citizen diamond flake

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Choosing the perfect watch for Baselworld 2018


In just a few days I will be at Citizen’s 100th Anniversary Party at Baselworld. Proud to be invited at this special, once in a lifetime, event. So… which watch should I wear?   I have to take so many aspects into consideration when making this decision: first of all, it should be an important watch in Citizen’s history, a rare one, a cool conversation piece, one of my best… Also, I have to think about the way I dress, about the over 12 hours drive to Basel, the weather maybe? Hm…. Tough choice! 

In order to decide I created a POLL on Vintage Citizen Watches Facebook group and here it is what my friends think I should wear:

Third place: The Citizen Glorious

The 1971 Glorious is one of the rarest and most appreciated Vintage Citizen Watches. It is not called “Glorious” for nothing. At the time of its launch it had one of the most precise and accurate movements in the world, and many say it was a lot better than the direct competitor: the best of Grand Seiko line. Awesome 36,000 bph movement, no doubt about it, perfect SS case finishing, NOS, a pride to have in such condition. Does it get any better? I would love to have it with me at Baselworld!

Second place: The Citizen Diamond Flake

The 1962 DF is so much more than a beautiful watch. It was, at the time of its first appearance, the thinnest three hands watch movement in the entire world, at only 2,75mm! This is the ultimate dress watch: thin, elegant, no date, no lume, manual wind movement, silver dial and…. let’s not forget that my example is made of solid white gold!  Talk about class! What better choice for a formal Citizen party?

First place: The Citizen Chrono Master 500m

This in my Holly Grail, one of my pride and joy watches, the 1969 beast diver! The best of the best! Would I strap this on my wrist, hell yeah! Is it a good watch to wear with a suit? Maybe it is not, but look at it, read about it and wear it! I wrote a lot about this awesome watch and no more words are needed, this is the “to go to” watch at any Citizen get together. But is it the best option for this occasion? My Facebook friends think so and this is still to be decided in the next day.

And a special mention, on of my favorites:  THE Shokosha Citizen 

Somehow this simple pocket watch went under the radar but think about it, after all it is the 100th Citizen anniversary and the watch that started it all, the first, the one to be celebrated here is in fact this one, the one and only, THE CITIZEN. So why not more votes for this one? I would vote for it and in fact I will right now and give it a chance!

The battle is on and one of these will go the 2018 Baselworld  for the 100th year anniversary party. So… which one should it be?

Will keep you updated. 😉

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Diamond Flake, Diamond Flake Date, Flake Date


Diamond Flake… yes… the famous Citizen Diamond Flake (DF) had two younger brothers, the Diamond Flake Date (DFD) and the Flake Date (FD). The older, well known brother held the record of the worlds thinnest three hands watch, with a a movement as thin as 2.75 mm. Now, that is slim indeed! Citizen named this calibre 0700 and had 25 jewels and was gold plated.

citizen diamond flake dateAll three of them are made of stainless steel and are powered by the same base manual wind movement. The crystal is acrylic and the dial is simple and elegant for all of them. Obviously the DFD and FD have a date complication that adds some thickness to the overall appearance of the watch. This can be easily seen in the picture below.

citizen diamond flake, date flake

The shape of the lugs and the lugs width are also different. The crowns are similar and are not signed. On top of the added date, the youngest of the three are also marked Parawater for 40m.

diamond flake, diamond flake date, date flake

The case backs give clear indication to their age: 1963, 1964, 1966. The middle one had a beautiful diver engraving (the Parawater logo, not an indication that you should take it diving). The movements look almost identical but the third one is no longer gold plated and it only has 22 jewels.  The first one is Citizen calibre 0700, the second calibre 2700 while the last one is the calibre 2710 and it is no longer marked Diamond Flake. They all run at 18,000 bph.

citizen diamond flake thin watch diamond flake date flake

All three are beautiful watches, simple and elegant and a nice addition to any Citizen collection. Even though the DF is the famous one, the youngest two (DFD and FD) are more rare and more difficult to find in a good condition.

