An extremely scarce and fabulous vintage Certina DS PH200M diver’s model ref 346.2325 circa 1967. Great looking and rarely seen Swiss vintage diver’s model featuring a robust 40 x 42.5mm case with screw down case back, thick walled case, and wide  bidirectional elapsed time bakelite bezel with ribbed steel edge. With stunning design matte black dial with red cross hairs, oversize luminous hour indexes, elongated minute markers, and oversize sword type luminous hands. With T  SWISS MADE T dial signed DS for “Double Safety” and PH 200M for “Pression Hydrostatic” 200 meters” WIth screw down Certina signed crown, and trademark die struck Sea Turtle logo. This great diver’s model is furthermore complete with its original Certina DS signed stainless steel bracelet with deployant clasp.

The DS case was a robust design introduced by Certina in 1959 which in addition to the incabloc shock system of the caliber 25-651 movement, further protected the movement with a rubber case ring, a thick domed acrylic crystal, and secure screw down case back. This robust case design provided for depth protection of 200 meters, intended for deep submersion by divers or deep water scientific research.

A search on the background of the Certina brand informs us that the brand was introduced in 1888, and was early on referred to as Grana, which was shorthand for the Latin name for Grenchen where the brand was founded. The name Certina was trademarked in 1939 which has been in use ever since. In 2018, Certina, now a part of the Swatch group, introduced a modestly priced version of the DS PH200M. We have never seen or owned an original of this model, and are quite excited to be able to offer this choice example here.

In good working order and keeping good time, but not yet tested for water resistance.