Certina DS
Certina DS
In the middle of the 1950s, a team under the guidance of engineer Philipp Kurth wanted to design a wristwatch as rugged as possible. They developed the construction principle of the DS models. DS stands for “Double Security.” This was achieved by a floated mounting of the entire movement with an elastic shock absorber ring in addition to the conventional shock absorber (Incabloc). In addition, there was an air gap between the dial and case, so the movement could move in all directions. Other features were: added sealing, an extra thick and sheathed Plexiglass, combined with a reinforced case back.
The watch was very robust. It held out against a drop impact from 6 metres and was water resistant to 200 metres. The first watches, which came on the market in 1959, had dauphine hands and a flat case back without the turtle logo. As a movement, the 25-45 was used. Very early specimens still had evidence of the patent application instead of the patent number engraved on the inside of the case back. This patent (346825) was related to the shock mount of the movement and was registered on May 8, 1958 by case manufacturer Huguenin Frères
From the end of 1960 onwards, the new 25-65 and 25-651 movements were used, and the famous turtle was engraved on the case back. The manual-wind version had a flat case back, and the automatic version had a case back with a wave pattern in relief.
