Visiting scarcely visitedВ territories in watch-nerdism, we will say thatВ the reason thisВ new micro-controller has a built-in flash memory is to enable it toВ display multiple combinations on the various counters. The advanced micro controller called PowerDriveВ is capable of shifting the hands up to as many as 200 times a second in either direction, meaning they return to zero almost instantaneously. In the PreciDrive, the split seconds hand is making one hundred distinct and accurate motions per second even more impressive, however, is the reset speed of the hands.

In a mechanical watch, the split second hand is effectively free-wheeling at the correct velocity before being suddenly braked when the stop pusher is depressed. This is a different phenomenon than one might see on a mechanical split second chronograph. The incredible speed and processing power of the PreciDrive means that the split seconds indicator hand hits every single 100th marker during the space of one second. The simple and classic color palette is suitably sporty вЂ“ a characteristic enhanced by the dynamic function of the watch. The 12-hour and 30-minute sub-dial hands are also red, along with the split seconds indicator вЂ“ always a nice touch (and the sign of an intelligently designed watch!) when the chronograph hands are matching and thus separated from the time keeping elements of the watch. The dial is mostly silver, with black, snailed sub-dials and a pad-printed red scale marking the 100th of a second read-out. The Certina DS-2 Limited Edition is a chronograph in a 41 millimeter wide 316L stainless steel case: aesthetically, it is identical to the other Certina DS-2 watches in the series, save for its attractive вЂњpanda-dialвЂќ coloring. However, before we discuss the finer details of what makes the PreciDrive notable, letвЂ™s focus on a particularly interesting model that features this movement. The PreciDrive from ETA is a quartz movement able to achieve chronometer-like accuracy, and while it may not be a new release exactly (itвЂ™s been around for about a year), it deserves attention for the effectiveness of its thermo-compensation mechanism, for the novel way it incorporates ceramic components into its design, and that it offers 1/100th of a second accuracy at a relatively attainable price point. As they say, вЂњyou can rely on a quartz, because it never changes,вЂќ and вЂњyou know exactly what youвЂ™re getting, as quartz has been pretty much the same for yearsвЂ¦вЂќ Well, that is by no means entirely true, as proven by the collaboration of Swatch Group members ETA and Certina. Meanwhile, a significant portion of the lower-end of the luxury market remains underpinned by the ever-faithful quartz movement.

Certina ds-2