The new Certina DS Eagle GMT chronograph watch replica (ref. C023.739.27.051.00) is equipped with a lot simpler ETA G10.961 caliber: the same quartz movement that powered their 2011 Certina DS Podium Ole Einar Bjorndalen model, but is encased in a lot sportier body. The extra function in question is, of course a GMT display at 10 hours. Sporting a large, bright-red triangle on its tip, the GMT pointer, too, seems to be legible enough if you need to know current time in a country far far away. Perhaps, the only thing that I find lacking here is a layer of Superluminova on the indicator: there are cases when you need to know time in the second time zone without turning on the light or doing some calculations while being half-asleep.

The solution not only makes it easier to read the chronograph at a quick single glance, but also allows to squeeze an extra indicator into the standard tri-compax design.

Certina DS Eagle GMT Chronograph quartz wrist watch

 

 

I especially dig the carbon-fiber inserts in its bezel and the chronograph pushers that are echoed by black textured dial with its high-contrast white lume covering the hour markers and the skeletonized hands.

Although looking like it was ‘inspired’ by Linde Werdelin with their skeletonized chronographs (and, to a lesser degree, the monstrous Hublot King Power Oceanographic 4000), this new timekeeper still doesn’t look like a blatant rip-off. After all, best quality replica Certina watch is a brand that is, first, large enough to not be afraid of speaking its own design language and, second, actually has a means of hiring a team of good industrial designers that would be able to do their job without trespassing any sort of intellectual property.

Certina DS Eagle GMT Chronograph quartz wrist watch (dial)

 

Also, if you don’t happen to live on McMurdo Station, it is often less expensive and less time-consuming to just replace a broken caliber just like you would have replaced a failed USB port on your iPhone.

Although I have heard and read numerous complaints about the G10 being a ‘throwaway’ movement, I, to be frank, don’t see a problem with that. For starters, a person that buys a quartz watch rarely does it for the movement that powers it: if it’s accurate enough to keep good time between switching daylight saving time on and off, nobody really cares whether the movement is made of plastic or gold-plated steel.

 

Photos: Certina

Certina DS Eagle GMT Chronograph (ref. C023.739.27.051.00) quartz watch specification

Price: €1200
Movement: Quartz, ETA G10.961, Swiss Made
Number of jewels: 4
Power reserve: A couple of years
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph, second time zone (GMT)
Case material: Stainless steel
Bezel material: Matches case
Crown material: Matches case
Case shape: Tonneau
Bezel shape: Round
Case size: 46.00 mm
Case height: No data
Lug width: No data
Dial: Black, textured
Hour markers: Luminous
Hands: Luminous
Water resistance: 200 meters
Strap: Black textured rubber band with large steel buckle
Crystal: Sapphire, antireflective
Case back: Screw-down, with Turtle logo

Like many chronographs introduced during the last couple of years, this mens fake Certina DS Eagle combines the 12-hour and 60-minute chronograph totalizers into a single sub-dial, which is neatly placed at 2 o’clock.