![Certina 1888 DS Podium Chronograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Certina_1888_DS_Podium_Chronograph.jpg)
Certina S.A. is a
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
watch brand founded in Grenchen in 1888 by Adolf and Alfred Kurth, whereas unrelated
Certina Holding AG is a German industrial conglomerate, founded by
Hans Wehrmann
Hans Wehrmann (born 9 May 1964 in Hanover) is a German entrepreneur, economist, inventor and author of literature in scientific management.
Studies and Business Career
Wehrmann started his career during his schooldays as an independent entrepr ...
. It is currently part of the
Swatch Group
The Swatch Group Ltd is a Swiss manufacturer of watches and jewellery. The company was founded in 1983 by the merger of ASUAG and SSIH to move to manufacturing quartz-crystal watches to resolve the quartz crisis threatening the traditional Sw ...
.
History of Certina S.A.
Certina S.A. was founded in 1888 when Adolf and Alfred Kurth opened in
Grenchen
Grenchen (french: Granges) is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.
It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains between Solothurn and Biel/Bienne, approximately north of Bern. With over 16,000 i ...
their first movement and supplies factory for the watchmaking industry. At the start Certina's staff consisted of three employees working in a workshop that was connected to the family home. They did not begin producing complete watches and timepieces for a few years which they then did alongside their work producing movements for other companies. By 1938 the company had expanded and 250 employees celebrated the 50th anniversary of the company.
Certina continued to expand and by 1955 the company had 500 employees working between the factory and offices, producing 1,000 timepieces every day. Certina worked up a new business plan that expanded its operations.
By 1972 the company employed 900 people and produced 600,000 watches per year.
1983 Certina became a member of the SMH Group (Swatch).
Affiliation to ASUAG
In 1971, the owning family opted to join
General Watch Co
General Watch Co. (GWC) was the watch companies holding of ASUAG.
History
ASUAG had been founded in 1931, with the assistance of the Swiss government and the Swiss banks, to combat the severe economic crisis and ensuing unemployment by means of ...
, the newly created sub-holding of
ASUAG
Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG (ASUAG; French: ''Société Générale de l'Horlogerie Suisse SA'') was the former biggest Swiss Watch Industry Group that had been created with the assistance of the Swiss Government and the Swiss Banks ...
, in order to consolidate their efforts with others. The introduction of cheap and reliable
automatics
Automatics are an English punk rock and new wave band that was formed by Dave Philp in 1976 after a brief stint as the singer with The Boys.
History
Along with the Sex Pistols and The Damned, the Automatics regularly played the Marquee Cl ...
and
quartz watch
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, ...
es from Japan (under the ideas of their
strategic management
In the field of management, strategic management involves the formulation and implementation of the major goals and initiatives taken by an organization's managers on behalf of stakeholders, based on consideration of Resource management, resour ...
) stopped Certina's expansion. The restructuring involved the abandonment of their own manufacture of
calibres, and by the end of the 1970s, operations were moved to
Biel/Bienne
Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; , ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Biel/Bienne (administrative district), Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Swi ...
and the entity
Edox
Montres Edox et Vista SA (EDOX) is a Swiss manufacture of luxury wristwatches that operates under the ''Era Watch Company''. Christian Ruefli-Flury, a watchmaker originating from Grenchen, Switzerland, founded the company in 1884 in Biel/Bienne. ...
&
Technos. Under the new management, the company managed to hold on to some of their properties, especially in the
Scandinavian countries
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swede ...
. Upon the merger of
SSIH and ASUAG companies, Certina S.A. became a member of a new managerial entity, together with
Mido and
Tissot
Tissot SA () is a Swiss watchmaker. The company was founded in Le Locle, Switzerland by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son, Charles-Émile Tissot, in 1853. After several mergers and name changes, the group which Tissot SA belonged to was renam ...
, which became known as
Le Locle
Le Locle (; german: Luggli) is a Communes of Switzerland, municipality in the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.
It is situated in the Jura Mountains, a few kilometers from the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds.
It is the third smallest city in Switz ...
, (the newly elected
Unesco World Heritage Site in Switzerland).
Wristwatches, world’s first & lines of collection
* The first wristwatches : were already produced by the company in 1938 : predominately ladies watches, because men still preferred pocket watches.
* Digital Watch: 1936 became the first company to produce a digital watch. It was driven by a spring movement. Rotating disks bearing inscribed numbers were used to display the time, instead of hands.
* DS (Double Security) Line: In 1959 Hans and Edwin Kurth set themselves the objective of creating a new marketplace niche based on quality through engineering and technical design. Thus the company created the concept of suspending the watch movement inside a highly reinforced case, which was named DS after "Double Security". These were the first watches to increase shock protection and water resistance to 6 m (previous watches were set at 2.2 metres). The watch was taken up the Himalayas by a team who climbed the
Dhaulagiri
Dhaulagiri is the seventh highest mountain in the world at above sea level, and the highest mountain within the borders of a single country (Nepal). It was first climbed on 13 May 1960 by a Swiss-Austrian-Nepali expedition.
