The Willard v The Certina DS PH1000
This is a personal review / comparison of these two watches. I chose them because each has a quirky 70's case shape and they have a similar price, both are tough divers on the large side, but also very wearable because of short lugs.
The review is mostly objective I think (maybe), but with a sprinkling of subjectivity and personal taste and feel.
I hope some of you find the comparison interesting. I am not going into the history of them too much as you will mostly know all this.
To start, I think both watches are beautiful and have their own unique identity due to their case shapes. The Willard is more iconic and known due to it's relationship to Apocalypse now and the famous Japanese explorer Naomi Uemura. The Certina is related to a watch used in an underwater experiment called the Tektite Habitat performed in 1969 / 1970.
Below is a simple scoring for them out of 10 from 10 categories:
Seiko Certina
Bezel 8.5 6.5
Case Finish 7 8
Case Shape 8.5 9
Iconic 8.5 5.5
Movement 6.5 7.5
WR 7 10
Legibility / lume 8.5 5
Strap / comfort 7 9
Value 6 8.5
Crown feel 5.5 8
Score 73 77
The 1000 mainly came higher due to it's slightly better quality and feel, the case is finished to a higher standard, the movement is the Powermatic 80 with NO PLASTIC parts and the feel of the crown when winding is miles better, buttery smooth compared to a sort of grating with the Willard. Longer PR, higher WR, similar accuracy -3 for the Willard and +4 for the Certina.
The rubber OEM strap on the 1000 is amazing and the best I have ever experienced. The rubber OEM trap on the Willard is buttery soft, but let down a touch by the hardware that sticks out slightly and can catch.
The bezel of the Willard is like a typical Seiko, great and even slightly more premium feeling than usual. The 1000 has a security feature where you need to push down to turn it, it is smooth enough, but not as satisfying as the Willard.
The major let down for the 1000 is the legibility, the minute hand does not contrast enough with the dial and should be thicker, this is quite a big issue for me personally and my biggest gripe with this watch. It is also let down by poor lume, especially for a diver.
The Legibility of the Willard is a dream, simply amazing and a joy. Lumibrite of course is amongst the best (if not the best) in the watch industry.
When it comes to value, the Certina wins this quite easily, as mentioned the overall quality is a bit better, it even feels more indestructible than the Willard. The 1000 has an RRP of ~970 chf and 1200 chf for the Willard.
Coolness feel, I think I prefer the 1000, I love the case, the dial colour and it just has that x factor that works for me. I sort of wear the strap like a bracelet. It sits so well.
The Willard looks great and it is close in coolness, it is special and quirky and more legible and nothing should be taken away from it whatsoever for coming in second, of course this is purely subjective on my behalf.
Now if I had to choose a watch for a zombie apocalypse or apocalypse now mission, I would choose the Willard, simply because of legibility in all scenarios and I know it is capable of surviving anything just like the 1000.
To sum up, they are both excellent watches and the Willard may gain a few points on some aftermarket straps.
The specs:
Case
Certina 43.5 x 48.0 x 14.15
Seiko 42.7 x 46.6 x 13.2
WR
Certina 1000 m
Seiko 200 m
Movement
Certina 80h PR
Seiko 70 PR
Both 21,600 vibrations/hour
Long term watch addict / nerd. 5 watches are too many, and a thousand's not enough.
Love the Willard (got the green one and the black one) and wasn't aware of that Certina - I like it!
I'll start looking into them, thank you!! 😁👍🏻
Must admit one of my favourite features of Seiko's at that price point is their diashield coating - I wear mine as beaters and they're still pristine . Unlike my posh Swiss stuff that seems to get scratched just looking at them 🤣
Lume comparison
Love the Willard (got the green one and the black one) and wasn't aware of that Certina - I like it!
I'll start looking into them, thank you!! 😁👍🏻
Must admit one of my favourite features of Seiko's at that price point is their diashield coating - I wear mine as beaters and they're still pristine . Unlike my posh Swiss stuff that seems to get scratched just looking at them 🤣
I love the sort of grey colour the diashield gives.
Great read Stu! I would have a hard time choosing between them.
Great review and comparison! Thanks!
Great read Stu! I would have a hard time choosing between them.
