One of the most beautiful dials ever and a really loud powerful sound! 🙂
Enjoy!
Read more about this watch HERE!
parashock
VIDEO – Citizen Recordmaster Chronograph 63-0110
The only hand winding vintage Citizen movement is the calibre 5702. This movement is found in the Recordmaster, the watch presented in the video. Wonderful piece, with fly back mechanism.
Read the full article about this particular watch here:
https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2014/02/23/citizen-recordmaster-chronograph-63-0110/
Read more about vintage Citizen (manual and automatic) chronographs here:
https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/chronograph-vcw/
Enjoy! 🙂
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Citizen compressor diver – Seven Star 4-520017Y
Let me introduce to you a beautiful, NOS, vintage compressor style diver that has just the right amount of pure class.
A compressor case is defined by the fact that the rotating bezel is inside the case, under the crystal and it is turned by one of the crowns, rather than directly by hand. Gary, a reader, provided a piece of information about Compressor cases that I would love to share with you:
“These are beautful watches and I enjoyed reading about them but I must correct your assumption that they are compressor watches. Its a common misconception that if a watch has two crowns and an internal bezel, it must be a supercompressor but infact Compressor and Super Compressor watches are defines by the company which made the cases and held a patent for their design. These cases were made by the specialist manufacturer Ervin Piquerez S.A. of Switzerland. No Japanese manufacturer used EPSA Compressor cases. Information about Compressor cases is not hard to find. The link below shows the three types of Compressor case, including the Super Compressor from which your Citizen watches are inspired. True Super Compressors are typically identified by a crossed hatched design on the crowns, a diver helmet logo on the case back or inside the case back, but always, they have the brevet (patent) number on or inside the case back. http://wornandwound.com/2014/03/24/guide-super-compressors/”
NOS means New Old Stock – a watch that was not worn and it is in excelent condition after all this time (45 years old).
Just like the other compressor diver I have presented here : https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2014/01/18/vintage-citizen-compressor-diver-4-520343-y/, this one is also made in 1969. By contrast, this one has a more classy, elegant appearance.
The case is large, made in polished stainless steel, with a brushed frontal surface. Looking at it from the side, the case seams slender, thick in the middle, and arching down all the way to the end of the integrated lugs. The mineral crystal is slightly domed in order to be better integrated in the overall design. The crystal is secured by a thin, polished, elegant bezel. The sides and the frontal surface are well delimitated by a carefully made polished chamfer. The twin crowns are not signed. One of then, the upper one, turns the bidirectional internal bezel and the other one is connected to the movement. The case-back displays the usual information – material, date of manufacture, model, movement, and parawater. Read about parawater here: https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2013/12/26/citizen-parawater-citizen-parashock/
The dial is dark-deep black, very simple but not simplistic at all. Under magnification one can see that a lot of attention was placed into details. The writing is white, also on the black date and the black day wheels. The date is on 3 o clock inside a polished frame and the day is at 9 inside an oval, carefully made window. The only tint of color is the lettering for Sunday. The inner rotating bezel is also black with white writing. The hour markers are applied with luminous material in the center. The hands are also polished, faceted with luminous material as well.
The movement is the usual automatic Citizen calibre 5270, with 21 jewels. The calibre number is engraved, as usual, under the balance wheel. It is winded by a black rotor that compliments the dial on the other side in a fortunate manner. It is a common movement used in a variety of models, not only divers making it rather easy to repair with available parts. It is reliable and offers hand winding possibility. The date changes in the second position of the winding crown (first position for winding, third for time setting) but the day changes only by passing midnight with the hands. The corespondent crown for the movement is the one at 4 o ‘clock.
The bracelet is nothing less than a piece of art. I think this is my favorite Citizen design. It is made in solid steel, three thin polished connectors and brushed large links. It doesn’t get better than this! It has a pleasant tactile feel and a nice weight. One more thing that can not be described into words is the sound of the links touching each other… pure music. The clasp is the usual type, signed Citizen.
Al things considered, this is the best diver for a gentleman, ready to be worn at the beach or with a suit during a corporate meeting. Decent water resistance (nor really made for submerging, but good enough for daily jobs) and understated elegance placed together for one of the best Vintage Citizen All-rounder.
