Year: 2015

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Citizen Divers and Tropic Straps


Anyone interested in vintage divers recognize what a Tropic strap is. The others should know that this is a certain type of rubber band, made  in Switzerland during the 1960s and 1970s.  They were later manufactured in China and Hong Kong too, using the original molds and same materials. The originals are signed “TROPIC” and marked “SWISS MADE” and are typically fitted with an “INOX” or “ACIER” signed buckle. Citizen used the multiple perforated model with a single sliding strap keeper as seen in the pictures below. They are marked “Tropic” and the lug width (let’s say “20mm”) is indicated. “MOD DEP” that stands for “Modèle Déposé” or registered design. The reference no. is also visible on one end. They are made from a very pliable rubber for a comfortable fit and durability. The band is 5mm thick where it meets the watch and on the clasp end and 2.6mm thick at the tail end.

Here it is how a Citizen stainless steel buckle should look like on one of these Tropic straps. My opinion (from the data I have so far) is that most of them came with the “Acier” or “Inox” signed piece.

citizen tropic strap

Not only Citizen were fitted on Tropic straps but Rolex, Tudor, Blancpain, Omega, Longines and many others too. They were all aware  of the Tropic quality. Soft, relatively thin, very pliable, durable and a gorgeous feel and look on the wrist. vintage citizen diving tropic strapYou have a ’60-’70 vintage Citizen Diver? Get a Tropic strap for it! It will be the perfect match!

Read more about vintage Citizen diving watches HERE.

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Citizen diver 150m 52-0110 dial variants


The largest group of Citizen divers is the 150m one. It has a classic design and a gorgeous look. They had a production time span of about 15 years, powered by a handfull of movements. The last model was the one in this article, the 52-0110. Even if this is one model it had a few variants. I saw only black dialed versions and a rare orange dial one. Stephen on his page suggests it might have had a blue dial too. http://sweep-hand.org/citizens-vintage-divers-1962-to-1980/ I have yet to see one to confirm that.

No matter the color, we can see two design variants, one prior to 1978 and one after 1978. I will call them “type 1″(8210 820719-S) and “type 2” (8210 824391 KA). The dial code is printed on the dial at the bottom of 6 o’clock. I am lucky enough to have both of them. Let’s see the picture that can be magnified them for better understanding.

citizen 150m 52-0110

My type 1 was made in ’77 and type 2 in ’78. The case is the same, the crown, crystal, bezel and movement are the same. Both powered by the well known Citizen cal. 8210, 21.600bph, quick set date, non hacking seconds.

The main difference is the dial, and the way the hour markers, the logo and the date frame are made.

  1. Type 1 has the letters of the Citizen logo separated while type 2 has all the letters connected in an applied logo.
  2. The date window on type 1 is connected with the lume frame. By contrast type 2 has two distinctive parts, date frame, and lume frame.
  3. These is due to the way Citizen chose to manufacture the dials. Starting from ’78, on type 2, they decided to apply these elements, and so they did. They made the dial, painted it, printed the white lettering and the minute markers and later applied the logo, the date frame as well as the hour markers.
  4. In type 1 (prior to ’78) we have a unibody dial, made in one piece containing the logo, date frame and hour markers. After painting and printing it Citizen polished the surface revealing this look.
  5. Under magnification the main difference is easy to spot: Type 1 has polished elements with only one metallic surface appearance while type 2 had these elements polished  on the sides too. This is because they were never painted. On type 1 we can see the black paint on the sides of the logo, date frame and hour markers.

With Citizen most of the times the look of a watch is dictated by the manufacturing process and so is the case with these dials too.

