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/
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/
Another vintage diver is the model 51-2273.
This one is more recent than the previously featured watches here.
One of the main feature about this one, compared with the others, is the unidirectional rotating bezel. Also, the “Mercedes” hands are gone and are replaced with a different style.
The case is made in stainless steel, with a brushed (circular) front surface and polished sides. The case back screws in and it is polished too. This case features crown guards for protecting the crown, a nice diving detail that enhances the “tool watch” appearance. Another diving feature in the screw in crown and the unidirectional bezel. This time the bezel has 60 solid clicks and rotates only counter clock wise. On 12 it has a triangle with a luminous dot. Every 10 minutes are marked with numbers and every minute by lines. The overall size is perfect, at 40 mm diameters without the crown and 20 mm between lugs. The mineral crystal is flat.
The dial is mate black without any reflections. The hour markers are dots or lines, depending on the position. They are filed with luminous material. The hands are also luminous and they have a distinct shape, more geometrical, that I think enhance the overall look of the watch. On 12 there is the applied Citizen logo and “automatic”; on 6 there is the writing: “21 jewels – water resistant – 150 M ” On 3 there is the day-date window, in a single frame. The day is bilingual with red “Sunday” while rest are black.
The movement is the well known automatic Citizen calibre 8200A (Miyota). It has 21 jewels and offers a hand winding capability. First position of the crown wind the watch, the second will change the day and the date (in different directions) and the third will set the time. It beats at 21,600 bph and has a power reserve of 43 hours. The rotor will wind the watch in one direction only. Nothing fancy about this, just a reliable, simple movement that is doing it’s job as it should.
The strap on this watch is a rubber one with a stainless steel clasp. Rubber fits it very well and next to the nato straps it is the best option for this model. The width at the lugs is 20mm so plenty of strap options are available at this size.
Conclusion: A nice diver that has all the features of a real diver: unidirectional 60 clicks bezel, easy to read, mate dial with clear hour markers and hands, a sweeping central second hand, screw in crown protected by crown guards, a reliable simple automatic movement and a long rubber strap. A real tool watch!
The term “Parawater” was the one used by Citizen to describe that the watch was water resistant.
In 1959 the company produced the first Japanese water-resistant wrist watch. This was the “Citizen Parawater”. It was powered by the Citizen Cal. 920(2B). Soon after, the Parawater completed two trans-Pacific tests and one in the Sea of Japan. The result, needless to say, was positive. As time passed Citizen was growing as a company and exported more and more watches, so the term “Parawater” was changed to the universally recognized “Water resistant” somewhere around 1970-1973.
Read more about Citizen diving watches here: https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/diver-vcw/
The term “Parashock” came to life in 1956 when the company produced the first shock-proof Japanese watch, known as the “Parashock”. So first was the “Parashock” and three years later the “Parawater”.
Even though you have a parashock and a parawater watch, please don’t treat it as a modern Casio G-shock. 🙂
Vintage Citizen Watches 