Certina DS automatic wristwatch with date, ref. 5801 112. Tropical dial, circa 1964.

A fine, self-winding, stainless steel wristwatch.

Case: Three-body, screw-down case back, stainless steel, signed Certina.

Dial: Black, tropical dial with applied baton markers at 12, 6, and 9. Arabic numerals for the remaining hours. Date aperture at 3. Center-seconds. Signed Certina.

Movement: Caliber 25-651, 27 jewels. Signed Certina.

Diameter: 36mm, thickness: 12mm.

Condition: Dial has aged to a beautiful brown patina with no loss of paint on the red cross-air, date wheel has taken a parchment like color, and the luminous markers on the dial and hands have turned to black. Case is in good shape with some scratches. Movement is working with vintage specs /- 20-sec

More about Certina:

First developed in the middle of the 1950s, the DS, or “Double Security”, was created with durability in mind, as the name suggests with the addition of an elastic shock absorber ring, an air gap between the dial and case to act as a cushion, in addition to the Inabloc shock absorber.  The case back was reinforced, additional sealing was added, and an extra thick plexiglass crystal was applied to the dial for maximum resilience.

Beginning in the 1960s, the 25-651 movement came into use. The present example features the famous turtle engraving on its caseback, along with a 25-651 movement marked with “Swiss Patent 346825”, which relates to the shock mount of movement, first registered in 1958.  

The durability of the Certina DS came to be tested in 1960 in the Himalayas, when a Swiss team, all equipped with the Certina DS and under the leadership of Max Eiselin, became the first to reach the Dhaulagiri summit at 8,167 meters, the seventh highest mountain in the world.

The Certina DS ceased production in 1968 with the introduction of the DS 2.