Read more about this model here:  https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2013/12/24/citizen-automatic-diver-150m-52-0110/

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Citizen Challenge Golf 7760-770901K BLS


Finding a NOS watch or a mint one, (new old stock – one that was never worn) is not an easy task when talking about vintage watches. Finding one dating more than 40 years ago is even harder. But finding one that has its original box is pure luck. Add the fact that it has not only the hinged box but the outer cardboard cover too, and it is a rare model, and you have now the full picture of this extraordinary package. vintage citizen challenge golf This in the Citizen Challenge Golf 7760-770901K BLS. During 70’s Citizen was developing a wide range of watches and because golf was a not to miss opportunity, one watch dedicated to this sport was released by the manufacture. Read about more sport related Citizen watches HERE. This particular model came in two case styles, a round one and the one I am presenting here, a TV style one. Usually I see them on leather straps (in fact this is the only one I saw on a bracelet). So a TV coated case, with a beautifully polished / brushed stainless steel ? bezel on a matching coated bracelet. The bracelet is very light and might be aluminum. The coating is not black, but a dark army green. The acrylic crystal is flat and on the underside surface, at 12 o’clock, it has a magnifier for better visualisation of the golf score window. The casebak is made in stainless steel and is engraved 7760-770901K BLS, water resistant, Citizen, and the serial dating it to March 1973. The outer part of clasp is coated, as well as the clasp extension, while the folding part is polished and engraved: Citizen watch Co Japan, base metal tops, stainless steel back.citizen-challenge-golfThe movement is the Citizen calibre 7760, developed specially for this model. It is a nicely constructed one, automatic, with hand winding capability also. It has 26 jewels, it hacks and has a date that can be changed only by moving the hour hand (not quick set). The window at 12 o’clock is for keeping the score. Pushing the crown advances the score is the watch is held vertically and goes the other way around if the watch is held up side down while the crown is pushed. I don’t know much about golf but the watch has these numerals on this score wheel: on blue, from 0 to 18 and then prior of 0 we have on red 1 and 2. The dial is blue in bright light but green in normal light. It is darker on the sides and brighter in the center. The hands, the applied logo, window frames and hour markers are polished.

Update: 

Here is another completely different model, round case with original white strap. (pictures from online seller)citizen challenge golfBeautiful interesting watch with a great dial too look at but a difficult one to photograph right. So… I will keep on trying until I have the perfect picture! 🙂

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Citizen Crystal 7 – 33 jewels


Among the interesting vintage Citizen, this one has it’s special place.

It is the para water Crystal 7 with 33 jewels and a uni body case.

citizen crystal 7 33The watch is the perfect size for a dress one, not too small, not too large just as it should be even by today standards, at 37mm diameter. The case is elegant, entirely polished, made in one piece of stainless steel. That means that the case back can not be removed and the movement comes out only by removing the mineral flat crystal. This is a nice feature that makes the case a little more water resistant by eliminating the risk of water entering the watch through the back. Because the case back is the same piece with the entire case it is possible to place the beautiful engraving in such amanner that it is always crown side up. This is a nice bonus to the overall look of the watch. The engraving shows the water resistance by “para water” marking and the uni case body is marked by a small “x” inside a small circle. The model is ACSS 51401-Y and was made in April 1966.

The dial is silver, with a sun burst effect and a lot of applied markers. The hour markers are applied, the day and date frames are applied, the Citizen logo, the 7 logo and 33 marking are also applied. The “Crystal” writing is in black and so are the minute markers. The hour markers have a longitudinal black line just as the hour and minute hands. The overall look of the face is beautiful, silver with black, elegant accents. The only color used is the “SUN” in Sunday on the day wheel.

citizen-crystal-7-33 copy

The movement is the automatic (hand winding is also possible) 33 jewels Citizen cal 5204 ? , beating at 18,000 bph. It is a quick set date while the day changes by advancing the hourhand past midnight. It proved to be very good at time keeping; some people even say it is very close to Chronometer grade and Citizen Chronomaster line.

The strap is a replacement black leather Citizen strap with a simple stainless steel tang buckle. I think it fits the watch and adds to the overall elegant look.

Beautiful, elegant, classy day-date vintage Citizen.

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Citizen Chronomaster 500m Chronometer


This is THE holly grail of Citizen collectors! This is one of the most sought after vintage watches! This is my dream, my so long waited one and the answer of all my intensive searches!

