Weekly Review: Certina DS-4 Big Size watch

In this week’s review, I want to talk about my Certina DS-4 Big Size watch - yes I know, it’s kind of an awkward name - reference number C022.610.11.051.00. Before laying my judgment on you I’ll talk a little bit about the brand Certina itself, the technical and the esthetic design of the watch.

The history of Certina

The brothers Adolf and Alfred Kurth founded the Certina brand in 1888, and as if anything else was possible when it comes to watches, in a Swiss town called Grenchen. However, it wasn’t until 1906 that the Kurth brothers became more than a supplier of movements and parts by introducing the very first Certina watch called ‘Grana’. By 1918 the company had grown to such an extent that a full manufacturing facility was built to supply every component of their watches. Certina continued to grow, counting 500 employees and a daily production of 1,000 watches by 1955.

1959 was a milestone for Certina; the DS concept, which stands for Double Security, was created. The first DS watch was shock resistant up to 6 meters and water resistance to 200m. For its time, these were very impressive figures and by 1979, 20 years after it’s initial release, one million Certina DS watches had been sold. Today, all Certina watches encompass the DS philosophy; aspiring to be durable through the combination of water and shock resistance. In 1983 Certina joined the SMH Group, better known today as Swatch.

My watch

My mom gave me the Certina DS-4 Big Size for my 25^th birthday. As it was a birthday present I am unsure about the exact price but a quick Internet search shows that it’s in the region of the €350 mark. On the technical side I can tell you that it’s a quartz movement and is equipped with an end-of-life (EOL) function, which means the seconds hand moves at 4-second intervals when the battery is nearly dead. It’s water resistant to 100m and all of this is put into a 40 mm case.

On the esthetics side of things I’m writing down an overview of the most important features but I’m sure the pictures will be the most useful. The DS-4 has a stainless steel case and wristband. I would describe the links of the band to be of intermediate size. The links aren’t as small as the ones on a Rolex Jubilee bracelet but not as large as on some other watches. Both the bracelet and the case have polished and brushed finishing on certain parts. The dial is very simple. The hour batons are on the dial and are slightly larger at 12, 3 and 9 o’clock. All batons as well as the hour and minute hands have lume on them. A date complication can be found at 6 o’clock.

My judgment

Admitted, this isn’t a high end Swiss automatic I hope to own one day but that’s about all the criticism I can come up with for the watch. I really like the clean and simple design of the dial. The design of the watch is very reminiscent of the Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 5 (reference number WAR211A.BA0782), which is a compliment in my eyes. Additionally, the watch feels nicely made and wears, in part due to the to the smaller links and the modest 40mm case, exceptionally comfortable.  Although only time will tell, initial impression is that it’s rather scratch resistant, after a half year of daily wear I only got one little scratch in the case.

Finally, what I really like about the DS-4, which at first might seem kind of strange, is that it’s part of a larger group and is a watch-only brand. Let me explain: Before I knew anything about watches I had a watch from Esprit, the fashion label. Recently the rubber band on that watch broke but since Esprit doesn’t make that specific watch anymore and watches are not really their core business, it has proven impossible to get that watch repaired. This is something I’m sure will never happen to me with this watch!