New Doxa SUB 300T "Sharkhunter" Clive Cussler Celebrates Underwater Adventure

When we think about associations between watches and famous people, the names that come to mind are usually actors or star athletes: Rolex and Paul Newman, TAG Heuer and Steve McQueen, Richard Mille and Rafael Nadal, Omega and the last two James Bonds. Rarely do we come across a watch whose most well-known adherent is an author. The notable exception, of course, is the longtime relationship between the late adventure novelist Clive Cussler and Swiss dive-watch pioneer Doxa — particularly its most iconic model, the Doxa SUB, worn by Cussler’s oceanographer hero, Dirk Pitt, in a long-running series of novels. The first limited-edition Doxa timepiece designed as a tribute to the writer debuted in 2023, and the second one drops today — July 15, 2024, which would have been Cussler’s 93rd birthday.

The story of how Doxa became the official watch of Cussler’s Dirk Pitt novels has become a minor horological legend. While he was just starting a career as a novelist, Cussler worked in a dive shop, and when he needed the perfect wristwatch for the shipwreck-diving adventurer that starred in his first book, 1973’s The Mediterranean Caper, he recalled an unusual orange-dialed timepiece that had caught his eye back then. That watch was the Doxa SUB (above), introduced in 1967, which gained fame and a hardcore audience of diving enthusiasts thanks to its robust turtle-shaped case, its patented decompression-scale rotating bezel, and (of course) that aforementioned bright orange dial, a defining element chosen for its superior visibility underwater. Dirk Pitt has been a loyal Doxa wearer ever since, in the novels written by Cussler (who died in 2020), by Cussler and his son and collaborator Dirk, and by Dirk Cussler himself in the more recent novels. (Of course, both father and son have been Doxa enthusiasts as well.) The watch even made an appearance in one of the movies based on the books, worn by Matthew McConaughey as Pitt in 2005’s Sahara. 

The new SUB 300T “Sharkhunter” Clive Cussler Edition follows in the trailblazing footsteps of last year’s edition while adding a few distinctive new details of its own. Like its predecessor, the watch has a 42.5mm by 44.5mm turtle-shaped case made of “aged” stainless steel, a (so far) Doxa-exclusive metal that is basically steel with a rough, gunmetal-style PVD coating and further enhanced with a stone-washed finish. The intended effect is a well-worn, “distressed” look that makes the watch appear as though it has already seen a few underwater adventures when you first put it on.

The dial carries forward the vintage-look, exploration-inspired compass-rose motif established by the first Clive Cussler edition, but applies it here to the black dial colorway that Doxa has long referred to as its “Sharkhunter” design rather than the parchment-like sandy hue of its predecessor. In classical Doxa SUB style, the dial’s handset is deliberately “unbalanced,” with a small hour hand and a prominent minute hand; the latter, of course, being much more important to a diver tracking his oxygen supply underwater. The date (rather less vital to a diver but nonetheless useful in everyday life) is displayed in a window at 3 o’clock.

Another noteworthy element carried over from the 2023 edition is the caseback, which is etched with the names of shipwrecks and historical artifacts discovered or explored by the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), a nonprofit founded by Cussler (and based on the fictional organization that employs Dirk Pitt in the novels), which is dedicated to underwater archaeology and survey. The caseback engravings are intended to offer each wearer, in Doxa’s words, “a tangible link to maritime history and adventure.” Ticking behind that caseback is a Swiss-made automatic movement (presumably the same ETA 2824 that was inside the original model, though it’s not named in the release Doxa provided), providing the watch a 38-hour power reserve. 

The Doxa SUB 300T Sharkhunter Clive Cussler edition is mounted on the familiar “beads of rice” bracelet that the original Doxa SUB helped popularize back in the 1960s and ‘70s, here made of the same “aged” steel as the 300-meter water-resistant case. Only 93 pieces will be made (in honor of its namesake’s 93rd birthday), each engraved with a limited-edition number on the inside of the lugs. The watch retails for $3,250 and a portion of the sales will be donated to NUMA.