People ask me where did I find it? I am going to tell you the story of finding this one.

I started collecting vintage Citizen a few years ago. (I write this article in 2015 February) I always loved divers and chronographs. The first watch I had as a kid was a blue Volkswagen quartz “diver”. I still have that one.  Then as time passed I found myself over my head into buying and selling, repairing and loosing money because of my passion, reading, writing, comparing and… you know… collecting. 🙂  I learned that there are fakes, aftermarket parts, interesting watches and common ones. I found out what I like and tried to let the other watches go. I learned not to buy only because it is a good price. I learned a lot and I am still learning. Then about two years ago a piece of information came to me. It seemed that there is a certain diver made in stainless steel, Chronomaster, 500m WR, Chronometer grade. So I started looking for one.  Sometimes I dreamed about it, sometimes I thought I found a lead but time after time,  it was just a mind trick. In all these years I searched for one each and every day. I found four so far. I bought one. The first one was sold as “junk” in Japan for USD 4.100. The second one I found online, on a watch forum, and has a replacement bezel and bezel insert and is not for sale. The third one, on facebook, has a replacement crown, bezel and bezel insert and non original strap and is nor for sale. The fourth one is my watch.

One month ago (2014 December) I was on a trip in Hong Kong and of course I had my share of watch hunting. So I found a vintage watch store that had an Alarm Citizen. I asked if they had any other Citizen and was told to return tomorrow. They will look for more in the back of the store. This is what I did. The next day I saw 5-6 watches and got myself THIS Citizen Leopard. I got the watch and went to dinner. Waiting for the food, I google searched the serial of the Leopard I just got. I might have entered the wrong digits because one among the images I found online showed a Citizen 500m. There was a new image that I didn’t see before. I clicked it. Imagine my surprise when I found that the Chronomaster was for sale in Japan, posted one day before! I tried to translate the page on my mobile and contacted the seller. They were not selling outside Japan. My world tumbled down! I wrote on my facebook page asking if maybe I have some friends from Japan. Eric said yes! So I wrote him. We never spoke before that day but now we are good friends. Thanks Eric! He said he was willing to buy the watch for me and send it my way. To make a long story short, I sent him the money, he contacted the site where the watch was sold, the site contacted the seller, the seller sent the watch to the site, the site said the watch is not ok and maybe they will cancel the transaction if they can’t solve it. The watch was running fast but I didn’t care. Eric said that if they don’t fix it they will not send it. I worried and I waited. What was I supposed to do? Nothing. It was not in my power. A few days later Eric had the watch! Then the watch was on the way to me. 🙂 Let me tell you that the original pictures of the watch were of a very poor quality and I had only a vague idea about what I was buying. Later I found out more information on the watch by talking directly to the seller. This was a very difficult task to achieve. Not easy to find the original owner, trust me on this one. 🙂 So, the only info I got is that the watch came from Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan. I hope I will find out more. (I found nothing more – 2017)

So this is what I got:  A huge 44mm one piece stainless steel case (uni body case – the movement comes out through the frontal part of the watch, after removing the crystal and the bezel of course), thick slightly domed mineral crystal, unidirectional 60 clicks bezel, screw in crown, rubber strap marvel! I got the whole package! One thing I found (June 2017) is that the eagle engraving on the back is not actually directly on the case but rather on a steel inlay (like the gold inlay used in the dress Chrono Master) I didn’t remove it but I am quite sure I am right. Anyway, back to the story. 🙂 My watchmaker opened the watch only to find a perfect movement as the one in THIS Chronomaster (but Chronometer grade – Citizen 5440). Everything works as it should! I am so happy!

Well… the hunt is over, the dream has come true, the wait was long. I am tired and so happy!

Thank you: Eric (Japan), Stephan (UK),  Jack (Singapore), Fred (Austria), Daniel (Germany) for all your contribution. You all have your part in making my dream come true! Thank you my friends!

