Author: Citizen Guy

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Citizen Ace Parawater


One of the common lines Citizen made in the sixties is the Ace. They are rather common with simple design and movements. Some of them are more complex, with a higher number of Jewels and better movements, the Super Ace. The one I am presenting today is an elegant simple black dial one made in 1962. The Ace were made somewhere starting from 1961 up to about 1967.

citizen ace parawater

The case is simple, round, polished, with a snap in case back. It is made is stainless steel and so is the unsigned winding crown.    The dial is simple and elegant, glossy black, that looks like enamel. The hour markers are applied and all the hours are also marked with a luminous dot. The hands are polished and have luminous material to (except for the sweeping second hand). The marking on the dial is simple, white: “Citizen Ace Parawater, Para Shock 21 jewels”. Nothing fancy, just pure beauty.

The movement is hand winding, with 21 jewels running at 18,000 bph. It was also used in other models, with 21 or 23 jewels, with or without 3 position adjustments.

Bottom line, it is what it is, a simple, elegant, gorgeous watch with a reliable movement.

Read more about The Super Ace HERE. 

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Citizen Chronometer


One of the most beautiful vintage Citizen watches ever made is this one, the Citizen Chronomaster. They were made in stainless steel and gold filled cases (also solid gold). Mine is gold filled, as obviously seen in the pictures. citizen chronometer Some say it was born as an answer to Seiko’s Grand Seiko line. Others say it was made to demonstrate a point, that Citizen is capable of great things, so they constructed this awesome time piece, the best one! And it stands its grounds up to this day as both vintage and modern, classy and elegant, powerful watch no matter the reason it was made for in the first place. This model was launched in November 1962 and was produced for about 4-5 years. Being a Chronometer means it has a very high accuracy level, ranging from -1 to +10 s / day. The very large balance wheel and the fine adjustments along with the carefully designed and constructed movement proved it to be the best movement Citizen had at the time. The finishing is great too and even today I find it very pleasing to look at.  It is a hand winding movement (soon after this most of the watches were automatics) and runs at 18.000 bph while having a nice power reserve of about 53 hours. On Citizen page can be found a certificate (the picture below) that proves the quality of the watch, also I fond this solid gold marvel that sold for… over 16,000 USD! vintage citizen chronometerThe case on mine is gold filled (100 microns) and is rather large (and wears even larger) at 36mm diameter. This is mainly due to the large silver dial, small bezel and thick lugs. The crown is signed “C”. The dial is pure beauty, silver with a sunburst effect, with applied gold hour markers and black crisp markings. The three hands are also gold (plated?) The case back snaps on it’s place and is marked both on the outside and inside. The Eagle solid gold medallion is applied and makes the watch even more special. What else is to say? An awesome watch, a joy to wear and a bless to have!

Update Nov 2015:

I have managed to find pictures online with the entire package (not for one watch yet, but this collage is made from different puzzle pieces). So, here it is how the full package (box and papers) should have looked like:

citizen chronometer box papers

Next I will post a picture of the stainless steel one. 🙂

Update Dec 2015: And… here it is:

citizen chronometer stainless steel

And here it is with box and certificate:

citizen chronometer box and papers

Here it is the gold and SS version side by side, not a common sight, is it? 🙂

Awesome piece! So proud to have them!

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Citizen center second


Sometimes less is more and this is true when talking about this watch, the first Citizen equipped with a central sweeping hand and not the usual (at that time) eccentric seconds. Starting with this model most of the following watches were like this, without small seconds. So, it was an important milestone in watchmaking.

citizen center secondThe “Center Second” came in many versions, and even a solid gold one, and a total of 6-7 generations for about 10 years. The first one was produced in 1948. All of them were running at 18,000 bph and came  equipped with 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17 and even 19 jewels. The Center Seconds are non-hacking and don’t have a date complication. During this time they became water protected and starting from 1956 they had the Citizen Parashock system installed.

