The new Casio MRW-230H looks like what a traditional diving-style G-Shock would probably look like if it existed. (There is the G-Shock Frogman diving series, but we’re talking about a traditional dive watch with a rotating bezel.) The MRW-230H has a dimpled band and a rotating timer bezel made of aluminum. It measures 47.9 x […]
G-Central G-Shock Watch Fan Blog
The upcoming G-Shock GA-V01 series tends to provoke strong reactions in people, and it’s easy to see why. To call it divisive may be too generous, as it seems to be almost universally hated or at least strongly disliked for aesthetic reasons by many vocal G-Shock fans online. It’s safe to assume that Casio is […]
G-Central G-Shock Watch Fan Blog
Rosenbusch are a German microbrand who kicked things off confidently a few years ago with The Quest wristwatch, a modern reinterpretation of classic 1970s integrated sports watch design featuring a curved, hexagonal dial. For their latest release, they’re riffing on that hexagon shape in even stronger fashion while at the same time taking it in a completely different aesthetic direction. The Horizon is one of the most distinctive dress watches I’ve seen in a long while – coming to Kickstarter on March 4th.
Starting with the case, the Horizon measures 39.5mm in diameter in stainless steel with a thickness of 8.1 at the edges and 9.8mm the centre of the curved sapphire crystal. Here the case itself is fully hexagonal with rounded corners in contrast to The Quest, which had a round case with a hexagonal bezel and dial. By slimming the design down to just the polished hexagon, the Horizon feels dramatically more refined, especially around the lugs which are no longer in the integrated style.
I’m trying to think of iconic dress watches with unusual case shapes like this and there really aren’t a huge number. There are a handful of ellipses, retro TV style shapes and (perhaps most common of all) cushion designs but even then, none of them capture the distinctive smooth angularity of the Rosenbusch Horizon’s hexagon. Plus, with 100m water resistance and an accessible price tag, the Horizon is practical enough to be a daily wearer if you don’t fancy saving it for formal occasions.
There are four version of the watch being produced and each of them has a completely different interpretation of the dial, with a variety of finishes, colours and hour markers on display. First up is Black Pearl, which has a Musuo Black dial with applied indexes coated with lume. Musuo paint absorbs 99.5% of light giving it an incredibly dark appearance like the void of a black hole. It’s essentially an accessible alternative to the Vanta Black used by haute horology brands like H. Moser. This edition also does away with the 6 o’clock date window present on the other three.
Second is Copper Sun, which presents the Rosenbusch Horizon in salmon with a vertically brushed finish. It has the same set of indexes as the Black Pearl (am I the only one thinking about Pirates of the Caribbean with that name?) but here they’re presented in gunmetal grey instead of brighter silver. Next is Canvas White, a linen dial interpretation with Arabic numeral hour markers. As the name suggests, linen dials have a light cross-hatched style texture that emulates the texture of summer fabrics.
The last of the four designs is Urban Blue, the least dressy of the quartet. It’s denim blue with a vertically brushed centre and stepped hour scale with Arabic numerals. Matching the dial, it’s on a denim style strap to complete the casual, urban explorer vibes. Although it’s not as if there’s no precedent for luxury denim watches after Patek Philippe created their own ode to denim with the Ref. 5980/60G.
Inside is the Sellita SW210, visible through an exhibition caseback. It’s a manual winding piece with 45-hour power reserve and accuracy of +/-7 seconds per day. It also has Sellita’s elaboré grade finishing with straight line Côtes de Genève across its plate. Thanks to it being a manual piece, there’s no rotor to obscure the view either, giving you full access to admire its inner workings.
The Rosenbusch Horizon is available on Kickstarter from March 4th at a price of €875, a 30% discount from its final retail price which will be €1,250 (approx. £725/£1,035). For a steel dress watch with a manual elaboré movement and a diverse array of finishing and colour options, that’s great value. Whether you’re a fan of Musou, linen, denim or salmon dials, there’s something here for everyone, all wrapped up in that distinctive hexagon case.
More details at Rosenbusch.
Oracle Time
Confession time, I like decompression timer watches. They’re a fun niche within what is already one of the most prominent watchmaking niches, dive watches. If you’ve not come across one before, they’re a style of dive watch that features a circular table in the centre of the dial that displays information related to how long you have to spend on decompression stops when resurfacing from a dive in order to prevent the bends. Microbrand Héron have released their interpretation of this archetype with the launch of the new Héron Marinor Rainbow.
Straight away the thing that sticks out to me is the value. This is the first decompression timer I’ve seen in the past five years or so with a sub-£1,000 price tag. The Mido Ocean Star Decompression Timer 1961, Delma Retro Shell Star and Christopher Ward C65 Super Compressor Elite are all in the £1,000 – £1,500 bracket while the Marinor Rainbow is £510 on steel bracelet and £460 on rubber strap. You might expect then that it’s got less impressive specs but that’s not the case.