Update 2016: Here is another one. 🙂 So I have two now. (Well… I sold one to have the money for the other Grail, the Glorious – 2017)

citizen 500m chrono master diver vintage

Update 2017: Hard to believe but I found another one for sale in Japan (the best condition I saw, really beautiful!) (pictures below and all credit for them to the seller – Kyotoya – Japan) This one was made in January 1969, the first production date I saw. Here it is:

Update July 2017  – I bought and instantly sold another one, the first serial January 1969, never polished, 100% original. Here it is:

Conclusion 2022 Oct:

In all the years of hunting these watches I saw only 27 pieces, in private collections or online. I had four of them. Putting together all the serials and details the conclusion so far is:

  • 12 of them are made in April 1969, 2 made in March 1969 and 6 are made in January 1969 (90100xxx) (I cant see the serial of the other 7 in order to date them)
  • there are two dial variations: “CHRONOMETER” & “Chronometer” Why?
  • the “Chronometer” variant has an aging yellow lume. The other remains more green.
  • the “Chronometer” lume is not consistent, the dial  lume could be more greenish, the hands more yellow and the seconds hand more brownish in the same watch. The bezel pip lume even more darker.
  • the April serials range is from about 90400420 up to about 90401130 (except the January 69 pieces, the first one being is 90100xx and the March ones) How do the last 5 digits of the Citizen serial actually work ?
  • the finishing of the case  – all brushing should be longitudinal, only on the top part of the case
  • they came on 20mm straight end Tropic straps (with Citizen signed buckle?)
  • there is one collector in Japan that has four pieces, I also had four but only two at the same time. I have one now.
  • based on some of my sources it seems the total number of watches produced is probably 500, (500 for 500m) most of them probably are thrown away in the trash. We tend to forget that back then watches were not as collectable as they are now.
  • the reason why they were made was because Citizen had something to prove, the reason they stopped making them is because they made the statement and proved it. They made the best diver. The rest is history.
  • no parts are available or will ever be available.
  • since the number of total watches I found kept rising over the years and it is over 25, I am safe to say this is NOT the most rare vintage Citizen diver.

Read more about how to open this unibody case watch HERE.

Read more about Citizen divers HERE.

Read about another ultra rare diver HERE the Citizen Super Auto Dater Professional – my favorite

Read about another HOLLY GRAIL watch, the Glorious, HERE.

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Citizen Shine Braille Watch 4-300017TA


Citizen goal was clear from the start: to have a watch made for everyone. Time telling involves looking at the hands position on the dial but because this is not always possible, a watch was needed for the visually impaired people, for those who are blind or don’t see that well, and for those who have no light during night hours. Maybe Citizen also thought about the military purpose when a light is not always possible to use, so a different solution was needed. This is just a rumor and I doubt it is true, but who knows?! Unfortunately the solution was not a minute repeater (I would have loved one!) Citizen launched the “Shine” model in 1960. An official press release states that in 1967 a number of 215 watches were donated to 29 different countries to help the blinds, as an effort to support the United Nation program of promoting friendship and world peace. In 1975, 45 years after the first ever Citizen was produced, the company donated 5,000 of these watches to all 10th to 12th graders visually impaired students in Japan.

citizen shine

Citizen Shine was the obvious answer for them! The name is somehow ironic because for an object to shine it needs light, but this model tells time without that. If it shines, it doesn’t shine for time telling!