The first watch presented here is ParaShock and Water Protected and is made in about 1961. The case back is SS and screws in even though most of them had snap on case backs.  I love the simplicity of the pale white dial with gold accents! The Citizen “C” logo at 12, the hour markers and the hands are all golden while all the rest of the marking are printed in black.

Here are a few pictures from catalogues showing different calibres:

citizen center second

The Center Second had a lot of variations so you can find interesting dial designs, case shapes, hands… etc..  like this beautiful NOS Citizen Junior Center Seconds. (pictures belong to the online seller)

And here it is in a pocket watch form, with original chain attached: citizen pocket watch center secondBottom line, it is an important watch in the Citizen history and a great elegant timepiece itself. Every collector should have one.

Read about more simple Citizen watches HERE.

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Citizen automatic skeleton


The Citizen world is a diverse, marvelous place, with divers, chronographs, Leopards, Jet movements, and Chrono Masters and a lot of interesting models. How can anyone not have a skeleton? Well… here it is, one of the interesting ’70s Citizen watches.

citizen automatic skeleton

A large round black case and a skeleton movement, display back and a lot of black and gold accents. It is all about the looks! This watches were first produced in 1971, this particular one being from 1973. The design of the case is the usual one for the period and so is the fact that the case is black. In fact Citizen made a relatively large amount of black cases in the early ’70s. They also designed a lot of beautiful dials and even made watches without one, just like this one. 🙂 Not having a dial doesn’t mean it is an ugly watch but a very interesting one to look at. You can see the movement, the way the crown connects and operates the movement through the stem and flipping the watch over the surprise is that there is a display back so the rotor is in plain sight. The balance wheel is visible through both sides. The entire movement was modified so that all these component can be observed and some parts were blackened and others were given a golden look. I find this color scheme very fortunate.

Some people may like it, others will stick with the more conservative look, with watches having a dial, but no one could argue the fact that this is an interesting watch to wear and look at. Some models were made in stainless steel cases, gold plated or, like this one, black plated ones. At first the Citizen name was stamped on the movement (cal 7290) and later on moved at 6 o clock, on the minute ring (8060). Some of them came with luminous material on the hands, others without. The second hand might be simple, as mine, or might have a luminous dot at the tip. And sometimes it also can be painted red.

The early type movement used was Citizen cal 7290, like mine, with hacking seconds, 21,600 bph. The second movement was the 8060 calibre, 28,800 bph.

Update Dec 2015: Here is my stainless steel one:

citizen skeleton vintage automatic steel

Bottom line, an interesting watch, with a lot of models to chose the favorite from.

Read more about the Leopard watch with a display back HERE.

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Citizen Alarm 4H (4 hands) 17 Jewels Parashock


If we talk about beautiful dials, this watch should not be overlooked. And on top of all that beauty, it is the loudest alarm I’ve heard. 🙂

Here it is: the 1963 Citizen Alarm 4H (four hands) 17 jewels Parashock!

Citizen alarm 4H parashock 17 jewels

As usual, the watch is made in a polished stainless steel case, but as a novelty, it has not one but two case backs. The reason for this is that the inner one that snaps into a precise place, has a pin that is the passive part of the alarm. The hammer part of the movement hits the pin that is attached to this case back and produces the loud, powerful sound. Above this there is an outer one that has 6 round holes to allow the sound to exit more easily. This piece sits on the back of the watch without touching the inner case back so that that one can vibrate without the pressure of the wrist. Imagine a bell; if you touch it when it is ringing it wont vibrate and will stop. Holding it by the handle, all is going to be just fine. It it the same with this watch.