Said case measures a well-proportioned 39mm x 12.9mm (including crystal) in stainless steel with a 300m water resistance rating. This is a better water resistance rating than both the Mido and Christopher Ward, meaning the Marinor Rainbow actually outperforms the pricier pieces. I also personally think that it’s got a much cleaner and more legible display than its rivals as well.
In the centre is a 12-hour display (my one irk being that the hour hand extends past it instead of pointing to it), around which is the rainbow decompression timer. Decompression timers are difficult to get right because they have to display a lot of information in a relatively small area meaning they can look cluttered and difficult to read. The Marinor Rainbow avoids this by employing a bold, graphic style.
Wherever a number is noted, there’s a black gap in the recessed, sandwich rainbow scale providing strong contrast to the white numerals, ensuring they’re legible. The black areas also provide a clear visual break where there’s a change in decompression timing required. Héron actively acknowledge they were inspired by heritage models from brands like Mido, so they’ve evidently studied and made their own improvements. That all said, I should probably explain how the scale works.
The numbers on the bridge at 12 o’clock denote the depth at which you are swimming in metres. You then follow the relevant scale clockwise for the amount of time in minutes you spend at that depth. Where you intersect with a number on the scale, that number denotes how much time you need to spend on decompression stops when resurfacing. You’ll note that the first numeral on each of the scales is a 0, meaning that if you spend less than that amount of time at that depth, a decompression stop is not required.
Outside the decompression timer is a 60-minute scale and beyond that we get to the unidirectional bezel with 60-minute timer. You can use the bezel in conjunction with the decompression table to stay safe while diving. When you’re starting your stop, rotate the bezel so that the arrow lines up with the minute hand to mark its starting point and track elapsed time easily regardless of what the local time is.
Beneath the rainbow dial is housed the Miyota 9039 automatic movement with 42-hour power reserve. This is the area where the Marinor Rainbow is maybe a bit behind its rival decompression timers because Christopher Ward uses a COSC movement and the Mido has an 80-hour power reserve. However, I think the Miyota movement is perfectly acceptable given the price of the watch, which to reiterate is about half that of the rivals we’ve been comparing it to. Need I say impulse buy?
More details at Héron.
Oracle Time
If your knowledge of wrist-worn time stems from the seventies, eighties, or nineties, you can read any watch from the mere position of your hand. But in today’s society, many of us think vital knowledge is becoming lost. Kids and Gen Z are used to seeing pure digital time readouts wherever they look, whether on a dashboard, coffee machine, iPad, or ever-hypnotizing smartphone screen. What then of watch numerals?
Arguably the digi-fication of the world might be one reason legible numerals are making a comeback, and Gen Z might get the urge to strap on an actual timepiece. Roman or Arabic, applied or printed numerals might remove some elegance from suitably minimal dress watches. But done right, the right numerals complete a good design. So we’ve carefully curated a collection of some of the most important, oft-copied styles out there and will happily champion literal legibility for all.
Nothing spells out traditionalism like a well-executed Roman numeral in a slim, crisp-printed font. It’s an aesthetic known from the earliest 18th-century pocket watches. As the oldest way of marking numbers, keeping them on watch dials is perhaps the only way to ensure their lease of life in the onslaught of smartwatches and screens. But who does it best? And how does it translate to a modern aesthetic?
Many brands use the classicism of the slender markings to their advantage, often to designate their dressier models. Cartier has a clear shot at the title in terms of range proliferation. Even when they had a punt at the diver’s market with the odd Calibre de Cartier, Roman numerals were front and centre.
Moritz Grossmann and Ferrier offer great examples of sliver-thin Roman style for the slenderest applications. As for the more challenging design brief of applying the classicism of Roman numerals to a sports watch, the Chopard Alpine Eagle offers the quirky cool of the 41mm Cadence 8HF with its buzzing 8hz Chopard 01.12 high-frequency escapement and orange details.
While less of a typographic style and more of a technique, sandwich numerals nevertheless have a distinctively macho place in watch design. All numerals are cut into the dial, while a lumed sub-layer creates a charming sense of depth and a suffused glow in low-light situations. It’s a style that’s been used in a few places over the years, but one that’s impossible not to talk about without mentioning Panerai. Every Pammie has a very clear identity, and most brand CEOs would give an arm and a leg for the elusive 10-foot recognition a Radiomir or Luminor gets, even if it comes with a polarizing cachet.