The case (35mm/10mm), as well as the bracelet, is made in stainless steel, (second generation has a SS back but the case is metal based) the flat caseback snaps into position and the domed acrylic crystal covers the face. If this would have been made only for the blinds I feel that having a clear crystal would have been somehow an overkill. So, what makes it so interesting? Well, the main feature is the fact that on this model the crystal is hinged to the case and can be flipped open. On the earlier variant (it was first introduced in 1960, making it the fist Japanese watch for the blinds) the crystal flips vertically pulling it open, but later on (on this first image 1969 example) a push release button was added at 2 o’clock so that the crystal pops open when that button is pressed. This makes it more secure and doesn’t open by accident, only by pressing that button. Now, on the later one, the hinge is on the lateral side of the case. Both variants do that in order to facilitate access to the dial and hand. The purpose for this is that the wearer can touch the face of the watch and this way the time is read. The hands are strong, polished and obviously very different in shape. The dial has three raised dots at 12, two at 3, 6 and 9 and one for the remaining hours. At the earlier model the dots were applied. Maybe they changed that because the applied dots fell as a result of all the touching and this could have affected time telling. Or maybe because it was cheaper and easier to manufacture this simpler second generation dial. There is no seconds hand to interfere with time reading. This way, only by touching, one can know what time it is.

The calibre is a manual winding one, with 17 jewels.

The first model had a 17 jewels parashock movement (2s/910) too, a variant of the 17 jewels used in the Center Second, but without a seconds hand, obviously. (second image)

citizen shine blind

(the second image – pictures found on the net)

Update 2015 Oct. – I was lucky enough to find a NOS, first generation piece, made in 1960, the very first year of production, so here they are below, side by side. 🙂 As you can see the movements are different, the crystal part opens differently, the dials and the hands are also not the same.

citizen shine braile watch

All things considered, this is an interesting watch, with a lot of history. We must not forget how lucky we are and blessed with our health. Also helping others less fortunate should be something for all of us to consider when possible!

All the best my friends!

See the video of this watch HERE

Read more about Citizen history HERE.

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Underwater Diving Watches Quartz War


The Quartz Crisis, (also known as the Quartz Revolution), is a term used in the watchmaking industry to refer to the economic upheavals caused by the advent of quartz watches in the 1970s and early 1980s, which largely replaced mechanical watches. It caused a decline of the Swiss watchmaking industry, which chose to remain focused on traditional mechanical watches, while the majority of world watch production shifted to Asian companies that embraced the new technology.

On 25 December 1969, Seiko unveiled the quartz Astron, the world’s first quartz watch. The first Swiss quartz analog watch—the Ebauches SA Beta 21 containing the Beta 1 movement—arrived at the 1970 Basel Fair. The Beta 21 was released by numerous manufacturers including the Omega Electroquartz. On 6 May 1970, Hamilton introduced the Pulsar – the world’s first electronic digital watch. In 1974 Omega introduced the Omega Marine Chronometer, the first watch ever to be certified as a Marine Chronometer, accurate to 12 seconds per year using a quartz circuit that produces 2,400,000 vibrations per second.In 1976 Omega introduced the Omega Chrono-Quartz, the world first analogue/digital chronograph, which was succeeded within 12 months by the Calibre 1620, the company’s first completely LCD chronograph wristwatch.

quartz crisis Citizen divers(two prints from 1977 and 1979 of Citizen quartz and automatic diving watches side by side)

By 1978 quartz watches overtook mechanical watches in popularity, plunging the Swiss watch industry into crisis while at the same time strengthening both the Japanese and American watch industries.  As a result of the economic turmoil that ensued, many once profitable and famous Swiss watch houses became insolvent or disappeared. The period of time completely upset the Swiss watch industry both economically and psychologically. During the 1970s and early 1980s, technological upheavals i.e. the appearance of the quartz technology, and an otherwise difficult economic situation resulted in a reduction in the size of the Swiss watch industry. Between 1970 and 1988 Swiss watch employment fell from 90,000 to 28,000.(wikipedia)

At the same time Citizen was carrying it’s own war. Prior to this era the company was developing a lot of movements and interesting complications. Citizen production of quartz oscillators begun in March 1976 so the prints above are dating to the very heart of the war. Read more about Citizen history HERE.

So, who won?!

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His and hers Citizen alarm – diver style


Here is of my favorite vintage watches! What can I say, I love diving watches! Despite the fact that it is not a real diving one, it is made in this style and has an added bonus complication.