The movement is the Citizen calibre hand winding 9812 (no date), 17 Jewels working at the usual rate of 18000 bph. The crowns are one for setting time and winding the main spring and the one for operating the alarm. The crown at 2 o’clock in first position is winding the alarm and the alarm is deactivated. If you pull it in the second position you can set the alarm (counterclockwise) and the alarm is activated. Pressing it while the alarm is ringing will stop it. The crown at 4 will wind the watch and pulling it out will set the time. The alarm will ring for about 8-9 seconds. The movement has a power reserve of about 40 hours and it runs great if winding once a day. It is marked Parashock.

Finally, lets talk about the way it looks! The 4 hands are polished and so are the hour markers. The dial is made out of two parts, a silver central one with a sunburst effect and an outer disk that sits higher that the central part. This outer disk has a central circular polished groove. On top of this groove are the hour markers, shaped as tiny bridges.

UPDATE 2018 March: Here it is a NOS,  box, tags and booklet gold plated version: 

Bottom line, it is a  beautiful, loud, understated Citizen marvel, a joy to look at and a pleasure to listen to, ticking and ringing.

See the video and listen to this watch HERE! Enjoy!

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VIDEO – Citizen Alarm 4H 17 Jewels Parashock


One of the most beautiful dials ever and a really loud powerful sound! 🙂

Enjoy!

Read more about this watch HERE!

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Citizen Jet Para Water Professional


I was and I still am intrigued by the fact that the lume on Citizen watches doesn’t seem to age like the one on Omega or Rolex or other collectable brands. In fact I lusted for an aged, yellow-brown lume for some time now, on a vintage Citizen and was not able to find a good one. They are either perfect green like new, or, on not well preserved pieces, dirty. It made no sense to me. How can I get a nice patina dial? Finally my dream came true with this awesome timepiece!

The Citizen Jet Para Water Professional

Inside the case back the model no reads: JTI30705I

citizen jet parawater professional

This watch was made in 1962 soon after the introduction of the first water resistant Japanese watch: the Parawater. It also has the Professional label, a rare clasp, a Jet movement and an awesome case back engraving. This was an age when watches had a practical use and not the jewelry that they (sometimes) are today.

The case is made entirely in SS, it is about 37mm and has a simple dial, three hands and no date. The lug hols make changing the original SS bracelet changes so easy! In fact this is a watch that looks good no matter what strap you throw at it: nato, mesh, leather, even rubber. The winding crown is also SS and it is unsigned. At first sight it is very similar with the Parawater I told you about, but this one is not made for water use, but for aviation?. An indication of the link to the aviation is the Jet airplane engraving on the back and the Professional label on the dial. Also a Jet logo is printed on the dial too (Jet movement). In fact the dial has 12, 3, 6 and 9 printed, and the markings: “Citizen Jet, Para Water, Professional”. The hour markers are trapezoidal,  raised and polished. They are filled with (now) the beautifully aged luminous material and so are the matching dauphine hands. All things considered it is a beautiful, simple, balanced face that I like a lot! I have seen very few examples of this model and some of them have an arrow shaped hour hand and a thicker minute one with a flat tip.

The movement is the usual Jet movement with a circular swinging rotor. It runs at 18,000bph as all of them do. This one is the first one made, launched a few months earlier, in October 1961. My watch in made (3-4 months later) in March 1962. It is an automatic (hand winding also possible) with non hacking sweeping central seconds hand. It is called Citizen calibre 3010, Jet movement, and was the first movement that Citizen produced in relatively high numbers. The interesting fact about the rotor is that in earlier types it is marked “Automatic” rather than the usual “Autodater”. The date was added a year later, and so did the name “Autodater”.

And to add to the story… the clasp is marked: “Easy-O-Matic, Citizen Band, Pat.Pend. Stainless Steel” making it even more interesting if that was even possible. 🙂

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Citizen auto Dater UNI – ADUS31201-T


It may not be a real diver but what a gorgeous watch it is! It was made in 1964, just 5 years after the introduction of the first Japanese water resistant watch, the Parawater, and about one year prior to the first real diving watch made by Citizen.

