automatic citizen chronograph

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1974 Citizen Chronograph Print


One lucky find was this page from Auto Motor Sport magazine from 1974.

It says “Citizen Chronograph Automatic” and “A lot of precision for the money (at this price)”. So, we have a racing automatic chronograph that is not too expensive and still very precise. The race on! These are the designs that were used at the time. My favorites are not here (The Walter Wolf and the Octagon bullhead).

On the other side of the page we have a red Ferrari Testa Rossa. 😉

Enjoy the print!

Citizen chronograph automatic

The watches wit only one sub-dial are powered by Citizen calibre 8100A  and the others (with 2 sub-dials) by Citizen calibre 8110A

The next models are represented, with their prices in DM at the time (year 1974).

  1. 67-9011 (DM 355)
  2. 67-9631 (DM 298)
  3. 67-9577 (DM 278)
  4. 67-9038 (DM 325)
  5. 67-9071 (DM 348)

Read more about Vintage Citizen Chronographs here:

https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/chronograph-vcw/

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Citizen 8100 Chronograph 67-9151 Restoration


One of my favorite Citizen chronographs is the 67-9151 model. I wrote before about a custom project based on this model HERE.

This time I will write about the all original one.

The watch was found in a bad shape, really scratched and dirty.  But even underneath that scratched crystal there could be easily observed the beautiful original green dial. For this model there are available only three dial variations, as seen in the catalog picture below.  The caseback was never removed in the past 30 years. The movement stopped a long time ago and the pushers were not moving.

citizen-67-9151

The restoration process started by removing the caseback and the dedicated bracelet. The design of the stainless steel bracelet fits the  octagonal watch case perfectly being made for this model only. After removing the bracelet and the clasp, it was time for the movement to come out.

The calibre 8110A was serviced and now it is running strongly, as it should. It is a flyback mechanism and features a day – date complication too. It is an automatic movement,  with 23 jewls and 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 fly back function. The fly back function means that you can reset the chronograph while in motion and it will start again without needing to go the entire process of pressing stop-reset-start. So, one push can do all of this. A particularity for this movement is that when you want to change the day you should pull the crown to second position (for changing the date) and push and release the reset (1 o’clock) button.  The column wheel/vertical clutch design of the movement advices to leave the chronograph running for most of the time (this way you can also see the beautiful sweeping central second hand in movement), but from time to time it should be stopped.

citizen 67-9151 chrono

The dial is the main attraction of the watch, and that says something about it. The overall sharp, angular shape of the watch is mirrored in the mesmerising details. The green color is not plain at all but lighter and shinier in the centre and darker at the 3 and 9 sides. The chronograph sub-dials are hexagonal with 3 variations: yellow-white, yellow-orange and all yellow.  The seconds hand for the all yellow version is yellow too while for the other two is orange.

vintage citizen chronograph 8110

At the end of the restoration we have a newly brushed/polished strap and case, fully functional movement, and a new mineral crystal. What a beautiful watch!

Read more about Citizen chronographs on this page:

https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/chronograph-vcw/

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How to spot a Fake dial – Citizen Bullhead 67-9356


One of the most replicated (so called “aftermarket”) dials for vintage Citizen watches is the dial for the wellknown “bullhead” chronograph. The original bullhead dial, the one with an octagonal SS case is either black with white sub-dials or white with black sub-dials. If you see one with a different color, for sure, it is not original. Sometimes you can find one that looks just the way it should, but let’s wait a minute. Let’t put on the magnifier and compare the original dial with the fake one.

I have posted two photos. The fake dial is the one where you can see the entire watch, on the left,  all the details are from an original dial, on the right. Click on the pictures1 to magnify them.

In the first picture we can clearly see:

Citizen Bullhead fake aftermarket dial

1 – the “500” is not where is supposed to be on the fake one. It is miss-placed at the 38th marker, not at the 36th, as it should be.

2 – the “TACHYMETER” writing on the aftermarket one is too long (this is why the “500” is misplaced too) and the second “T” on the fake one is after the 1 o’clock hour marker as for the real one the “T” is before the hour marker.

3 – the applied hour markers should have two levels, on the lower level is the luminous dot. On the fake dial the hour marker is flat, without this particularity.

4 – the markings are not correct on the fake one

5 – the sub-dials (minute and hours) should be carefully made (with a nice concentric pattern) and nor shiny

6 – The tachymeter scale numbers are not allowed to touch the other lines printed on the dial. The execution lack finesse at the fake dial.

The second picture: 

Original dial for Citizen Bullhead and fake aftermarket dial

1 – the “Chronograph” and “automatic” are better centered at the original part

2 – the applied “Citizen” logo has better quality on the real dial

3 – there should be more space between the “Chronograph” and “Automatic” on the original

4 – the overall printing is way better at the original Citizen dial and a direct comparison under magnification will make it all crystal clear

For sure there are other mistakes too but these are the obvious ones.

As a conclusion, I suggest that any buyer and Vintage Citizen Collector should take it’s time (and the magnification) and not waste all this money on fake watches. Remember that “Aftermarket” means “Fake”. 

read more about this chronograph watch  here:

https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2013/12/24/citizen-bullhead-chronograph-67-9356/