As one can clearly see, because is written on the black beautiful dial, in white lettering, this is an alarm watch, Citizen 63-7076. It is powered by the usual Citizen alarm date calibre, 3102 (engraved underneath the balance wheel). This is based on the USSR calibre AS 1475. It is a manual winding movement, with 21 jewels running at 18000 bph. The watch has two crowns , signed “C”. The top one is for setting and winding the alarm while the bottom one is for setting the time and date and also winding the movement.

citizen diver alarm 63-7076The entire case is made entirely in stainless steel, the bezel is bidirectional frictional type while the crystal is domed acrylic with a date magnifier on the outer surface. I enjoy the fact that the watch looks good on any kind of bracelet or strap you throw at it (nato, rubber, leather, mesh…) Of course it looks good on the Citizen bracelet too. 🙂 The caseback is snap on type and for the alarm can work it can be placed only in a certain way. The active part of the alarm from the movement engages the passive part (the pin) of the caseback only if the two parts fit as they are supposed to.

citizen alarm diverCitizen also made one for the ladies, so here are a few pictures I found online on e-bay posted by antiquewatches-de. This one is a smaller watch and doesn’t have a date (calibre 9812). The crowns are signed “CTZ”.

citizen alarm diverThis year, and the previous one, we saw a growing trend of “his and hers” watches, well Citizen did it so beautifully, 50 years ago! And such a beautiful vintage pair this is today!

Here is a video of another Citizen alarm with the same movement and this is how it sounds: 

https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2014/02/17/vintage-citizen-alarm-date-4h-alds51301a-y/

And this is another awesome his and hers real diving Citizen pair: 

https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2014/03/15/citizen-ladies-diver-150m-model-54-0919/

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Citizen Leopard 28800 4-720032TA


It is always nice to visit new places and when one of these places is Hong Kong there is no way that you should leave empty handed (pun intended). So, on a watch hunt I went. I talked to my friends from the city about the best places to find vintage watches around there and started roaming the streets. Little did I know that fate was going to prove that my hotel was perfectly positioned so, in the end, one thing leading to another, I found my dream watch only because I bought the one in this article (that is a another story to be told after I get THE watch in my possession). Back to the story, here is what I found:

citizen leopard 28800The interesting feature of this watch is the little word that describes, well… a big cat: the Leopard. The Leopard range is special due to the high beat movements. Some of them are 28,800 and some are 36,000 bph. This particular range of watches was introduced in about 1969 and only lasted for a few years, enough time for Citizen to make about 15-20 variations of Leopard movements based on 72xx and 77xx calibers. (as a side note: way too many variations and not enough DNA unfortunately) Also a great number of cases and designs were made so I am sure you can find a Leopard perfect for your taste. 🙂

This particular watch has a stainless steel polished cushion shaped case, a simple, smooth, polished bezel and a stainless steel case back. It was made in April 1974 (funny thing I have noticed – a lot of the Citizen watches I have/had were made in April). The quartz revolutions was about to change the watch world. Just think about the fact that Citizen today is the largest watch company based mostly on quartz, the very same quartz that almost killed what we love so much, the vintage mechanical Citizen watches. 😦 The dial is silver, simple, with a beautiful sunburst effect. The applied hour markers have a black line while the 12 o’clock one has two black lines. These black details work very well with the black hour and minute hands. The sweeping second hand is polished. The Citizen logo is also applied while the rest of the text is printed in black: “automatic, 28800, Leopard, 26 jewels”. One can easily understand from reading the dial that the movement inside is automatic with 26 jewels. On top of that it can also be winded by hand. The date is quick set while the day changes by advancing the hands past midnight. It is a hacking movement (the second hands stops when setting the time). The picture below is a part of the scans made by me of Citizen vintage catalogues.

Citizen leopard calibre 7200 36000

As a conclusion: beautiful watch and an interesting reminder of how fate works! 

Read more about Citizen Leopard 36000 here:

https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2014/11/22/citizen-leopard-36000/