Read more about Citizen diving watches here: https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/diver-vcw/
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Citizen Recordmaster Sportsmaster Chronograph
Looking back at 1970 I see a world that started focusing it’s attention on automatic chronographs while at almost the same time, the quartz revolution is about to play it’s role, somehow stopping, or at least slowing down, the mechanical movement development. This Citizen model was introduced in 1967 and was produced for only 5 years.
The Recordmaster is a beautiful piece, a real column wheel flyback chronograph, with a hand winding movement. It counts only up to one minute elapsed time but in such a memorable way!
The case is classic, made in stainless steel, 36 mm wide. It has an elegant case, entirely polished. The winding crown is signed “CTZ” and the pushers are polished too. There is a nicely chamfer edge that add further beauty to the overall design, very elegant and yet a real sport chronograph. The caseback is polished with the usual markings (parawater as it was made prior to ’73). The acrylic crystal sits above the case and has a flat surface. I love the way it bend the light at the edges!
The dial is absolutely stunning! Plain black, with simple applied polished hour markers. The hands are polished too. There is an inner tachymeter for calculating speed. The writing is simple, white. Beautiful contrast white on black. It looks like chalk writing on a blackboard. The date wheel is white with black numerals. There is also luminous material that, 40 years later, is in wonderful condition. There is one more dial color version that is white with black writing. (I added pics of the white dial model, found on internet – rakuten)
The movement is Citizen calibre 5702 with 21 jewels. It beats at a slow rate, half the speed of the fastest Citizen Leopard movements, at 18,000bph. It is the first chronograph and the only hand winding chronograph movement that Citizen produced. There is also an automatic one with a two variations: 8100A and 8110A. All of the Citizen chronograph movements are flyback and so is this one. The date is not quick set but changing by advancing the hour hand.
The bracelet is original to this model (most of the Recordmaster I have seen are on replacement straps). Not much to say about it. It has a combination of polished and brushed surfaces, a signed sandblasted clasp and perfectly fitted end links. It is tapering starting from the case towards the stainless steel clasp.
Update: A few more versions I found (some of them are my pictures, some are from online sellers and fellow Citizen collectors) are these:
1 – Black dial, red chronograph hand.
2 – Black dial with the tachymeter scale starting from 1000, black hands and a white, square luminous tip, chronograph hand. Reference 4-570091T Citizen Recordmaster 
3 – The first version made is the following one (see the details on the caseback):
4- A special case design, with the original bracelet, white dial Citizen Recordmaster:
5 – A rare Kyoto Recordmaster (the only one I saw and also had) version, made for French market:
Here is the awesome Recordmaster collection of my friend John from Australia:
Update Nov 2017 – Citizen Museum in Tokyo has one on display that has the “Sportsmaster” dial print rather than the Recordmaster.
Conclusion: Beautiful, timeless design. A rare piece that has its specific place in any Vintage Citizen Watch collection. This is the perfect combination of simplicity combining in perfect harmony elegance and sportiveness that (as far as I know so far) came in 4 dial variants plus the additional different RallyCustom one – read about it HERE.
For the VIDEO of this watch visit:
https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2014/03/12/video-citizen-recordmaster-chronograph-63-0110-2/
Read more about automatic Vintage Citizen Chronographs here:
https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/chronograph-vcw/
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Vintage Citizen Alarm Date (4H) – ALDS51301a-y
Beautiful watch, elegant design, and excellent, close to mint, condition. The sound of this watch is loud and powerful. The bracelet is comfortable and… let’s take it one step at a time.
For now… enjoy the video:
For more information about this watch go to:
https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2014/01/04/vintage-citizen-alarm-date-alds51301a-y/
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Seven Star Citizen 100m diver 67-5776, APSS-52904 Y
This was one of the last years (1971) that Citizen used the term “parawater”. Unfortunately it came to an end and this particular model was one of the last parawater divers. It marked the end on an era. What can I say, I just love this Seven Star – Vintage Citizen Diver!
It was made in four dial color variations: black, blue, silver and orange, my favorite is the orange. This era was so colorful and full of life and it is also true when speaking of Citizen watches.
Update 2018 April:
Kim, aka WVE from The Seiko and Citizen watch forum, was king enough to let me use his pic so you can enjoy them. Thanks Kim, lovely collection you have there! 😉 Blue, Silver, Orange and Black dial!