Let me introduce to you the Citizen auto Dater UNI reference ADUS31201-T

citizen autodater uni

The main feature of the watch is the fact that it is a twin crown, similar in appearance with a compressor. The upper crown, located at 2 o’clock, operates the inner bidirectional rotating bezel. By contrast, the lower crown located at 4 o’clock winds the movement and sets the time. The case is made entirely in polished stainless steel and measures about 38mm. The Tropic strap is 18mm at the lugs end and is secured in place by pins that can be easily removed due to the holes in the lugs (a feature that I like a lot in vintage watches). Hopefully one day I will find one on original bracelet. Will see.

The domed acrylic crystal protects the beautiful face. The dial is silver, having a sunburst effect. The doubled hour markers are polished and applied. The black elegant lettering are printed and so is the “40M” blue para water feature. The dauphine hands are polished and the hour and minute one have a central luminous part. The inner black rotating bezel has white printing and luminous material markers. On the dial itself the hours are marked with luminous dots too; all except the one at 3 where the date is. The date window has no frame but instead a beveled edge. The dates are printed in black on a white date wheel. I just love the way it looks! It is one of those beautiful watches, elegant and easy to wear.

citizen uni cal 2400 auto dater

The snap in case back is engraved “Para water,  Star, SS, Citizen auto Dater, UNI, ADUS31201-T” and the serial no. Strangely Citizen decided to mark them with the production date and so did they do it on older ones but not on their first divers. 😦 I wish I could say for sure when the first real diver made by Citizen was manufactured. Under the case back we have the automatic (hand winding also possible) Citizen 19 jewels movement, cal 2400. In the early till mid 1960’s Citizen used its own circular geared rotor (Jet rotor movements) in its automatic watches.  In 1963 they began replacing the Jet rotor with the more common oscillating weight, which, some say it was cheaper to manufacture and more easily to service than the Jet rotor. The first model to use the swinging weight was known as the “Uniauto” (cal 1200) and came in several versions, all with a special logo on the dial and in 17 or 19 jeweled versions. This watch, presented here, has the logo on the inner bezel at 12. It works at 18,000bph. The date changes by advancing the hour hand past midnight. The seconds hand do not hack.

Still I have to find out why is it called “UNI”?

UPDATE 2019 JUNE (5 years later)

I sold my UNI, the one in the picture above, a while ago and since then I was looking for another one, and as you already know me, I am always trying to get the best condition, NOS and mint if possible. Well… with UNI this was not an easy search. It took me a few good years, but I finally nailed it yesterday with Eric’s help! (Happy birthday my friend!) Here it is, my new UNI: (the picture credit goes to the seller, I am still waiting for my beautiful watch to get in my hands, really soon I hope) As you can see it is NOS, on a bracelet and comes with the original box! I am really happy about it!

How I wish Citizen will go vintage style again! Who knows, maybe one day…

And one more pic:

UPDATE 2021 Oct:

I was following an auction of a rare variant, black dial one, and it sold at a high price. It was to be expected because it is really rare and rare usually means money. I don’t like it as much as the variant I have and it was not NOS so I didn’t bid. But… what an awesome piece!

citizen uni black dial

Meanwhile, read more about a different diver compressor style vintage Citizen here.

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Citizen Super Ace 23 Jewels 40m


Well, apart from what is written on the dial there is not much info I have about this watch. It is part of the larger Ace family but, of course, it is Super. 🙂 The Super Ace. I date this one around 1966 – 1968 though I have no definitive answer regarding the manufacture date.

citizen super ace

First of all I notice the striking aspect of the watch, very modern, and gorgeous on the wist at 38mm diameter. Perfect size, no date, very balanced dial. The entire stainless steel case is polished. The mineral crystal is slightly domed and perfect, with very low unwanted reflections. The dial is a work of art: clean, harmonious, with the applied eagle medallion at 12 and well designed hour markers. The hands are a masterpiece. They have a beautiful shape, made in stainless steel, and are faceted, brushed (on the top part) and beveled, with polished sides and angles. The seconds hand is entirely polished. They remind me of the way Seiko finishes their Grand Seiko, and that is something for such an old watch! The finish of the dial has longitudinal brushed appearance and looks varnished. The elegant printing on the dial is black and it has no luminous material, nor do the hands. This must be one of the best faces Citizen has made!

