The Excellent Value for Money Certina DS Action Diver Titanium

In recent years we have seen Certina gradually move up the ladder in terms of pricing strategy. But it’s not just about the price you have to pay at the cashier, as there’s much more about the current direction CEO Marc Aellen is steering the brand. We see new materials, original designs, retro-revivals, upgraded movements and overall well-balanced, sensible watches. Earlier this year, Certina released a cool new dive watch with vintage vibes, modern construction and proper specifications, perfectly aligned with the brand’s new strategy. Here’s our hands-on look at the Certina DS Action Diver Titanium.

Speaking to Marc Aellen recently, we learned a bit more about the strategy deployed by Certina over the past couple of years. On the one hand, the brand has started to dive into its archives to provide some very tasty revival watches, and on the other hand, is exploring new territories with honest, well-balanced collections. A case in point is the DS Chronograph Automatic, DS-2 Powermatic 80 and DS Super PH500M collection, versus the new DS8 range of sporty time-and-date watches (still to be featured by us).

The Certina DS Action Diver Titanium is a lightweight version of the already quite excellent DS Dive Action 43mm Powermatic 80. It combines a good set of diving specifications with a retro-modernist design. The full titanium case measures 43mm across and 13.10mm in height and wears very nicely on the wrist. It has a typical dive watch design, with a large crown and crown guards on the right-hand side and a unidirectional rotating bezel on top. The glossy black ceramic insert has a beige-coloured diving scale with large double-digit numerals.

The dial follows the same colour scheme with a black base and beige-coloured indices. Time is indicated with a sword-shaped hand for the hours and a triangular-shaped one for the minutes. The seconds hand has a needle-like point with a luminous dot halfway down its spine. All indexes and hands are coated in Super-LumiNova. A date window cuts into the hour marker at three o’clock to reveal the white date disc with black digits.

As a member of Swatch Group, Certina relies on the latest generation of mechanical movements by ETA. No wonder, then, the DS Action Diver Titanium comes with the group’s Powermatic 80.611. This automatic movement is fitted with an anti-magnetic Nivachron hairspring; it beats at a rate of 21,600vph and provides a more than healthy 80 hours of power reserve. It’s hidden from view by a closed caseback bearing the famous Certina turtle, representing the DS or Double Security standard developed by the brand over 60 years ago.

The Certina DS Action Diver comes on either a full titanium bracelet complemented by a folding clasp with a diver’s extension or a black and beige NATO-style strap made from #tide ocean materials and titanium hardware. Like other straps Certina uses, these straps are made from recycled plastics. The box the watch comes in is also fully sustainable. The price for the Certina DS Action Diver Titanium is a very reasonable EUR 1,020 on the NATO strap or EUR 1,115 on the titanium bracelet. This certainly makes it excellent value for money in our books.

For more information, please visit Certina.com.