Citizen Alarm Watch

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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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Vintage Citizen alarm date 67-7050


Let me show you my first vintage Citizen Alarm Watch. 

This is the stainless steel model, the Citizen reference 67-7050, and it is really loud!

Screen Shot 2013-12-25 at 23.04.21One of severals designs that is used by Citizen to fill the gap for alarm watches. This one is my favorite (I will write about some other models), with a blue sunburst dial, the cushion shaped case and this particular vintage bracelet. I love the sound of it, i love the feeling when I wear it and it vibrates. I often set the alarm just for the pure pleasure of hearing it.

The case is, as usual, made of stainless steel, with a polished frontal part and brushed sides, in a sunburst pattern. It is a relatively large watch with a nice wrist presence. The bezel is spectacular, with a combination of polished raised areas and sandblasted lowered square areas. It accommodates two crowns, one for setting the alarm and one for setting the time and date. The crystal is acrylic,domed, with a magnifier for the date.

The dial is the most beautiful part of this watch, bright blue, with a sunburst pattern, white (handwritten characters) writing. There is an outer black ring that has the hour markers, with luminous material (still working today).  The date window (red digits) is a t 3 o’clock, inside a painted white frame. The hands are simple, with a luminous part at the extremities, and the alarm is shaped as an arrow with a triangle inside a circle tip. The dial is bouncing the light in so many different ways that you have to see it in person to fully appreciate the entire beauty and finish.

citizen alarm vintageThe movement used is a handwound movement, based on the famous USSR calibre AS 1475.  There are the calibres 3100 and 3102 (date), 21 Jewels, 18000 bph. This one is the Citizen calibre 3102. The crowns are for the time and the other for 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 13-16 seconds.

The bracelet is shared with other vintage Citizen models but has an interesting design with curved large perforated links.  Nothing much to say about it, but for sure it is well integrated in the general watch design. The clasp is stainless steel, signed (as usual).  

citizen alarm calibre 3102

The box is small, made of plastic and looks like this. It is very rare for a watch to be found with it’s box after all these years.

Screen Shot 2014-02-17 at 16.41.17

Conclusion: Beautiful design, beautiful dial, loud sound.  A true vintage timepiece with an alarm complication.