Maranez vs Seestern Army Diver Review
- Bert Alexander
- 7 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Homages are a divisive topic in the watch community. There are watch collectors that have no problem with brands borrowing or even lifting wholesale design elements from other companies’ watches. After all, good artists copy and great artists steal. There are others who can appreciate when a twist is applied to a classic design, such as my review of the Revelot Hexmariner where I cover its fresh take on the iconic submariner design language. People buy homages of watches they already own so they can wear the copy out and not worry about damaging the real deal; there are those that buy homages as a stand-in until they have the opportunity to get the genuine article. I personally did that with my Helm Komodo and Cadisen Aqua Diver.
There are also collectors who want nothing to do with any sort of homage; if it's worth getting it's worth saving up for, and for them, any imitation on your wrist will fall short of your expectations. This is a sentiment I see all the time on the internet - someone commenting, “Don't buy that $60 Berny copy of a Sinn, just save up for the real thing” - not realizing they are talking to a teenager from halfway around the world who has been saving for months to get the Berny may never have the privilege of being able to save for the Sinn. But I digress…There is some merit to their argument: while that Steeldive may have
impressive specs for its price, it's never going to feel as good in hand as the Seiko Turtle.
All three viewpoints are completely valid, and there isn’t a wrong way to build a watch collection - as long as what you are doing makes you happy, keep doing your thing, Gatekeeping is the sort of behavior that kills a hobby, so I’m not here for that. What I am here for today is to talk about the awesome watch that is the Doxa Army and two very different takes on the same source material.
As legend has it, the Doxa Army was originally produced for issue to Swiss military divers in the 1960’s and eventually made their way to the civilian market. It stood apart from other dive watches of its era with its brightly colored, high contrast dial and oversized lumed hands for extra readability. It remained a rare and elusive watch until it was re-released by Doxa in 2022. It is now readily available at roughly between $2,200 and $2,500 depending on whether or not you opt for the strap or bracelet. The modern version of the watch has a vintage style cushion case that measures in with a 42.5mm diameter, a height just shy of 12mm including the flat sapphire crystal, and a very stout 44.5mm case. The 316L steel case has a brushed finish and is paired with either a matching rubber strap or beads of rice bracelet and is either powered by a Swiss ETA 2428-2 or Selita SW200-1 moment depending on edition. The case has a 120 click countdown bezel with a ceramic insert with lumed indices.
On to the homages - by the numbers, they are both virtually identical. Both have a 42mm diameter, 45mm lug to lug, 20 mm lug width, and height just north of 13.5mm. They are both powered by the same NH35 movement, they both have a 120 click countdown bezel with a ceramic insert. The bezels are both very grippy and true to the shape of the original. Both have a signed crown and date at the 3-o-clock- position, as well as an engraved caseback. Both cases are accompanied by beads of rice bracelets that fit exceedingly comfortably with good articulation - they are finished with clasps with four microadjust holes, neither have OTF adjustment. The Maranez bracelet has slightly more heft to it, but the Seestern is by no means a slouch. Both homages are finished very well.
That is where the differences end. The Maranez stays much closer to the source material - the handset is identical to that of the Doxa with its unique geometric style. The dial shares a similar high contrast color palette with a checkerboard of black and white around the perimeter. The lume on the indices, hands, and bezel all glow with a matching Swiss C3 green superluminova. On the Maranez, the bezel is lumed only on the numerals and 12-o-clock triangle. The bezel is stiff but not overly so, and provides a distinct snap as it clicks through positions. The case also has drilled lugs, which is always appreciated for strap changes. I previously mentioned the bracelet having more heft than the Seestern, and it has a diver extension as well. I have read from other head to head reviews (source at bottom) that the bracelet and lume on the Maranez are superior to the contemporary army diver.
The Seestern sees the Doxa Army, and says yeah I like that, but we are doing it my way. The first thing that you notice is that instead of the muted beige, black, and white of the Maranez you have high contrast green and white. Every millimeter of white on the dial, hands and bezel has an absurd amount of BGW9 lume applied, making the whole thing glow like a torch. This includes the lumed date wheel, which is always a nice touch. The hands are bright orange - the long triangle second hand is similar to the source material, but the hour and minute hands are in the more traditional Doxa style, such as those as seen on the Sub 300t. My copy of the watch came with the slightest bezel misalignment - an annoyance to be sure, but something you have to risk when buying watches at this price point. The bezel action is lighter on the Seestern but not too light by any means. I actually prefer the tactile feedback and sound on the Seestern - it’s lighter and smoother.
The major flaw that these two watches share compared to the source material is in the height of the case. While 12 mm vs 13.6mm may not seem significant, visually it is quite apparent. The hand stack of the NH35 movement is taller than the Swiss movements used by Doxa. As a result, the stainless steel rehauts of both the Maranez and Seestern are rather deep and don't use chapter ring or domed crystal to make the space appear visually smaller. This is the only glaring issue that I have with these two watches, and honestly they are both good enough in other regards to offset this one issue.
So which is the one to get? Clearly, I’m not the one to ask since I own them both, and they have both survived multiple purges of the collection. To compare price, I picked up the Maranez in used condition on eBay for about $225, which I was told was a steal. I paid $180 for the Seestern.
I like how true to the original the Maranez is; the handset specifically is so different from anything else out there on the market. As much as I love my classic sword hands, the quirky geometry of the Doxa style hands is just so fun. I also like that the dial and lumed elements have a vintage patina feel. Realistically, I’m never going to own the doxa - as much as I like the watch I don't two thousand dollars like it, especially with my ever growing list of affordable microbrand offerings.
The Seestern is a completely different animal. In my last review of the Berny AM339, I talked about how the glow of quality lume makes my inner child happy - the Seestern delivers this in spades. It is a bit of a twist on the Doxa Army - although I have a feeling their choice of handset was more informed by what they had in their parts bin than anything else. In a market where there are $50 watches with automatic movements and sapphire crystals, I'm not going to say that this is outstanding value - but there aren't a lot of watches out there that do what this watch does. It’s a fun watch and if you’re after the Doxa look these are a lot easier to find than the Maranez.
Like I said when I started this article, homages are often a divisive topic among watch collectors, but I personally believe they have valid space in the watch collection world. The Doxa Army that these two watches are based on are influenced by a design that Doxa sat on and did nothing with for 50+ years. What if the Louvre kept the Mona Lisa in storage after World War II, and then started letting people see it for $2,000 a ticket? Could you blame people for making their own renditions of that famous artwork? There are classic watches and amazing designs that are simply unobtainable to mere mortals such as myself, either due to scarcity or price. To be clear, I am in no way endorsing counterfeits in any form - but for me, if I had the money to spare and a choice between a $250 homage and the $2,500 genuine article, you'd find me with the homage on my wrist and my children with a slightly fatter college fund. As I said earlier, there’s no wrong way to collect watches, so If you completely disagree with something i've said, fair play to you and you're entitled to that!
Source for Head to Head of Maranez vs Doxa
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