The case is the well known Citizen cushion shape having a diameter of 44 mm without the crown. It is made in stainless steel and so is the caseback and the bidirectional frictional type bezel. The bezel insert is aluminum? painted black with white numbers and markers. At 12 there is a luminous dot inside an upside down triangle. The entire case is polished, except for the frontal surface that has a circular brushed finish. The acrylic crystal is raised and flat. I love the way the light bounces back from underneath an acrylic crystal! The water resistance is 100m, maybe because the signed CTZ crown is a non screw in type. But… 100m is plenty for normal use.
The dial is made from two distinct pieces, glued together; an outer ring is sitting higher than the dial itself and has hourly numerals from 13 to 24. A silver ring delimitates the two surfaces and has minute markers. The lower part has raised polished hour markers with luminous material. The spade shape hands have luminous centers as well. By contrast, the second hand is simple, entirely polished. At 3 o’clock the watch has the day and date display inside a polished frame that connects the two parts of the dial. The usual Citizen logo is at 12 and at 6 it reads: “para 100m water, automatic, 21 jewels”.
The movement is the 7270 calibre – simple, reliable, automatic with 21 jewels and beating at 21,600bph. As usual with Citizen, the automatic movement can be hand winded. It has jewel bearings for barrel and a power reserve of 41 hours. It features a quick set date and the day changes from advancing from 20 to 0:30. The sweeping second hand doesn’t hack.
The bracelet is a common Citizen design called bead of rice that fits the case shape really nice. I have seen other designs (see the cool one on my NOS APSS-52904 Y below) but a lot watches found today have nato replacements or rubber straps. Certain leather straps look good on it too. It is easy to find a bracelet or a strap because it has 20mm between the lugs and a look that makes it easy to wear on anything.
Update 2018 April:
It seems that the models above are export models since the domestic ones, for Japan market, are marked “Seven Star APSS-52904 Y” and have a slightly different dial. I managed to find a NOS one and here it is, also side by side with the orange export version. The case back is also different, and so is the winding crown. Take a look. UPDATE to the info above from my fellow collector Stephen: It seems the APSS52904Y would be found in the slightly earlier 61-5773 which uses the 52 movement. That model also uses a different, smaller crown.
And side by side:
Conclusion: Beautiful watch, warm, colorful and full of life. One of the last “parawater” divers made. A real joy to wear and look at.
Read about other Citizen divers here: https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/diver-vcw/
Read about “Parawater” here: https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2013/12/26/citizen-parawater-citizen-parashock/
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Citizen Leopard 36000 pocket watch 67-2192
The first pocket watch presented here, a rare (never seen another one and my searches lead me nowhere) Citizen Leopard.
This is not only extremely rare but very interesting too.
First of all it is a pocket watch. Citizen had a lot of pocket watches but why is this so special? Well, because it is a Leopard – the hi-beat range – 36000 bph. Also, very interesting, it is an automatic! Why is it an automatic, I don’t know, it doesn’t make a lot of sense because as a pocket watch it doesn’t get enough movement to wind up. Nevertheless, a beautiful movement that is a joy to look at. The case seems to be mirror polished stainless steel but I see no references to the material . It is not large but rather small, the same as a wrist watch. There is also a nice chain that compliments it really nice. Both sides have a thick mineral crystal that sit high above the case. Beautiful design! As for the crown, is signed, as usual, “CTZ”.
The beautiful hi-beat parashock Citizen calibre 7230, running at 36000 bph can be admired because the watch has a see through back crystal. In fact the watch face has the same crystal shape and size as the back, so the same importance was given to displaying the movement as it was given to the dial part. This says something about this movement. It has 28 jewels, it has a sweeping central second hand that hacks, it can be winded by hand also and has a quickset date feature.
Here is a scan of the movement from a vintage Citizen book to better understand the beautiful movement.
One of the nicest feature of the back (apart the movement and the crystal) is actually the metallic blue ring that has printed: Automatic Citizen 67-2192 OR-D-1 (or is it OR-D-i ?) 4-721811 . Not too much information unfortunately. If someone knows more about this magnificent piece, please let me know!
