The retro thrills of the Doxa Army are back in full production

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When Doxa released a ceramic limited edition of their legendary Army watch with Watches of Switzerland, we all knew it would be a matter of time before this thrilling design would be made available to the masses. While it’s expected that some production models will modernise reissues to some extent, the Doxa Army offers the perfect mix of aesthetics and technical specifications for those who seek either a vintage experience or something a little more experimental.

Our last coverage of the Doxa Army in its black ceramic form took a dive into the dubious history behind the Army's legendary status, showcasing a suspicious lack of evidence that the Doxa Army was ever actually used by the Swiss military. Thankfully, we are always happy to be proven wrong, and Doxa went through the monumental effort of cementing the watch's story once and for all.

A total of 146 watches were made between 1969 and 1975, and some of them were actually returned after they were used in service, so now we know exactly how rare those original references were. Doxa managed to track down around a dozen, revealing the "5004", and in the process they were also able to have that elite commando squad of divers officially recognised by the Swiss military.

Doxa were also able to explain why so many of the surviving watches have raw steel cases when they were all supposed to be black, and it's because an oil-dipped oxidisation technique was used to blacken the steel instead of a PVD coating. While PVD of the '70s is notoriously highly scratchable, it hadn't quite reached the watch market by 1969 and it still wouldn't have worn away as easily as the oxidised colouring.

With such a cult status, the Doxa Army has earned plenty of modern-day contextualising too. The new reissue of the watch was first teased back in March 2021, alongside the release of the Synchron Military. That limited edition of 500 was a direct homage to the Doxa Army, with a whole host of complicated implications considering Synchron actually owned Doxa at the time of its 1970s release. Doxa's Instagram post received some mixed responses as the photo showed a watch without the original hands, but the hype stayed steady over the next year and Doxa took the fan feedback onboard. Now, Doxa have well and truly reclaimed the Army as their own.

Check out the video to find out more.

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