certina

Certina DS Action Diver Watch

The best new Certina watches for 2011 were the "Action Divers." The name of the collection sounds as youthful as Certina wants the watches to be. Certina once made very impressive diving watches and are seemingly trying to return that image a bit. While intended to be for the mainstream buyer, these DS Action Divers are a nice watch and a good value that are also diving capable. They come in a few styles and colors, and on metal bracelets or straps. Size is just right at 43mm wide for most people. The dial is an amalgamated look from a range of successful high-end divers from brands such as Rolex and Omega. Certina sort of melded a few together to come up with this attractive look. The same concept applied to the steel case and bezel - not wholly original, but satisfying.

I love the clean integration of the date. None of the hour indicators needed to be removed, and the date disc is black to match the dial being placed between hour indicators. The watch case has a sapphire crystal and is water resistant to 200 meters. Inside the watch is a Swiss ETA 2824 automatic movement. Overall a great daily wear at a price that feels comfortable in the $800 - $1000 range.

Ariel Adams publishes the wrist watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: action diver, certina, dive, ds, watch

Certina DS Caimano Watches

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

With only a few likely to show up in the US, Certina is still a major player in other parts of the world when it comes to reasonably priced Swiss watches. The new DS Caimano model is a handsome classically styled timepiece with a hint of avant garde character. In mostly steel, there are men's and women's models available. On leather straps or steel bracelets. Interestingly enough, Certina is offering a titanium cased model as well. I believe that the Caimano watches house Swiss ETA quartz movements - though mechanical models may be available as well. The dials are pleasingly simple, and easy to read. Minimalist at best, the good looks trade off a bit of functionality with the less than complete range of minute markers on the dial. While I don't believe the Caimano will have a very large case, they will wear "big" due to the thin bezel. The dials come in either silver tone or black, and possible in a few other varieties. Look for Certina DS Caimano watches soon, with a price of probably a few hundred dollars.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: caimano, certina, ds, watch

Certina DS Master Quartz Chronometer Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

At first glance this new watch from Certina is cool and modern, with a sincere nod to futuristic watches born in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But rather than just a fashionable throwback design to that era, the new Certina DS Master has some interesting qualities from a technical perspective. For one thing, it is among the very few watches in the world that comes with a thermo-compensated quartz movement that has been COSC Chronometer certified. This special type of quartz movement is made by ETA (ref. 251.233) in Switzerland, and is much more accurate than standard quartz movements. Plus, the requirements to get a quartz movement Chronometer certified are much harder than for a mechanical movement. As such, the DS Master watch is going to be accurate to within 5-10 seconds a year! That is compared to about 15 seconds a month for standard quartz movements.

The movement also has a chronograph complication, but uses hands placed in the center of the dial that use the main dial for the chronograph minutes and seconds. Subdials are used for the main time seconds and the chronograph hours. There is also a date indicator on a matching black disc. Certina is proud to say that the dial has 7 hands on it. The main hour and minute hands are skeletonized so has not to obscure the info below them.

Certina will offer the DS Master in two styles - an all-black PVD steel version, or a two-tone with polished steel and PVD black coated steel. Oddly, Certina isn't telling us the size of the cool hybrid cushion and round shaped case. The strap is black rubber with nice looking horizontal slits in it. Overall the style of the watch is lovely and masculine. Perfect for watch lovers or people who enjoy nice watches, but don't quite know how to appreciate this piece. Price will be on the higher side for Certina - costing about $1,100 - $1,250 when it comes out soon.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 2010, Certina, Chronometer, DS, Master