The dial is simple silver, with delicate vertical brushed lines. The hour markers are applied with black painted center. They share the same design as the hands. Only the sweeping hand is bright orange to accentuate the hi-beat movement. It has a wonderful sweeping motion, almost gliding above the dial. The Citizen logo is applied too. The day and date are located at 3 o’clock, inside a window, both having it’s own frame.
Conclusion: A rare elusive watch, beautiful to operate, listen to and look at. It has a wonderful design with an orange accent on the face (the second hand) and a bright metallic blue on the back (the ring).
Check out the video here:
https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2014/01/28/video-citizen-leopard-pocket-watch-67-2192/
Here is the elegant wrist watch version with the same movement:
https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2014/11/22/citizen-leopard-36000/
Enjoy!
UPDATE:
I found its pair, the Citizen Seven Star Deluxe pocket watch, so you can see them side by side HERE.
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Vintage Citizen compressor style diver 4-520343 Y
Vintage Citizen divers – this time a compressor style. And what is better than one diver? Two divers, or even three!
A compressor case means that the bezel is not outside the case, but actually inside the case, under the crystal. It is not operated directly but with the turn of one of the two crowns. As Gray showed in the comment of this post these are not actually compressor cases, but actually compressor style inspired.
“These are beautful watches and I enjoyed reading about them but I must correct your assumption that they are compressor watches. Its a common misconception that if a watch has two crowns and an internal bezel, it must be a supercompressor but infact Compressor and Super Compressor watches are defines by the company which made the cases and held a patent for their design. These cases were made by the specialist manufacturer Ervin Piquerez S.A. of Switzerland. No Japanese manufacturer used EPSA Compressor cases. Information about Compressor cases is not hard to find. The link below shows the three types of Compressor case, including the Super Compressor from which your Citizen watches are inspired. True Super Compressors are typically identified by a crossed hatched design on the crowns, a diver helmet logo on the case back or inside the case back, but always, they have the brevet (patent) number on or inside the case back. http://wornandwound.com/2014/03/24/guide-super-compressors/” – Is the comment from Gary. Thank you for the clarification!
This particular model is one of the early Citizen divers, with compressor style case. I have seen it in black dial, red, blue and silver dial. The red dial is one of the most beautiful dials ever. Actually is more a burgundy red. The blue is awesome in different lightning conditions, the black is subtle and classy and the silver is really special.
The case is larger than the usual divers of that era, but similar with other vintage Citizen. It is about 44mm, with a brushed frontal surface, with a radial pattern. The sides are polished. The lugs are well integrated in the overall design, with the same finish as the case. The two crowns are protected because the 9 o clock side (flat) and the 3 o clock side (angled) are not symmetrical, so the crowns are not sticking out a too much. They are signed “C”. The outer bezel that keeps the domed acrylic crystal in place is polished. The crown at 2 operates the inner bidirectional bezel, and sometimes is very easy to move it by accident so i prefer the models with an outer bezel. The crown at 4 winds the watch and sets the time and sometimes is hard to operate.
The dial is the best part of this watch. The red one is gorgeous, the blue is beautiful, the black is classic but the silver is not really at home for this model (IMHO) but it is rare and special.. In fact all the colors have a matching rotating bezel except for the silver one that has a black bezel. The black dial is flat, matte. The red and the blue one have thin black longitudinal stripes so the color gets a little darker. All of them have the cross hair lines. At 12 they have the polished applied Citizen logo and on 6 it is written “water 100M proof” “automatic” “21 jewels”. It is very interesting the fact that the dial is marked waterproof (sometimes parawater) and the caseback parawater. This is due to the fact that it was manufactured in an era when Citizen transitioned from parawater to water resistant. Also some of them were designated for export so a different marking was needed than the ones for domestic market. Read about this here: https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2013/12/26/citizen-parawater-citizen-parashock/ The ones that have “waterproof” on the dial are for export. At 3 we have the day and date window, in a divided frame. The Sundays are in red lettering, the rest are black. The hour markers are trapezoidal, applied with a polished frame, jus as the date frame. The hands are the usual “Mercedes” type and the second hand has the luminous tot at the very end of it. One rare model has straight hour hand, matching the minute one. For a long time I thought it might not be original but thanks to Pawel I now saw the model in real life and it is for sure 100% original. I also saw one picture from a German catalogue on Stephen‘s blog who says: “There was also a version of this model, maybe only an export version, that had a straight hour hand, rather than the ‘Mercedes’ type. At the moment this image, from a German brochure (with credit to ‘Axel’ on the old SCWF site) is the only one I have seen.” Thanks Pawel for the pictures of the straight matching hands one! Great watch! After 40 years, the luminous material still glows beautifully at night. The rotating bezel is rather shiny, with a luminous dot inside a triangle at 12, and painted numbers every 10 minutes. The rest of the minutes are dots and every 5 minutes we have a rectangle. Great quality for this bezels. You have to see them in real life to fully appreciate them!
