Month: September 2015

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Citizen Auto Dater para40mwater Diver


Beautiful watch but such a difficult one to take a good picture of. Here it is the Citizen Auto Dater para40mwater, reference ADOS 3001-DM, Diver!

citizen autodater diver 40m ADOS 3001-DM

There are so many aspects of this watch that I like that I don’t know where to start from! Let me begin by saying that even though Citizen marked it so boldly “Diver” on the case back it is water proof only up to 40m. The unsigned crown is not a screw in type but the engraved case back is. The entire case is made of stainless steel, polished, with brushed lugs on the upper part. The case back, as mentioned before, screws in and is engraved with the Eagle motif and “Diver”, also “40m water proof” and “stainless steel” The ADOS 3001-DM reference number is there too, but no serial so an accurate dating of the watch is, unfortunately, impossible. As a result of my research I date this watch around 1965.

The dial is pure awesome! It is very dark satinated grey almost black. In bright light the sunburst effect is obvious but on low (normal) light it becomes matte pure black. Due to the domed mineral crystal the sunburst effect of the dial is enhanced and looks somehow… circular. The hands are simple, matching, with large luminous areas, the hour hand being shorter than the minute one. The sweeping central second hand is simple without any luminous material. The hour markers are applied and they glow in the dart too, just as the hands do. The bezel has no luminous dot at 12 but just a simple triangle. Speaking about the bezel, it is a bidirectional friction type and, as a particularity, it is a count down starting from 60, 50… all the way down to 10, 0. This way you can directly say how much time is there left out of an hour, not as usual the elapsed minutes.

Opening the watch we see the beautiful jet movement (read about these movements HERE). It has 21 jewels and can be winded by hand too. It can also display the date, in the widow at 3 o’clock.

The strap in this case is a vintage Tropic but it also looks gorgeous on nato, leather or stainless steel bracelet.

It is a beautiful piece, lovely addition to my diver collection and makes me so happy when I strap it on my wrist, especially on these sunny autumn days.

Read more about Citizen divers HERE.

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Citizen Chronograph “Bullhead” Challenge Timer


Who does’t love a true vintage chronograph? And what is there not to love? Citizen made three chronograph movements, one manual – calibre 5702 with 21 jewels (read about it HERE) and two automatic ones based on the same design – calibre 8100A and 8110A, both with 23 jewels (read about them on the dedicated page HERE). All three are fly back chronos.

Let me introduce to you the well known, world famous Citizen Bullhead calibre 8110A! Citizen called this chronograph the Challenge Timer.

vintage citizen chronograph challenge timer automatic 8110A

*don’t forget to magnify the pictures on my blog for more details*

As clearly seen on the collage above (pictures from the sellers mostly from sweetroad) they come in different colors and variants.

The round shaped (so 1970’s) cases for all bullheads are made of plated metal base aluminum alloy (except for the stainless steel octagon one, read about it HERE). They are called bullhead because of the two pushers that are positioned on the top of the case. Those pushers (stainless steel) are there to operate the chronograph function. The one at 11 o’clock starts and stops it and the one at 1 resets it and it can also be used while the time is running and resets it and starts it in one single action. This is known as the fly back function. Most of the chronographs are not constructed like this. You can’t press the reset unless the time is stopped first, but on fly-backs that is possible. So, this is the Citizen automatic, 23 jewels, calibre 8110A with hand winding capability. It was produced by Citizen starting from 1972. It is a vertical clutch chronograph (beating at 28.800 bph) with column wheel and obviously fly back function. It is 27 mm wide and about 6.8mm high. Because of the column wheel/vertical clutch design of the movement it is better to leave chronograph running for most of the time (this way you can also see the beautiful sweeping central second hand in movement), but also from time to time it should be stopped. On top of all of this, it displays the date and the day of the week as well. A particularity for this movement is that when you want to change the day you should pull the winding crown to second position (for changing the date) and push and release the reset (1 o’clock) button. Interesting design so the interaction lucky owner – beautiful watch, is enhanced. I can’t even imagine the price of a vintage Rolex Daytona if it would have had all these features.

The dials are made in a variety of colors so for sure you are going to find one that on your taste. Just pay attention to the fact that the market is flooded with fakes! The hands vary as well and are also faked a lot. It doesn’t have a current running seconds but leaving the chronograph moving you can have one, while the chronograph function, when needed, can be engaged with just a simple action – press the fly back 1 0’clock pusher and start counting from zero.

So… the case can be plated: golden, dark brown-green, black, or silver. The bracelet is plated too, I have seen it in stainless steel, rubber or leather.

Here it is a NOS dark olive green plated one, with original bracelet and awesome golden dial:citizen vintage chronograph bull head challange timerAnd the black coated, green dial, NOS too:

citizen bullhead chronograph vintageIt is a beautiful watch but, once more, pay attention to the “aftermarket” dials, hands, straps and wrong finishes of the case. And let’s not forget that a lot of them are made of parts and have a bad history. All things considered, it is a beautiful time piece to have but such a difficult task to find the proper one. Good luck hunting for the right one for you! Once you find it, you will love it! This is my favorite: HERE

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Citizen Auto Dater Seven para40mwater day-date


A special place among my favorite Citizen movements is reserved for the Jet ones. And this one has the last of the Jets Citizen ever made. My watch was made in September 1966 and Citizen produced these movements up to about 1967. The last JET is the day-date Auto Dater Seven.

citizen auto dater para water

As you can see, it is in perfect, NOS condition, with price tag and booklet. The writing on the paper is in Japanese only. The day wheel is written in Japanese so, it is safe to conclude that, the watch was intended for JDM (Japan domestic market). The entire case as well as the bracelet, are made of beautifully finished stainless steel. The crystal is acrylic. and has a date magnifier.

The style of the watch is elegant, with a fluted bezel, simple silver dial with a sunburst effect. There is no luminous material on the dial or hands. The frontal part of the case is brushed, and all the rest is polished. The bracelet is also finished with a nice combination of polished and brushed surfaces.  As I mentioned before, it is a day-date. That means that in addition to showing the date (at 3 o’clock), it also displays the day of the week (at 12). The day is in Japanese only, printed in black with red for Sundays. All the hour markers, the day and date frame and the Seven logo are applied.

The crown is used for winding the watch (although it is an automatic it can be winded by hand) and setting the time in the first position. The day changes by advancing the hands passing midnight. The date changes by pulling the crown. One pull of the crown will advance the day of the week one time. The crown get back to first position by it’s own due to a spring. Pulling it again, will change the day one more time. This system was named by Citizen “Easy Change”. What can I say, it is easy indeed.

The movement, is the last Jet, calibre 4102. It has 25 Jewels and beats at 18,800 bph. Beautiful!

Read more about watches powered by Jet movements HERE.