I just fished a watch out of Lake Zurich, and no, that wasn’t an accident. Certina has launched the DS Super PH2000M, rated to a genuinely ridiculous 2000 metres.
That’s double the depth rating of anything the brand has made before, and it’s not just a small spec bump either. It’s the next chapter in a story that started back in the 1960s, when Certina’s PH watches (PH stands for hydrostatic pressure) first went chasing depth.
The first PH model topped out at 200m. By 1970, the DS-2 Super PH1000M had doubled that. Now it’s doubled again.
I got the full history lesson at the launch in Zurich, and Certina’s team didn’t hold back on the stories. There’s the Himalayan expedition where a climber wore an early Certina the entire way up Dhaulagiri.
There’s the 1960s underwater habitat NASA experiments, called Tektite II, where aquanauts lived beneath the surface for weeks wearing nothing but Certina on their wrists (and some swimming trunks). “There were 13 ratings, and six of them said excellent, five said good and two said satisfying – so globally, very positive,” I was told, recounting how the divers rated the watches after one expedition.
Then there’s the story of Muhammad Ali, gifted a Certina in 1976 mid-quartz-crisis, as a kind of brand ambassador by accident. “We’re the watch offering more resistance to shock and water, more endurance – and as a boxer, he was the perfect match for our values,” Certina’s team explained.
It’s a good line, and it sets up exactly why the brand decided to launch this watch by dropping a handful of them into Lake Zurich and making us fish them back out with boat hooks.
It’s an odd way to launch a watch, sure, but it’s also a brilliant one. Certina’s whole identity is built on real-world testing, so hauling one out of a lake with a hook fits right into that story.
I also sat down with Certina CEO Dieter Pachner, who was clear about where this watch fits into the bigger picture. “The DS is still a star – you can see it’s the number one top seller, and we’re hoping to keep it that way,” he told me. On the new watch specifically, he said it’s “an important, iconic definition of a performance watch,” adding that he sees it as “a tool watch, an instrument.”
So, on to the watch itself. I’m a big fan…
The DS Super PH2000M keeps that angular, tonneau-shaped case Certina’s known for, and it manages to feel retro without ever feeling stuck in the past.
There are four colourways to choose from: a white dial with blue bezel, yellow dial with black bezel, a turquoise limited edition, and a black dial with orange accents that’s quickly become my favourite. That orange minute hand against the black dial works so well.
On the wrist, it’s a big watch, 43mm across and 16mm thick, and with my slender six-inch wrists I worried it might overwhelm me.
It actually fit surprisingly well. Titanium does a lot of the heavy lifting here (ironically), keeping things surprisingly light despite the size, though it’ll still sit better on a larger wrist than mine.
What I really like is that it doesn’t look like every other dive watch on the market. Tissot, Certina’s stablemate within the Swatch Group, recently launched its own 2000m diver, and while it’s a perfectly competent watch, it’s also a fairly generic one. Certina’s take has a lot more personality, and at this price point, I think that’s quite important.
It’s not just style over substance either.
Inside is the Powermatic 80 movement, paired with a Nivachron balance spring for better shock and magnetic resistance, plus an 80-hour power reserve, a helium escape valve at 9 o’clock, and a ceramic bezel built to shrug off scratches.
Certina calls all this the DS Concept Extreme Shock Resistance, and after watching one survive a dunk in Lake Zurich followed by a boat hook retrieval, I’m inclined to believe them.
There’s also a special edition which I absolutely love – Certina has partnered with the Sea Turtle Conservancy for nine years now, and to mark it, there’s a turquoise-dialled version limited to 1959 pieces, a nod to the year the DS concept first launched.
The DS Super PH2000M is available now from Certina retailers worldwide, with prices starting at US$1440 or £1230, depending on the model.
For a 2000m titanium diver with plenty of heritage behind it, I think that’s seriously good value.
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