Watches for men and ladies : "Certina Swiss Watches offers Swiss-precision craftsmanship, design and technology of outstanding quality at a fair price".
Certina watches Certina Kuth Frères SA was founded in 1888 when Adolf and Alfred Kurth opened in Grenchen their first movement and supplies factory for the watchmaking industry, and currently an affiliate company of the Swatch Group.
FIRST WRIST WATCHES
For the first time, a brand name is used. Adolf and Alfred choose to call their watches "Grana", short form of "Granacus", the Latin name for Grenchen. The first wrist-watches appear on the market, for the larger part ladies' models as men still categorically reject the idea of wearing time on one's wrist.
For their exceptional performance, the two founders receive the Milan Fair's prestigious gold medal. Later, in 1910 in Brussels and four years later in Bern, the Grana brand name takes two further awards.
y 1971, the owning family had wisely decided to join General Watch Co, the newly created sub-holding of ASUAG, in order to concentrate their efforts with others. The onslought of the Japanese Watch Industry (under the rules of their strategic management with their own reliable and much cheaper automatic, and then Quartz watches, stopped Certina's expansion to a relative standstill. The restructuration involved the abandon of their own manufacture of Certina movement styles calibres , and by the end of the 1970s, Certina operations were moved to Biel/Bienne and the entity Edox & Technos. Under the new management, Certina managed to hold onto some of their strongholds, especially in the Scandinavian countries. Upon the merger of SSIH and ASUAG companies, Certina became a member of a new managerial entity, together with Mido and Tissot, which has now established itself in Le Locle, (the newly elected Unesco World Heritage Site in Switzerland.
Digital Watch: 1936 Certina was the first company to produce the 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 had set themselves the objective of creating a brand new niche in the marketplace, based on quality through engineering and technical designs. Thus Certina created the concept of suspending the watch movement inside a highly reinforced case, which they named DS for "Double Security. The Certina DS were the first watches to raise the water resistancy and shock protection down to 6 m (previous watches were set at 2.2 meters). The Certina DS watch was taken up the Himalayas by a team who climbed the Dhaulagiri and the watch withstood all changes in pressure and altitude.
Biostar: In 1971 Certina introduced the Biostar, the world's first watch that displayed human biorhythms.
"Scratchproof" : Certina went on to produce many world firsts including the "unscratchable" DS-DiaMaster in tungsten carbide and scooped many awards.
2008 Certina is proud to be an official partner of the BMW Sauber F1 Team, and jointly celebrates its excellent 2008 season results, especially its historical one-two finish by drivers Kubica and Heidfeld in Montreal. The exciting race marked the first-ever top-podium finish for the BMW Sauber F1 Team and helped them close the FIA season with 11 podium finishes and with a brilliant 3rd place in the constructors' championship.
Certina watches Certina Kuth Frères SA was founded in 1888 when Adolf and Alfred Kurth opened in Grenchen their first movement and supplies factory for the watchmaking industry, and currently an affiliate company of the Swatch Group.
FIRST WRIST WATCHES
For the first time, a brand name is used. Adolf and Alfred choose to call their watches "Grana", short form of "Granacus", the Latin name for Grenchen. The first wrist-watches appear on the market, for the larger part ladies' models as men still categorically reject the idea of wearing time on one's wrist.
For their exceptional performance, the two founders receive the Milan Fair's prestigious gold medal. Later, in 1910 in Brussels and four years later in Bern, the Grana brand name takes two further awards.y 1971, the owning family had wisely decided to join General Watch Co, the newly created sub-holding of ASUAG, in order to concentrate their efforts with others. The onslought of the Japanese Watch Industry (under the rules of their strategic management with their own reliable and much cheaper automatic, and then Quartz watches, stopped Certina's expansion to a relative standstill. The restructuration involved the abandon of their own manufacture of Certina movement styles calibres , and by the end of the 1970s, Certina operations were moved to Biel/Bienne and the entity Edox & Technos. Under the new management, Certina managed to hold onto some of their strongholds, especially in the Scandinavian countries. Upon the merger of SSIH and ASUAG companies, Certina became a member of a new managerial entity, together with Mido and Tissot, which has now established itself in Le Locle, (the newly elected Unesco World Heritage Site in Switzerland.
Digital Watch: 1936 Certina was the first company to produce the 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 had set themselves the objective of creating a brand new niche in the marketplace, based on quality through engineering and technical designs. Thus Certina created the concept of suspending the watch movement inside a highly reinforced case, which they named DS for "Double Security. The Certina DS were the first watches to raise the water resistancy and shock protection down to 6 m (previous watches were set at 2.2 meters). The Certina DS watch was taken up the Himalayas by a team who climbed the Dhaulagiri and the watch withstood all changes in pressure and altitude.
Biostar: In 1971 Certina introduced the Biostar, the world's first watch that displayed human biorhythms.
"Scratchproof" : Certina went on to produce many world firsts including the "unscratchable" DS-DiaMaster in tungsten carbide and scooped many awards.
2008 Certina is proud to be an official partner of the BMW Sauber F1 Team, and jointly celebrates its excellent 2008 season results, especially its historical one-two finish by drivers Kubica and Heidfeld in Montreal. The exciting race marked the first-ever top-podium finish for the BMW Sauber F1 Team and helped them close the FIA season with 11 podium finishes and with a brilliant 3rd place in the constructors' championship.
