s participation, desires, and experiences in the watch world more generally, are complicated to analyze. 

Some may feel that women are welcome to engage in the hobby as it already exists and this should be enough to boost equality. But that feels a bit like women showing up late to a party that’s already started. They shouldn’t just be along for the ride. They should be equally centered in brand decisions and watch media, which is a huge difference from our “business as usual” approach. 

Analysts within groups like Watch Femme and Deloitte are beginning to use data to help determine how we can do that but it’s going to be a much longer discussion. This Doxa Diamonds series might be a step in the right direction.

I want to open up a dialogue by looking at the Doxa Diamonds release through the quantitative lens made possible by the Watch Femme + Deloitte study released in November 2024. This is just a single snapshot of my thinking here. There are many other threads that could be pulled in regard to this release, Doxa’s entire history, and the topic of women in watches writ large. Choices have to be made in this format (short form articles) as to what stays and what goes – I’ve tried to be intentional in what I’ve included here, but I know there are many other points that are relevant, and missing, in this one piece. 

My goal is to highlight that things may get a little weird as we start to reframe something that has felt stable for a long time – like using “history” or “image” as a way to keep a brand from venturing too far outside their norm. But if it allows for more women to be active members of a brand’s audience, that weirdness may be a good thing.

Some Historical Context

In April of this year, Doxa pleasantly surprised many with the drop of a new 39mm dive watch. Offering a more compact version of the Sub 300 series by 3.5mm, this series opened up the market to those who wanted to rock a quality diver but didn’t have the visual preference for a bigger watch. The release of the 39mm Sub 200T was generally well-received in the enthusiast space. Doxa’s traditional lineup has skewed towards the larger side and this offered fans a reprieve.

The Sub 200T released earlier this year

The new Doxa Diamonds series is also a 39mm Sub 200T. But it’s not receiving a warm welcome so far… So is the pushback due to Doxa’s reach into the high luxury space? Perhaps. But this isn’t the first time Doxa has flirted with luxury. The thirteen solid gold Sub 200 T. Graph LEs floating around somewhere prove that point fairly well. 

Additionally, though the 1967 release of their professional-grade SUB diver cemented the brand’s aesthetic direction, this was a historically recent development. (Yes, in history, 1967 was very recent.) Before that, Doxa had actually made a name for itself through its precious metal dress watches with innovative complications and exquisite detailing. Evidently we think of Doxa as spontaneously appearing on the scene during its years of connection with legendary diver, Jacques-Yves Cousteau. But the brand’s history extends much further into the past and carries an extensive catalogue of varied designs.

But maybe it’s not the brand image that’s the problem. Maybe the distaste for the Diamonds is rooted in specs? 

The lack of a lumed pip at twelve is, arguably, a hard thing to overlook. The no-deco limit table? We don’t know her. However, this new release includes a double diamond indicator at twelve with the same unidirectional bezel as a standard Sub 200T. What this means, practically speaking, is that the Diamonds can be used like any other dive-style watch to track elapsed time.

The water resistance of 200 meters is the same as the non-diamond options. And the movement hasn’t changed. This is a huge deal and departure from the very common decision by brands to push quartz in their female-oriented watches. You know, for the lady who needn’t worry her head about those complicated masculine, er, I mean mechanical, movements. 

The new Doxa Diamonds, marketed as a “his and hers” piece

There was even a slight hour marker upgrade with the Diamonds which bolsters the spec sheet. While the standard Sub 200T features printed indices (on most references), the new options sport applied indices in its place. This, coupled with the mother of pearl dials in a suite of seven different colors, and the 100+ diamonds around the bezel (if you hadn’t noticed), make this Doxa’s swankiest offering on the market. But it’s not (just) a piece of jewelry. The WR is strong, the bezel is functional, and God only knows why someone would take a diamond watch diving, but gosh darn it, they could. That’s their prerogative. Common sense may discourage it, but Doxa’s craftsmanship certainly won’t.

Women in Watches – A Marketing Mystery

Women in the watch world have been a topic of interest in recent years and the media doesn’t really know what they’re doing or how to talk about it. A lot of this stems from a lack of research on what exactly women are looking for in their timepieces and if their purchasing habits differ significantly from men. Watch Femme, a nonprofit out of Switzerland that seeks to strengthen women’ s voices in the watch world, partnered with Deloitte this year to generate some data-driven insights about the female experience.

The findings, published last month, suggest there really are some key differences between male and female buyers. That information should help inform both brands and enthusiasts alike as we move into 2025.

