Certina: High-quality Swiss watches

A Certina watch is always synonymous with quality, so buying a Certina watch is a good investment. The history of these Swiss Certina watches dates back to the Swiss town of Grenchen in 1888. There, the brothers Alfred and Adolf Kurth opened several watchmaking workshops, creating the “Grana” brand.

It was not until 1930 that the brand was called Certina, a name derived from the word “certus”, meaning “safe”. Another advantage of this name was that it was easily pronounced in all languages: thus the first Cetina watch was born. It was registered under that name in 1939 and was chosen as the sole brand name in 1949.

In 1959 the automatic Certina DS Concept appeared, with new standards of endurance for a whole new generation of watches. By 1972 Certina had grown so much that it employed 900 workers and produced some 600,000 watches a year. With the advent of the 1980s and the quartz crisis, the Swiss brand suffered a major setback from which it struggled to recover.

But today, as a result of the strong demand for affordable automatic watches, the brand has experienced a major recovery. Today, it is one of the most important brands in the Swiss Swatch group, of which it has been a part since 1983.  

What a Certina watch looks like

At Laguarda jewellers in Barcelona, master jewellery artisans since 1909 and with an online watch shop selling the best brands, they are also official distributors of Certina watches. As connoisseurs of the Swiss brand, they explain some particularities of it to get an idea of what it means to have a watch of this brand. 

Throughout their history, Certina DS watches have accompanied explorers and adventurers on important expeditions, overcoming the harshest extreme conditions. As was the case in 1960, when a Certina DS was the watch chosen to accompany the first expedition to climb one of the peaks of the Himalayas at an altitude of 8,167 metres. The challenge was successfully met, both by the expedition members and the watch.

Several of the brand’s watches were also selected for various expeditions to the seabed, such as the Sealab II expedition in 1965. Also for the Tektite underwater experiment in 1969, where the Certina DS-2 Super PH 500 M stood out as a great innovator.

The Certina watch has also reached Mount Everest, and did so during the expedition of the Japanese skier Miura. This athlete managed a descent from an altitude of 8000 metres with a DS-2 Chronolympic on his wrist.

Brand philosophy and passion

Reliability – precision – innovation: these are Certina’s key principles: reliability, precision and innovation. This is how they have been able to consolidate their presence in the international watch industry as one of the most traditional watch brands in Switzerland.  

The Certina watch brand is closely linked to motorsports, with which it shares leading technology, innovation and precision, all of which are crucial to achieving the best results.  

Certina has an extensive catalogue of Swiss watches for both women and men and Laguarda Joyeros, as official distributor, has the latest Certina watches in its physical shop as well as in its online shop. 

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