Certina Argonaut 220 (Certina Cal. 25-651)…

I’ll admit that I didn’t have high hopes when I bought this quirky, yet sorry looking, Certina Argonaut 220.

(Click pictures to enlarge)

When you think of vintage Certina, the DS range springs immediately to mind. First introduced in 1959 and designed primarily as tool watches, many of the later models were not what you’d call everyday watches – if you’ve handled the 1000m DS-2 and DS-3 models, you’ll know exactly what I mean… substantial!

The Argonaut range was introduced in the late 1960’s and whilst still using the same mechanical calibres as the DS range, the designs were more conventional. The word ‘Argonaut’ derives from Greek mythology, one of a band of heroes who accompanied Jason on the Argo, in his perilous quest for the legendary Golden Fleece. Alternatively, an adventurer, a person who is ‘engaged in a dangerous but rewarding quest’.

Produced for around a decade, getting a handle on the Argonaut range is not easy as there were many different models. As well as standard Argonaut branded models, there were also ‘Argonaut 220’, ‘280’ and ‘285’ variants. The reasoning behind the numbering system is not clear, in many instances it refers to the level of water-resistance, but that doesn’t appear to be the case here.

Available as predominantly dress watches in both men’s and ladies sizes, there were also a sprinkling of good looking divers throughout the range.

The range also included a small number of chronograph models in chunky stainless steel cases, the 200 meter rated chronograph/diver on the right below being perhaps the highlight. They were all manually wound and powered by Certina branded, Valjoux cal. 23 or cal. 726 movements, the latter adding a 12 hour register.

If finding a vintage chrono diver proves difficult it may be useful to know that Certina reissued a modern version of the watch in 2022, in both steel and PVD cases. Albeit, an automatic calibre this time (the Valjoux cal. 7753), rather than being manually wound like the original. They reissued a number of the original DS watches too, which are well worth a look.

Ok, back to the job in hand. As you can see from the first picture, the subject of this post had already been on an arduous journey of its own and an intrepid adventurer who owned it previously had decided to fix the wayward crystal with an oversized ‘splodge’ of superglue. Thanks Champ!

I bought this watch primarily as a parts donor. That much glue on show typically means that the overspill will be on both sides and the watch will most likely be firmly glued into the case, ruining the dial and potentially the calendar wheel in the process.

Inside the watch was, as expected, a cal. 25-651 automatic with 27 jewels, with a limited date quickset and a beat rate of 19,800 bph.

No glue on show here, which was encouraging, and I was both surprised and pleased to find that the watch wasn’t glued into the case after all. On removing the stem, the watch was free of the case and as an added bonus, the dial had no damage either, moving it instantly from ‘parts donor’ to ‘restoration candidate’.

Needless to say, the crystal was a total loss and broke on removal, leaving an annoying section glued inside the case. Rather than trying to dig it out with a screwdriver and risk damaging the case, I soaked the whole case in acetone for an hour or so, which softened the glue and allowed me to remove the broken section and the remainder of the glue from the case.

The movement was still in good condition and needed nothing more than a full service to put things right. The hands had also lost their lume at some point, which was replaced, the case was cleaned and given a light rub with a Cape Cod cloth to restore the shine. The last thing to do was install a new crystal and gaskets and the watch was ready for its next adventure.

It’s a case shape that won’t appeal to everyone, but I’m drawn to odd looking watches, and it’s always good to have a few watches in the collection that create talking points when worn, even if they divide opinion.

I also own a stainless steel version of the same model. Manually wound, no-date and powered by the cal. 25-66, together they make an interesting pair.

Rich.