The last three digits indicate the appropriate model resp. Here we have a number 01 for a steel case. The second two digits represent the case material. The corresponding assignment can be seen in the tables below.
In this example, the 87 stands for the Certina 29-064 (Valjoux 728). The first two digits indicate the movement that was used. The reference number of this period is made up as follows: Furthermore, it seems that special watches, such as chronometers and gold watches, may have had a separate six-digit numbering.Ī reference number from the period 1958 to 1974 has two parts and seven digits. It also could be that it continued until the changeover in 1974. It's not clear if the serial numbering was changed in the fifties. Prior to 1958, a reference number, for example, looks like this: 8600-2.īut the composition of the reference number was similar to the following system which was used from about 1958 to 1974. There were three different systems of numbering, depending on the era. These are the reference number and the serial number. If you take a look at the back side of your vintage Certina, you'll see (at least if it is from the 1950s to the mid-seventies, and the case back has not been polished) two numbers on the case back.
