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Citizen Parawater – Citizen Parashock


The term “Parawater” was the one used by Citizen to describe that the watch was water resistant.

In 1959 the company produced the first Japanese water-resistant wrist watch. This was the “Citizen Parawater”. It was powered by the Citizen Cal. 920(2B). Soon after, the Parawater completed two trans-Pacific tests and one in the Sea of Japan. The result, needless to say, was positive.  As time passed Citizen was growing as a company and exported more and more watches, so the term “Parawater” was changed to the universally recognized “Water resistant” somewhere around 1970-1973.

Read more about Citizen diving watches here: https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/diver-vcw/

parawater citizen

The term “Parashock” came to life in 1956 when the company produced the first shock-proof Japanese watch, known as the “Parashock”. So first was the “Parashock” and three years later the “Parawater”.

Even though you have a parashock and a parawater watch, please don’t treat it as a modern Casio G-shock. 🙂

15 thoughts on “Citizen Parawater – Citizen Parashock”

  3. Pingback: Complete Vintage Citizen 150m Divers | Vintage Citizen Watches

  4. I have on my left wrist a citizen quarts 200m mens watch. Serial#7030314 black face glow in the dark with a DM at the top of the dial. Thete are 4 buttons starting at top left with select next on rt is set below that on rt is a pull out gold switch and last on left bottom is mode.it has a protruding circle area with a gold circle inside at 9 .stainlessbsteel backing housing with citizen watch co. The numbers are hard to see. 0021067_087372y. CQ_108 maybe a 63. GN4,_S or 5. I cannot find this watch anywhere except my wrist. Can you help me. I did stumble upon a picture but cannot retrieve it for some reason. There was some wrighting maybe about RARE but i cant remember. Im extremely interested in finding out particulars. Please respond.

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  5. Hi Citizen Guy, my father had a few Citizen watches and he wore them all the time. Well, one at a time of course. He passed away last year and I am proud to own them now in his remembrance. Can you tell me more about the one I’ll describe below?

    The face is white in a square and ronded case. One the left of the face plate it says ‘Citizen’, on the right it says ‘para water’ and ’21 jewels’. On the far right is has a small window for the date.

    On the back it has a horseshoe shaped cadre with: ‘4-180470 TA WATERPROOF STAINLESS STEEL’
    Between the ends of the cadre, mid-centre, it says: ’63-1353 CITIZEN 10801222′

    I don’t know much about watches, but I think the model is a 63-1353. It is a hand-wound watch of some quality, due to the ’21 jewels.’ It’s working fine, by the way.

    Because it says PARA WATER (with a space, curiously enough), I think it must be from before 1972. The serial number seems to indicate that it is from August 1971, 1961 or 1951, or so. I’m guessing it’s from ’71 or maybe ’61. 1951 would probably be too early for this model?

    Can you confirm, and please, anything you can add is very welcome because I can’t find any proper info on this particular model. If it’s okay, I’ll ask about the other ones some other time.

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  6. Hi Citizen Guy, sorry it took so long to read your post. I have been extremely busy with work and my studies.

    I have made some photos of the dial and case-back, but I can’t figure out how to attach these.

    I can’t open the case (yet), so I hope you can give you some idea of the true age of the watch without that image.

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  7. Hi there Citizen Guy, I’m curious to know if Parashock is? I know two semi-pro watchmakers online (in watch communities, they aren’t trying to sell me anything), and one of them said something that got me interested in Citizen’s mechanical side.

    This is in reference to modern Miyota in particular. Miyota has had had huge success in the past 5 years as ETA has finally stopped selling movements, which they really disliked doing. Miyota’s 9 series is a modern but affordable movement that’s used by many microbrands. They’re also a bit friendlier for business from I’ve heard, in the sense they don’t require big orders like Sellita or some Chinese factories (and they do better QC than the Chinese) while being better than Seiko’s entry level NH movements.

    Anyway, the interesting thing he said is that he rated Parashock over Novodiac (old ETA) and Incabloc (new & high grade ETA), as well as DiaShock (Seiko). The reason was that it offered a good level of shock resistance while also being easy to work with. Knowing little of Citizen history, I wonder if the Miyota Corporation has any continuity with vintage Citizen movements, and if the modern Parashock is the same as the old? Thanks!

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  8. Hola chico ciudadano de antemano un saludo
    recientemente adquirí un citizen eagle 7 creo pero no estoy tan seguro que es de 36 mm y quisiera poder saber cuándo fue el año de fabricación.
    El movimiento es como lo sabrás el confiable Miyota 8200
    No. De referencia 540389
    Otras especificaciones de la parte trasera son: water resist, base metal, 8200-075544M, GN-4W-S.
    La esfera es tipo color beige con el centro “digamos” cromado, las manecillas son delgadas(no podría describirlas bien) los indicadores son barras orizontales con un pequeño punto arriba de c/u, 2 puntos en el indicador de las 12
    Espero puedas tener una pista de el año de fabricación, he estado investigando y tengo varias suposiciones pero ninguna en concreto, espero puedas ayudarme.
    Un saludo y gracias.

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  9. Pingback: Do Citizen Watches Have Serial Numbers (And What Do They Mean) – Watches Of Today

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