citizen super ace

The caseback is engraved: SACS51301-D, Water Proof, Stainless Steel, and in the middle the profile of a man wearing a helmet (it he a diver, an astronaut or a medieval cavaler… I don’t know and I still have to find out). Either way, this is a rare out of the ordinary caseback. The winding crown is made in stainless steel too and marked CTZ.

The movement is gold plated, manual winding, non hacking seconds, specially adjusted one. It has 23 jewels and is marked Citizen Super Ace. It is the Citizen calibre  SACS 9240? and beats at 18,000bph.

Here it how the papers look like:

citizen-super-ace

Questions to be answered:

  1. when was it made?
  2. what more info are available on the Eagle logo on the dial?
  3. what is the engraving on the back?

All things considered I have to declare this, not the best but definitely one of the best looking vintage Citizen watches. Also wearing it is a joy.

Read more about the black dialed Citizen 21J Ace HERE.

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Citizen Auto Dater 200m, the Skin Diver


Could this be the first real diver made by Citizen? Well.. maybe it is this one, maybe it is the 120m (that for sure I will write about in the future – read about it HERE). Either way, it is one of the first and what a beautiful watch it is! citizen autodater 200m skin diver The first thing I noticed about this is the “skin diver” engraving on the back, making it really special at 200m (para200mwater). It is the only diver Citizen made with 200m water resistance. The screw retained case back is not marked with a serial no, so unfortunately the date of manufacture is impossible to accurately determine. Because the watch is powered by the Citizen cal 1120 jet movement, and taking other aspects into consideration we can assume it was made somewhere around 1962-1965. The case is made entirely in stainless steel, having the top part brushed in a circular pattern while the rest is polished, with integrated lugs. The Tropic strap dimension is 19mm and is the perfect match for a skin diver. The frictional bidirectional bezel is a one piece design (no bezel insert) and painted black. Because of a lot of usage the edge becomes silver as the paint is slowly being worn away. After all it is a 50 years old tool watch that was used as Citizen intended it to be. On 12 it has a luminous dot, not the usual triangle. An interesting feature of the watch is the fact that the bezel is a count down type, starting from 60 and going down: 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 0, not the other way around as usual. Each minute is marked with a dot. The dial is painted in a beautiful glossy black with integrated hour markers that are polished. Wonderful design of the markers and the hands. On 3 there is the date window, that has a polished frame too. Citizen made the date reading better by providing an acrylic crystal with an outer date magnifier. The winding crown is not signed and operates the movement. It is not a screw in type. Although the Citizen jet movement 1120 ( 21 jewels )  is an automatic one it can be winded by hand too. This is done in the first position of the crown. In the second position the time can be set. The seconds do not hack and there is no quick set date. The date changes by advancing the hour hand past midnight.

One very rare variation of the skin diver is the silver dial one with gold accents (bezel, hour markers and hands). By contrast this one has a “normal” bezel counting up not down as the black version. I have yet to find another, or a catalog picture, to be sure this is all 100% original. (Stephen provided another picture of a similar one but without a bezel so it seems it must be legit. Thank you! ) Update: Both variants are now a part of my collection. The silver dialed one is on original rubber bracelet with Citizen golden buckle.

autodater citizen skin diver 200m

All things considered, black or silver, this is a beautiful, rare, awesome diver that has it’s own place in Citizen history, and ofcourse, in my collection. 🙂 Read more about other Citizen divers HERE.

Read more about the first Citizen diver, the Jet Autodater 120m, HERE.