Thanks Kees! 👍
Thank you Stu for sharing your efforts. Very interesting. Even though I have four watches that have Willard case shapes it's the Certina I would choose simply because I like the look of it more. Seems rather shallow! 🙂
Thank you Stu for sharing your efforts. Very interesting. Even though I have four watches that have Willard case shapes it's the Certina I would choose simply because I like the look of it more. Seems rather shallow! 🙂
Not shallow at all, just your taste which is good 👍🏻
Not shallow at all, just your taste which is good 👍🏻
👍🍻
I really don’t understand how people find the bezel Movement on a Seiko to be great. I’d expect more from a Seiko at this price point but any king turtle in my book is utter crap. Wobbly, double clicking etc. The bezel on the Certina needs to be pushed down before turned and the clicks are decent. It’s a locked bezel, period. Agree on the legibility but no problems during daylight which I thought would be a problem initially but it’s worse in evening lighting. Can’t say the lume is bad either on the Certina. What is mind boggling is you rated the Certina 5 for iconic. Certina destroys Seiko and many other brands with the history and especially the watch this is based on.
I really don’t understand how people find the bezel Movement on a Seiko to be great. I’d expect more from a Seiko at this price point but any king turtle in my book is utter crap. Wobbly, double clicking etc. The bezel on the Certina needs to be pushed down before turned and the clicks are decent. It’s a locked bezel, period. Agree on the legibility but no problems during daylight which I thought would be a problem initially but it’s worse in evening lighting. Can’t say the lume is bad either on the Certina. What is mind boggling is you rated the Certina 5 for iconic. Certina destroys Seiko and many other brands with the history and especially the watch this is based on.
"I really don’t understand how people find the bezel Movement on a Seiko to be great. I’d expect more from a Seiko at this price point but any king turtle in my book is utter crap."
First off I reviewed the Willard which is not a King Turtle. Second, I find the bezel action to be great, chocolaty. I own or have owned divers across the board from several brands.....Oris, Longines, Omega, Rolex, Blancpain etc. The bezel movement on the Willard is very pleasurable and compares well to most brands.
Thirdly, I am aware that the Certina bezel has to be pushed down and it clicks quite nicely when turning it, but it also feels like this extra motion of pushing it in to move it means it would have issues if used constantly, not an issue for me and I may be wrong. It is much less pleasurable to use than the Seiko, but it is not bad.
The lume on the Certina is pretty poor, not much of it and it dies fast.
The watch this is based on was used in some underwater tests in 1969 / 1970 as mentioned, I think the Australian navy also used a version of it, it is a cool watch but that is about it. The Willard was famously used by one of Japans most famous explorers on many groundbreaking expeditions and of course has been made famous in the west for being Sheens watch in Apocalypse Now. I think the Willard wins here on iconology, even if not on diving specs.
"Certina destroys Seiko and many other brands with the history"
This is a very bold statement to make, quite ridiculous actually even if just talking about Certina versus Seiko. This isn't to take anything away from Certina, but in my opinion that statement is complete nonsense. Objectively speaking it is completely wrong. I will do a poll, let's see.
Like I said at williard level I expect more from a bezel but you already made it clear regular Seiko was great but it still doesn’t compare to a Christopher Ward at 1k. Certina is into watch making like decades more than Seiko divers so have way more history . Seiko lume charges fast and is nuke lume but I wore the Certina under a jacket and had no problem watching a movie in the cine and being able to see the time .
Like I said at williard level I expect more from a bezel but you already made it clear regular Seiko was great but it still doesn’t compare to a Christopher Ward at 1k. Certina is into watch making like decades more than Seiko divers so have way more history . Seiko lume charges fast and is nuke lume but I wore the Certina under a jacket and had no problem watching a movie in the cine and being able to see the time .
There you go mentioning other watches. I was comparing those 2 specific watches. For me the bezel action for the Willard is comparable with brands that cost much more. No back play at all.
There you go mentioning other watches. I was comparing those 2 specific watches. For me the bezel action for the Willard is comparable with brands that cost much more. No back play at all.
For me it’s not only the back play and don’t disagree with the 8.5 on the Seiko but would t call it as bad as you did perhaps. And then there’s Seiko and the QC, you either get a misaligned chapter ring or misaligned bezel or both… yes the maligned ones exist and the higher the price point the higher the hitraye but when I picked up my ph1000 at the jeweler at least a quarter of all the seikos in the showcase were misaligned. Yes Seiko used to be nice at the price point before the price jump but these days nice really nice Seiko watches are at that 2k precies point where one would be asking oneself why de f spend 2k and buy a Seiko to begin with. I’ve sold all Seiko si had and most likely will never buy one again.
Did he steal your review?!?! 😂