Earl Grey
Watch Freek
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This is my very first Citizen and I made the choice based on favourable watch forum and U Tube reviews, value for money and its good looks. According to the Citizen Watch Australian site, the RRP for this model is AU$699. On line surfing will enable a prospective buyer to source one a lot cheaper.
The bracelet required resizing and I had to remove three links, which was not a problem, as the pins didn’t have those wretched microscopic size collars that are on my Seiko. It fits nice on the wrist and isn’t too large. Here are my statistics on this model:
Weight: 140gms (with 3 bracelet links removed)
Case thickness 12mm
Lug width 22mm
Case diameter 42mm (excluding the crown)
The watchcase has a very nice satin finish. It is obviously stainless steel, but I am unsure what grade. It could be 316L, but I do not know for sure. The lugs are not overdone and nicely edged to match the crown guard and the slide rule wheel, both of which are knurled. The crown has the Citizen arrow motif. The case back and the crown are both screw in and the watch has a claimed 20BAR water resistance, which is unusually high for a watch aimed at pilots. I have seen many so called pilots watches with a far smaller BAR rating and costing a kings ransom, so its good to see this from Citizen.
The bracelet is well designed and made and the clasp has the double safety feature lock to minimize accidental opening. The clasp also has three holes for finite wrist sizing.
This is my first experience with Eco Drive and from what I read, it’s a low maintenance movement that charges by exposure to either incandescent or solar light. There is a notice in the manual that it can’t be overcharged, but one should not leave it in HOT direct sunlight for too long. I couldn’t find how long the charges last, but I believe general daily wear is sufficient to maintain its continued operation. If you put it in a box for a week or two, it may need some daylight time to top up.
The crystal is flat and extends to the rim of the watchcase and about a millimetre in height above the metal edge. Unfortunately it is not sapphire crystal. There doesn’t appear to be any AR coating so there is some reflection. I do like the crystal covering the entire dial, especially the slide rule. Many watches that have external bezels with chronograph calculations on them fade or wear out, so this was a big plus for me. It also makes the watch look larger. I had a Mido All Dial with a similar crystal and it was very eye appealing as well.
The dial appears complex at first as it has the circular slide rule around the edge and a unique half circle for the 24-hour time zone. This is one of the few true GMT watches that the user can set the 24hr hand on either his local time or GMT and then set the hour hand to whatever time is his local or visiting time zone without stopping the watch movement or changing the 24hr hand. For instance, where I live, I am GMT +10. I first set the watch on GMT time, then move the crown to the second position and regulate the hour hand to my local time or any other place I may happen to travel to. The date window has black on white numerals that are easy to read. The word Nighthawk does not appear on this watch anywhere, yet it is identical to those that do. This might be something to do with the country of manufacture and the case lid seal is more obvious on my model than others I have seen on U Tube.
The luminous paint has been applied to the outer tips of the indices and fully on the 12 and 6 numbers. The lume lasts many hours and is a pleasant blue in color.
The Citizen Promaster Air Model BJ7010-59E is a quality made timepiece with unique features and design. It represents excellent value for money so long as you can get one outside of Australia.
Enjoy the pics!
Earl GreyLast edited on Sat Nov 10th, 2012 03:32 am by Earl Grey
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