If you want to read more about the oldest one, the DF, click HERE.

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Citizen Date Flake


Yes, it is called Flake but it is not the same with the Diamond Flake that I wrote about HERE. This one is thin indeed, but because it has a date feature it is not the thinnest. Either way, it is a beautiful simple watch.

citizen flake date

This model was made in the mid 1960’s, and mine is from 1966. It comes on a bracelet and is made entirely of stainless steel. The dial is simple, with applied polished hour markers and a date window at 3 o’clock. Nothing fancy about it, just one honest, clean, timepiece. The movement, calibre 2710,  is a hand winding one and has 22 jewels. There is one more version, the Diamond Flake Date that has 25 jewels. I will write about that one later. 🙂

Read about the three brothers: Citizen Diamond Flake, Citizen Diamond Flake Date and Citizen Date Flake, HERE.

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Vintage Citizen Diamond Flake – World’s thinnest watch


What is so special about this one? 

Is it made with diamonds? No. Than what?

Citizen Diamond Flake

The case is made in fact of stainless steel and is really elegant. This is how a suit wrist watch should be like. Simple, 3 hands, white dial, manual wind. Back to the case, we can see that it is really, really thin. In fact it is called Diamond Flake because at the time it was the thinest watch with 3 hands (about 7 mm thickness and 38mm diameter, with a really nice wrist presence and appears larger). In August 1962 it was the world’s thinnest 3 hands watch developed. The acrylic crystal is slightly domed making it thicker. The winding crown is small but easy to operate, not signed. On the case back it is marked with the model, serial no. (dating this watch February ’63, that means it is one of the early production).

The dial is very simple, silver, with a sunburst effect. The hour markers are applied and both the hour markers and the hands are polished without luminous material. It is marked: ” Citizen Diamond Flake” and “Parashock 25 jewels”. At 12 o clock there is the Diamond Flake logo.

Citizen Diamond Flakecitizen diamond flaThe movement is a piece of art named Citizen Calibre 0700. I love the way that it is gold plated.  At the time the race for slimmer watches was on and having a thin movement was a must. Well, this one was the champion. It is only 2.7mm, 0.2mm thinner than the competitor Seiko Gold Feather. The calibre 0700 has 25 Jewels (calibre 0701 had 31 jewels). Later on a date was added to the 25 jewels movement and this how Citizen calibre 2700 was born.

The strap is a vintage Citizen brown leather one, with a stainless steel buckle. I think it compliments the watch nicely and adds something to the overall appeal of the watch.

Pocket watch diamond flake

The watch can also be found (not easy, but it can de found – I did it) in a pocket watch form. Here it is, with original chain. Same beautiful movement in a large case, with an acrylic crystal.

Conclusion – some might say that this is the ultimate elegant watch, some might say it the perfect suit one, but no one argues the fact that it has it’s well defined place in history as a champion of it’s own time.

The world’s thinnest 3 hands watch developed

Competition for thin movement at that time :

1958 -Citizen Deluxe               – 3.65
1960 – Seiko Liner                    – 3.35
1961 – Citizen Hi-Line              – 3.25
1960 – Seiko GoldFeather       – 2.95
1962 – Citizen DiamondFlake – 2.75

Update: I also found (pictures from the seller) a black dialed one (still not sure if original or repainted dial) in a gold plated case. The dial on this one is marked Parawater.

citizen diamond flake parawater

Update 2017: We can’t really argue on the fact that this model is one of the best dress watches, isn’t it? Having it made of solid White Gold I guess it makes it even better. Is it perfect this way? I don’t know but it is a real beauty. Well… here it is so let me introduce to you, the pure awesome, the best of the best, my keeper,  THE WG DIAMOND FLAKE! At the time the price was 40,000 JPY, and that was expensive!

Read about the three brothers: Citizen Diamond Flake, Citizen Diamond Flake Date and Citizen Date Flake, HERE.