Orange Crush
DOXA SUB 300T
On December 7th, Doxa's representation in Portugal was made official by my esteemed friend André Sampaio in his Watch Garage space. An alignment of watchmaking stars with much will and determination now allows the iconic watches of the Swiss brand to be within reach. 
I repeat myself when talking about the Watch Garage, but step by step and in a sustainable way, it has become the most charming cult place in national watchmaking. The representation of Doxa, after the already announced Kuoe, are added gems to the space conceived and managed by André Sampaio with passion, knowledge, and good taste.
I confess I have always been an admirer of Doxa, and not surprisingly, it all started with the orange SUB 300T, called Professional. With its characteristic and almost unchanging design over the decades, reinforcing its accuracy since its creation, Doxa watches are a current testament to the modernity revealed by the brand in 1969 when it launched the aforementioned SUB 300T.
André Sampaio shares the same passion for Doxa with me, and when he gave me the news that he would represent it, I had no hesitation.
I was swept away by the orange passion, and what better way to welcome the brand and its presence at Watch Garage than to acquire a piece that has long been on my wish list.
– If you can, save me an orange SUB 300T with an orange rubber strap!
The day arrived, and with much anticipation, I followed my usual routine when going to WG. Waking up early, taking the train in Santa Apolónia, sleeping all the way and waking up in Gaia Devesas. This time, just like a child going to get their new toy, I took the trouble to capture the adventure for my future memory.
Man sees watch, man picks up watch, man loves watch, man asks Pedro from Atelier do Relógio to adjust the strap, happy man!
Curiously, adjusting the strap was an adventure in itself, with broken scalpels and several attempts to find the best way to cut the rubber. According to Pedro, the technician responsible for Atelier do Relógio, in his expert assessment: this rubber is painfully hard!
At the end of a well-spent day where Doxa was the owner and master of all attention, but where Kuoe's models also caught my eye, I returned home happy and proud of my new watch. The honeymoon between me and the Doxa would be consummated through photography in a private setting, as I don't appreciate onlookers!
What to say about the Doxa SUB 300T Professional?
I already knew the watch, I had already tried it, the courtship was old, and acquiring one was just the formalization of the "yes" to this marriage. However, I have the feeling that I will quickly become a Doxian bigamist, as several models still populate my imagination.
The truth is that the Doxa SUB 300T also awakened a creative wave of visual discovery in me. I now had all the time in the world to photograph my new watch, and I decided to get to work on a session I had long wanted to do - using a watchmaker's loupe and taking macro detailed shots through it. As soon as I got the first photo, I realized it had the potential to be a special session.
Each image involved placing the elements in the most incredible balances. The loupe was constantly rolling out of position, and the lens angle had to be adjusted almost to the millimeter with each change of framing, adding to all this the lighting and depth of field control.
I was aware that by photographing through a watchmaker's loupe, I would lose sharpness and definition, but on the other hand, I could gain in reflections and use distortion as a creative element.
More important than the photographs was this more leisurely rediscovery of the Doxa SUB 300T to conclude that everything about it is sexy. The shape of the case with its brushed finish and polished side. The outer bezel ring with its black polish that allows it to be either steel-colored or completely darkened, where the orange numbers stand out in contrast to the inner ring with a circular brushed finish.
The sides of the bezel with their characteristic vertical grooves for better grip, the crown with the delightful orange detail of the brand's fish symbol, or the diagonal balance of the lettering on the dial, as well as the raised letters on the outside of the clasp.
So much richness of detail delighted me for two days, but the truth is that the "big picture" was beginning to reveal itself in a surprising way. Whenever I photographed a Doxa before, the concern was to capture the watch's details clearly, but now I also began to realize that I could explore it in a darker way, focusing on the feeling conveyed by the images rather than the clarity of details.
With this concept in mind, I did a second session where I tried to explore this darker aspect with deliberate underexposures and with the watch on my wrist. I sought to capture the sensuality of the shape, the way the steel reflects the incident light in a darkened environment where orange stands out.
One of the best things about acquiring a new watch is being able to discover it photographically. The creation and capture of images is, as such, the continuation of the romance and passion for this small object that I chose as a daily companion on my wrist. They will not serve, of course, for anything more than to satisfy my personal vanity, but as a friend says: there are moments when we have the freedom to feel vain.
Even hidden under a jacket sleeve most of the time, the Doxa SUB 300T brings me happiness as an object for measuring the passage of time and as a photographic model.
Well, this was a story that reminds me of the meeting that could have been an email. So here's the short and summarized version:
Watch Garage represents Doxa - happy man!
Man buys a Doxa - very happy man!
Man photographs his Doxa - mega happy man!
By Paulo Pires in Watchmeetingpoint