Watch Femme’s analysts found that women want watches. Over 85% of the women surveyed existed on a spectrum of watch consideration (with only 12% stating they simply would not buy a watch). More specifically, 66% of that dataset indicated they would buy a watch for themselves. Not only that, but these ladies are willing to spend some serious bucks on these purchases. The analysts write, “In 2024, almost 40% of surveyed female consumers would spend between $501 and $5,000 on a new watch, up by 10 percentage points from 2023.” 

What’s really interesting though, is that the large preference women have in those purchases, 44% of those surveyed, is for watches designed specifically for women. An additional 26% go for genderless choices.

Further, “female luxury consumers exhibit greater brand commitment, higher levels of impulse purchasing, and stronger tendencies towards hedonic consumption.” This means that many women tend to view watch buying as an entire experience, not just as a purchase that ends with a new watch on the wrist. The aesthetic of the brand’s boutique, the music, lighting, and “[women’s] sensitivity to signifiers of luxury,” all play a role in how women are considering watches. 

And once a woman has decided on a brand, her loyalty is strong. This may lead to a likelihood that a female consumer would continue purchasing within other lines offered by the same brand. Women in India and China were even found to rank brand name above design! Now that’s some loyalty. Once they’re in… they’re in. The Doxa Diamonds might just have cracked the code on getting women into the brand and keeping them there long enough to consider other things too.

So this offers an opportunity to reframe how we’re trying to usher women into the hobby. Watch design and aesthetic is the second most important factor for all age groups in the study. Gen Z (defined by Deloitte as those born between 1995 and 2005), valued appearance especially highly, with 55% of the respondents saying they prioritized aesthetics in a purchase. Within this demographic, the “wow factor” sells.

It’s also worth noting that watch complications were not a high priority for women, being rated tenth on average in their list of considerations, whereas complications ranked eighth for men. The lack of no-deco markings on the Diamonds… might not be a real deal-breaker for some female buyers.

But What Does That Mean For DOXA?

How do all these numbers matter in relation to the Doxa Diamonds? It means that many enthusiasts are struggling to fit this new release into the wider narrative of the brand’s history and design language. It’s going to continue to be difficult… because it’s a bit like comparing apples to oranges. There are design cues in the Doxa Diamonds that will statistically appeal to women. And that’s the point. 

The goal is not to get women to buy watches like men. It’s to create a space welcoming of all genders and aesthetic preferences and to make robust and beautiful tools not just accessible, but desirable, to larger swaths of the population. 

Much of the basis for the pushback against the “shrink it and pink it” phenomenon is admirable. Women don’t want to be corralled into boxes of what we can and can’t buy and we want to have equally spec’ed options to choose from. Many of us want high level precision, practical application, and watches that are as tough as we are. But sometimes we want them to look pretty. And that doesn’t make us less of an enthusiast. Further, buying a Doxa Diamonds doesn’t make a person less of a fan of Doxa or less deserving of being taken seriously as a collector.

It’s worth considering if the defensive stance against pink or bling has had a contrary effect on our collective desire for inclusivity in the watch space. On the one hand, welcoming more female watch enthusiasts at all is going to be a positive thing to promote more diversity. However, the way we go about this matters. 

The biting rhetoric from enthusiasts who claim the Doxa Diamonds are a tragic loss to the community or are intolerable for “true” collectors – and by logical extension, so too the people who might consider purchasing one – is alienating a silent many from ever venturing into this space. Changing the make-up of the watch world means embracing things that might not initially appeal to us. Perpetuating the idea that a brand must hold tightly to an image that has been historically palatable to a mostly male audience, is going to continue to keep out female enthusiasts.

Leaning into discomfort is the only way to grow. This is true in any human pursuit, and watches are no exception. The Diamonds series is absolutely a departure from Doxa’s recent norm, so that’s not really the point worth contesting. What is worth analyzing a bit deeper is why that departure is viewed as a negative or disappointing thing. Especially when quantitative analysis points to the fact these types of departures may bring diversity to a space that sorely lacks it.

Final Thoughts

Simply put, this new release should be accepted for what it appears to be – without all the gatekeeping hoopla. It’s just a Doxa. With diamonds.

The journey of making the watch space more inclusive is going to challenge the idea of what a real enthusiast looks like. The road may be bumpy, it may be steep, and it may even be… sparkly. Hopefully, it’s all with the intention that anyone can find their lane in this wonderful hobby we share. So if it takes some 200m rated gemstones for certain buyers to finally see a place for themselves in the watch world, so be it. 

Long live the diamond diver.