Model History
In 1959 Certina introduced the DS (Double Security) concept, devised to address a very concrete problem in the watchmaking of the time: the fragility of mechanical movements to shocks and water infiltration. The idea, attributed to Philipp Kurth, a descendant of the brand's founders, consists of suspending the movement inside a heavily reinforced case, able to absorb falls from a height of up to 6 meters and to guarantee water resistance of up to 20 bar (200 meters) — remarkable figures for the end of the 1950s.
The distinctive caseback, with a profile recalling a turtle's shell, soon became the signature feature of the DS models and, decades later, would directly inspire the turtle logo adopted by the brand in 2013. In 1960 a DS watch accompanied the Italian-Swiss expedition to Dhaulagiri, one of the Himalayan peaks above 8,000 meters, while in subsequent years the model was put to the test in equally extreme settings, from the Sealab II project dives (1965) to the Tektite mission (1969), conducted together with the US Navy and NASA.
In 1968 the line evolved into the DS-2, with a redesigned case that further strengthened its rugged character, while in the 1970s the DS concept extended across several families of the catalogue, from sporty models to more elegant ones, reaching in 1979 the milestone of one million DS watches sold. Still today, in the form of collections such as DS Action and heritage relaunches like the DS PH200M, the "double security" principle remains the thread connecting Certina's contemporary production to its own history.
Technical Specifications
Main Executions
In 1976 a DS DiaMaster line piece was given to boxer Muhammad Ali, at the height of his international fame — an anecdote the brand has often cited as evidence of the popularity the DS concept achieved well beyond the narrow world of watchmaking.