Under the sign of the turtle

The DS-2 was introduced to the market in 1968 as a successor to the successful DS line that was launched in 1959. By that time more than 300'000 pieces of the DS had already been sold. Below you'll find an original article on the launch of the DS-2 taken from Certina's proprietary magazine called "Certina Echo" (Winter Edition 1968).

Apart from the more formal novelties the model featured a few technical innovations: The crown was partially hidden and posessed a double sealing system. In order to increase robustness the movement fixation was additionally strengthened by extra-strong screws. The floating mount of the movement by means of a rubber ring was taken from its predecessor.
Originally the dial was available in 15 different versions. There were two different case materials to choose from: Stainless steel and gold plaque. The gold coated version was marked by a 06 instead of a 01 in the reference number. Furthermore a Chronometer version of 18 karats of yellow gold was available (reference 5880 300).

The following in-house movements were included: 25-66 (manual winding Ref. 5201 300), 25-661 (manual winding with date, Ref. 5301 300), 26-651 ("Certidate" Ref. 5801 300) and the calibre 25-652 in the "Certiday" version with day and date (Ref. 5901 300). From 1975 on, towards the end of the production, the improved calibres 25-651M and 25-652M respectively were included. Besides the men's versions smaller women's styles were available.
The image on the right shows the floating mount of the movement with the elastic antishock ring. This design renders the DS-2 shock-proof and resistant. Proof for that can be found in the numerous pieces that still run like they were new no matter how "fucked up" the case may be.

A distinctive detail of the DS-2 self-winding version is the screwed caseback with the circular wavy relief and the turtle in the centre. At the manual winding version, you can find the turtle in the centre too but the rest of the caseback is flat.

	Model	Reference no.	Calibre	Dimensions mm	Comments
	DS-2 manual wind	5201 300	Certina 25-66	38.5 x 42 x 12	No date Various dial versions About from 1968 to 1975
	DS-2 manual wind	5301 300	Certina 25-661	38.5 x 42 x 12	Date without quickset Various dial versions About from 1968 to 1975

	Model	Reference no.	Calibre	Dimensions mm	Comments
	DS-2 Automatic "Certidate"	5801 300 From 1974: 913 1300 41	Certina 25-651	38.5 x 42 x 12	Date without quickset Various dial versions About from 1968 to 1975
	DS-2 Automatic "Certiday"	5901 300 Ab 1974: 914 1300 41	Certina 25-652	38.5 x 42 x 12	Day and Date without quickset Various dial versions Partially with print "Certiday" About form 1968 to 1975
	DS-2 Automatic Chronometer	5880 300	Certina 25-651	38.5 x 42 x 12	Date without quickset Bracelet, case and dial in 18 carat yellow gold About from 1968 to 1975

So far as I know, every model was available in 20 micron goldplaque. In the reference number instead of the 01 then stands a 06.