Annapurna I () is ...
and the watch withstood all changes in pressure and altitude.
* Biostar: In 1971 introduced the Biostar, the world's first watch that displayed human biorhythms.
* "Scratchproof" : produced the "unscratchable" DS-DiaMaster in
tungsten carbide
Tungsten carbide (chemical formula: WC) is a chemical compound (specifically, a carbide) containing equal parts of tungsten and carbon atoms. In its most basic form, tungsten carbide is a fine gray powder, but it can be pressed and formed into ...
.
Brand ambassadors
*
Ole Einar Bjørndalen
Ole Einar Bjørndalen () (born 27 January 1974) is a retired Norwegian professional Biathlon, biathlete and coach, often referred to by the nickname, the "King of Biathlon". With 13 Winter Olympic Games medals, he is second on the List of multip ...
*Oliver Keller
*
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
*Stéphane Kox
Watch series
Sport Collection
*DS-2 : 2013 -
*DS Eagle
*DS Multi-8
*DS Podium
*DS Podium Big Size
*DS Podium Valgranges
*DS Sport
Aqua Collection
*DS Action
*DS Action Diver
*DS First
Urban Collection
*DS 4
*DS 4 Big Size
*DS-8 Chronograph Moon Phase
*DS Dream
*DS Prime
*DS Stella
Heritage Collection
*DS Caimano
*DS Powermatic 80 : 2014-
*DS-1
Advanced Systems and Materials
![CertinaBasic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/CertinaBasic.JPG)
Recent collection of Certina S.A. include
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
,
316L
SAE 316L grade stainless steel, sometimes referred to as A4 stainless steel or marine grade stainless steel, is the second most common austenitic stainless steel after 304/A2 stainless steel. Its primary alloying constituents after iron, are c ...
high grade
stainless steel
Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...
,
sapphire glass
Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sapphi ...
, its own DS feature (such as the current "DS Podium", "DS First" or "DS Action") and
ETA
Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...
Swiss made movements are standard features. It currently offers collections, classified under the names "Automatic", "SPORT Classic", "SPORT Elegant" and "SPORT Xtreme", including some models claimed to perform up to 300 m underwater.
Marketing
Certina S.A. has partnered with motoring companies including
Colin McRae
Colin Steele McRae, (5 August 1968 – 15 September 2007) was a Scottish rally driver. He was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion, and in 1995 became the first British driver and the youngest person to win the World Rally Championship ...
,
Sete Gibernau
Manuel "Sete" Gibernau Bultó (born 15 December 1972) is a Spanish former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who is a 9-time 500cc/MotoGP race winner and a two-time overall runner-up in and . His racing career spans three different ...
,
Sauber
Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it u ...
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
team.
Certina S.A. was timekeeper of the
Motorcycling Grand Prix in the 1990s.
Certina S.A. sponsored the 2014
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...
.
The Certina brand
In 1906 the Certina brand name was used for the first time, with Adolf and Alfred choosing to call their watches "Grana", the short form of "Granatus", the Latin name for
Grenchen
Grenchen (french: Granges) is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.
It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains between Solothurn and Biel/Bienne, approximately north of Bern. With over 16,000 i ...
.
In 1938 the company adopted the name "Certina", taken from the Latin "certus", meaning "assured", "certain", as their trademark for the export and marketing of their watches.
In 2014 Certina S.A. changed their red logo with a new logo. The new logo uses a turtle symbol, to symbolize protection against water and shocks. The change in logo and brand colours was because Certina S.A. wanted to move to a more expensive and higher quality segment. Differentiating it from
Tissot
Tissot SA () is a Swiss watchmaker. The company was founded in Le Locle, Switzerland by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son, Charles-Émile Tissot, in 1853. After several mergers and name changes, the group which Tissot SA belonged to was renam ...
, another brand in the
Swatch Group
The Swatch Group Ltd is a Swiss manufacturer of watches and jewellery. The company was founded in 1983 by the merger of ASUAG and SSIH to move to manufacturing quartz-crystal watches to resolve the quartz crisis threatening the traditional Sw ...
family. The impact of the changes in the brand has been the integration of better and more accurate movements like the PreciDrive in new releases.
References
External links
*
Alliance Horlogère listing of Certina calibres
{{DEFAULTSORT:Certina SA
Swiss watch brands
Watch manufacturing companies of Switzerland
The Swatch Group
Manufacturing companies established in 1888
Design companies established in 1888
Companies based in the canton of Neuchâtel