Here it is another straight hour hand piece, a black dialed one. Thank you Christian for the pictures!
And a pic that I like:
The movement is the automatic Citizen calibre 5270, with 21 jewels, (and a black rotor that I like a lot). It is a common movement used in a variety of models, not only divers. This means that replacing parts are easy to source. It is reliable and offers hand winding possibility. The date changes in the second position of the winding crown (first position for winding, third for time setting) but the day changes only by passing midnight with the hands. The operating crown for the movement is the one at 4.
The strap I’ve seen is most of the times a replacement one. Sometimes I have seen them on Citizen or replacement stainless steel bracelet, sometimes on rubber, nato or even leather. They can take any type you want to throw on them. I keep them on matching nato straps, red for red, black for black. This way they are really comfortable and I thing a Nato suits them well. The width at the lugs is 20mm.
Conclusion: Just as most Citizen divers – wonderful, easy to wear, a pleasure to look at, modern and vintage at the same time… timeless beauty!
Read abut my favorite Citizen diver here: https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2013/12/24/citizen-automatic-diver-150m-52-0110/
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Video – Citizen “Bullhead” chronograph model 67-9356
Here is a video with the Citizen octagonal “Bullhead” chronograph model 67-9356, that shows the chronograph function, start – stop – reset, and the fly-back function. Also you can see the day date settings.
The video shows the fly-back in slow motion.
Enjoy! 🙂
Here is a more detailed article about this wonderful vintage Citizen flyback chronograph.
https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2013/12/24/citizen-bullhead-chronograph-67-935
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Vintage ladies Citizen watch 64-4838
It is time for a ladies Citizen watch!
Another NOS watch, ready for wearing, 40 years after it’s birth date. (it was made in July 1972). I wonder why did it take so long for such a beautiful watch to enhance the beauty of a woman’s wrist? Maybe it waited for the right owner?
The case is rather a small cushion shaped one, made in stainless steel, with a snap on, flat, brushed caseback. It has integrated lugs, with a brushed frontal surface. The sides are polished. The acrylic crystal is flat, but sitting higher than the case. I love the way it gives warmth to the entire watch. The silver metallic overall appearance needed something soft, as the case design and the worm acrylic crystal for counterbalance. The crown is signed “CTZ” as expected. Another feature I like about this watch is the fact that it is Parawater (read about it here: https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2013/12/26/citizen-parawater-citizen-parashock/ )
The dial is silver, simple yet elegant, with applied polished hour markers, Citizen logo and date frame. Each hour is also marked with a luminous dot (except for the one at 3 o’clock where the date is). The hour markers are “T” shaped in sectional view. The 3 hands, with a sweeping second hand, are polished and the hour and minute hands have luminous material that is very bright after 40 years. The writing is black, thin, reading “automatic” and “28800 21 jewels”. The entire dial has a brushed pattern in the same direction as the case, caseback and bracelet.
The movement is an automatic with hand winding capability, Citizen calibre 6900. It has a power reserve at about 38 hours, beating at 28800 bph. The date can be changed in an interesting way, by pulling the crown. It is a quickset mechanism. With the crown in time setting position pulling and releasing the crown will advance the date by one day. Each pull is one day.
The bracelet is stainless steel, with full links and connectors made from folded steel. It is tapering from the case towards the clasp. The clasp is also signed, longitudinally “citizen”. The entire bracelet is brushed except the clasp that is satined with polished sides. The sides and underside ot the bracelet is also polished.
Conclusion: Such a beautiful watch! So elegant, so delicate, so understated! One of the last years (maybe the last) of “Parawater”. Maybe it looks nice and it is a beautiful jewelry but also a well made timepiece.
Vintage Citizen Watches 