What versions of wristwatches does not offer the market today! Up to the very real exotic, both in terms of functionality and in appearance. A person with such an accessory on his wrist will certainly attract the attention of others ...
However, eternal values remain unshakable. And that is why watches of a clear and clean appearance are still in use, strictly functional, giving the owner an image that is not flashy, but, on the contrary, solid. Classic minimalism, nothing more…
Choosing for review a model from a very extensive Citizen brand book, we decided to focus on this option: traditional mechanics, functions - only really necessary in everyday life, noble design simplicity. Total: Citizen Automatic.
A few words about the brand
In 1918, jeweler Kamekishi Yamazaki founded the Sokosha Watch Research Institute in Tokyo. They worked extremely scrupulously, the first products appeared only six years later. It was a pocket watch, which received, at the suggestion of the then mayor of Tokyo, the name Citizen - a citizen, a city dweller. In 1930, the institute was transformed into the Citizen Watch Co, and then everything went more cheerfully.
A year later, the first wrist watches of this brand saw the light, after which the business grew at a fantastic pace. By the 1960s, Citizen and Seiko controlled more than 80% of the domestic Japanese watch market, and these were very large volumes - in terms of them, Japan was second only to Switzerland and the USSR.
Today, the Citizen Group is an industry giant consisting of a number of separate companies, some of them in Japan, some in China, Germany, Switzerland, the United States and other countries. The parent company of the group is Citizen Holdings Co., Ltd., and Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. is directly involved in Citizen watches.
Like many other Japanese enterprises in various industries, Citizen has paid and continues to pay great attention to scientific and technological innovation. In the mid-1960s, the first watch with an electronic movement appeared - the Citizen X8; in 1976, the first Citizen watches powered by solar energy saw the light; 20 years later, the still popular line of Eco-Drive watches was launched, powered by a solar battery hidden from the user's eyes. Hidden inside the case were other advanced innovations: a built-in radio antenna that allows you to automatically determine the time zone (1993), the same antenna, but in an all-metal case (2003), synchronization with satellites to adjust the time around the world (2011).
Nevertheless, as noted at the very beginning, for a closer look, we took pure classics.
First impression
I was immediately impressed with the packaging. The box is made of a very dense and hard material a la cardboard, pasted over with black paper, and inside the finish is cream, with a texture a la suede. Pillow in the same design. In combination with the color scheme of the watch itself - complete harmony. At the bottom of the box is a bag of silica gel, a touching concern for the pre-sale microclimate.
And the clock as such - the photos do not deceive. It asks for a phrase that is more applied to people: an honest, open, kind face.
Well, now in more detail.
Mechanism, functionality
The watch is powered by a “workhorse” caliber Citizen 8210, also known as Miyota 8210. Miyota is part of the Citizen group, Miyota movements are widespread all over the world and compete with another “caliber pipeline” – the Swiss ETA.
8210, as already mentioned, is a classic machine, mechanically self-winding (one-sided), without any high-tech frills. Its functions are three central hands and a date aperture. The diameter of the movement is 25,6 mm, the balance frequency is 3 hertz (21600 semi-oscillations per hour), the stones are 21 pieces. Unfortunately, there is no “stop second” option, so you have to set the hands according to the exact time signal only after waiting for the clock to stop completely, and then for the reference time to approach the position of the second hand at which it froze. Then synchronously start the mechanism - by rotating the crown or forcing the automatic winding to work.
The full power reserve is claimed to be 40 hours. A measurement on a concrete sample that lay motionless showed 34 hours - after 27 turns (not turns!) of the crown. Perhaps “under-rotated”, although there was a feeling that it was not worth further straining the mechanism. In general, this is unclear. Uncritically, of course, it lasts from Saturday evening to Monday morning, and the rest of the time the automatic winding works reliably ... but still a little annoying.
That's what upsets is the accuracy of the course: the permissible deviation is from -20 to +40 seconds per day. By the way, this coincides with the requirements for the 1st accuracy class according to Soviet standards - hopelessly outdated ... Our specific Citizen sample met the specified limits, leaving 21 seconds ahead in a day. He met, he met, but by modern standards, the accuracy is not brilliant. It is to be hoped that adjustment in the workshop can bring the deviation into the range of ±12 seconds per day, as, for example, in ETA 2824-2 and the like.
The movement is equipped with the Parashock anti-shock system. In numerous reviews of the work of the 8210 caliber, there is a mention of the following phenomenon: when the watch is shaken, the second hand stops for a few seconds (due to the indirect drive of its tribe), then it jumps forward, catching up with the lost time, and this does not affect the accuracy of the movement and is not considered defect. No matter how much we shook the clock, we did not achieve anything of the kind ... Well, that's good.
In conclusion of this section, we note that the mechanism can be admired through the transparent case back. Let's put it this way: the admiration is conditional, nothing particularly interesting is visible. Moreover, both the self-winding rotor and the main plate are quite large, apart from them there is little to be seen. The rotor itself with a branded engraving is pleasing to the eye. And it also reminds that the mechanism is made directly in Japan (the watch itself can be assembled at one or another Citizen factory in another country - in Malaysia, Hong Kong, mainland China; it is almost impossible to establish specifically). There is also a whole bunch of official markings - about the number of stones, etc.
Clock face
This is perhaps the most attractive in this model. Minimalism as it is, with absolute readability, clear hour markers-strokes with tiny "beads" on the peripheral tips (these "beads" may even be superfluous), two Roman numerals (XII and VI), minute scale "railroad" , graceful blued “leaf” hands – hour and minute, second hand with “apple” counterweight, date window at “3 o’clock” (perhaps the numbers are too small). And, most importantly, the background of the dial itself: nominally it is white, but it seems creamy. Very pretty tone.
Inscriptions - again, a minimum: Citizen and Automatic, you can't do without them ... However, no: at the very bottom there are still applied (and therefore almost indistinguishable) JAPAN MOV'T and 8210-S172565Y in the smallest font. The first is clear, 8210 is also clear, the rest is incomprehensible. Yes, okay.
Case, bracelet
First, everything is stainless steel. Excellent polishing quality, and the three-row bracelet has a satin finish on the middle row. The bracelet, by the way, is integrated, perfectly aligned with the ears. Several of the outer links of the bracelet, as expected, are equipped with arrows showing which way to push the pins to remove the links when fitting the bracelet to the wrist. Clasp, of course, folding, with a latch.
We return to the body. Diameter 42 mm, thickness 11,5 mm, absolutely round shape, thin bezel. In a word, again a classic. The crown is fluted, quite comfortable. It extends by two clicks: the first is to adjust the date (rotation towards itself), the second is to set the hours and minutes (works in both directions). As already noted, there is no “stop second”, which is a pity.
Glass - sapphire. Anti-reflective coating works effectively, everything is clearly visible from any angle.
The water resistance of the case is 30 m. Therefore, there is no need to hide the watch from the rain, you can also wash the dishes without removing them. But swimming is not worth it. And take a shower...
The declared weight of the watch in assembly is 150 g, specific weighing gave 155 g. On the hand, the watch is felt exactly as it should be: neither excessive heaviness nor suspicious weightlessness. The aforementioned high quality processing contributes to a pleasant tactile sensation on the hand.
Conclusion
Decent men's watch "for every day". No extra outrageousness, no excessive primitiveness, no underlined conservatism, and, moreover, no signs of rebellious avant-gardism - everything in moderation, nothing superfluous. Solid, solid, good quality.
In general, when turning to Citizen products, in our opinion, it is better to pay attention to more technological and more brand-specific watches - and above all to the Eco-Drive family.
