Certina DS-2 Silver

About this model

Certina patented the Double Security case in 1958 and put it on sale in 1959. Instead of bolting the movement to the case, DS floats it: an elastic ring takes the shock from the sides and a pocket of air sits under the dial, so a knock travels around the mechanism rather than into it. The crystal is deliberately thick and the caseback reinforced. Certina sold the idea with a stunt, strapping watches to a 27 kg weight and dropping it six metres onto concrete, and the first DS went up Dhaulagiri with the Swiss team that made the first ascent in 1960. The DS-2 is the second generation of the same construction.

What you're looking at

A hand-wound DS-2 with a silver dial, calibre 25-661, 17 jewels, and no Automatic on the dial. The crystal is very good.

What I know is wrong with it

It runs, but winding does not feel right — there is a slipping sensation, as though something is skipping over. The crown is damaged, and the two are probably the same story. Neither has been looked at yet. The case is marked deeply enough to want lapping rather than polishing. Spots on the dial.

No watch here has been pressure-tested. A period WATERPROOF or WATER RESISTANT stamp says nothing about the seals today, so treat every watch on this site as not water resistant.