The sandwich dial speaks for itself, and with it Panerai has, to some watch lovers’ chagrin, taken their three watch shapes to the peak of Big Watch Noughties and back down again. But with a love of tech and material innovation, there is reinvention, despite the refusal to release a single sub-40mm circular watch, or heavens forbid, a rectangle. But that is exactly why the Paneristi stay loyal and refuse to bow to the trends of small, dressy wristwear.
Louis Breguet and his namesake brand have created one of the strongest legacies in the business and know how to remind us about it. Curvaceous numerals in a classical sans-serif font are par for the course and have set a typographical standard. With Breguet numerals, a watch designer can choose to lean on a traditional language of design to ensure a clean result or contrast it with a modern case to great effect.
Breguet still has a way with its namesake typography, and we have a soft spot for the luscious, platinum version of the pared-back design of the 5177, with slender silver numerals that appear to hover above the glass-like enamel darkness. A good set of Breguet Arabic numerals allows the space to shine and, to some minds, look best when left undisturbed by a date window. Given their slender nature, they are more than a delicate match to a suave set of feuille or even spade hands.
German watchmaking has an architectural quality, especially visible in the mid-century modernity of their home-grown mid-priced brands that cater to the taste of the very same architects. Where many brands put all their chips on sport and dive watches, the 1920s Bauhaus school of design has a fervent following for its clean graphic aesthetic. The tall, narrow typography is also well known from 1920s Art Deco artwork in illustrations and poster art, and you’ll recognize a Nomos watch dial from the slightest macro detail of a slim, minimalist numeral.
Typically, the Bauhaus numerals are accompanied by a matching font and a matte dial where the Germanic strict focus on functionality shines through. Due to the thin nature of the typography, the print needs to be crisp and of high quality, with a distinct balance of proportions between numerals and hands. Frivolities are reined back for the sake of legibility, and it brings with it a clean-cut charm that’s hard to replicate.
For sport and dive watches, the emphasis on legibility drives the design process, at least if the brand is serious about the potential adventures of its wristwear. To make time-telling easy, many go the Big Three route, where the 12, six, and nine numerals are charmingly oversized compared to the rest of the dial markers. Yes, there is also a number three on most dials, but a date window usually occupies its space for function-conscious buyers.
Great examples of big quadrant Arabics are the long-running Longines Hydroconquest series, while the big fit of the Panerai Luminor comes with a Sandwich version of the same, with their tell-tale running seconds at nine o’clock. But for maximum effect, look at the wide, squat dial-dominating six and 12 on a Chopard Mille Miglia, a racing-inspired design that’s been a staple of petrolheads for more than 20 years.
With the addition of date windows, registers, and sub-dials come inevitable legibility challenges. Most brand designers cut into the shapes of Arabic numerals unceremoniously or even omit them altogether. Very few brands choose a different route that keeps the circular string of 12 numbers intact, varying the actual size of the numeral font. One brand stands out in this respect, F.P. Journe.
As a brand known for its focus on legibility, its Arabic numerals have a wide stance and serifed curvature to the typeface. However, where other brands unceremoniously chop off a three or four for a date or omit a nine, Francois Paul scales them down and leaves them in place, as if hit by a shrink ray. Look at one of his dials and enjoy the vibrant dance of full-and half-size numerals with their serifed tails and curves intact, adapting to the cut-out shapes around them.
With the Gulf states and the U.A.E being an increasingly important part of the watch-buying scene, many brands have released special editions with the flourish of traditional Eastern Arabic numerals. You will often see the swirling typography combined with the colour green, and we have seen great examples of limited editions ranging from the Bulgari Octo Finissimo to Cartier’s Santos. The green colour holds many profound associations within Islam, embodying themes of paradise, purity, and prosperity.
Combining both colour and the flourish of the traditional font offers a vibrant contrast to the strict architecture of many watch designs, ranging in price from a mid-priced Frederique Constant to the angular Finissimo. Cartier went all out with a matching green alligator strap and a rich green sunburst brushed dial and, with its rarity, found many Western buyers wanting a touch of far-Eastern vibrancy.
The California dial refers to an odd mix of Arabic and Roman numerals, as if a designer made a mock-up to see what made the best impression on the watch’s face. The storied and well-known progenitors of the genre are Rolex, and Rolex-manufactured Panerai watches from the 1930s, used by the armed forces in wartime Europe. The aim was to make a fool proof dial regarding low-light legibility, even though the style’s functional purity, if perhaps aesthetic mess, faded away after World War II.
It was resuscitated in a surprising Japanese boom of the heady eighties, but why California? Legend has it that Rolex could not keep up with demand, prompting a California-based manufacturer to refurbish Rolleys in the quirky style, hence the nomenclature. Today, it’s found in Panerai Radiomirs, on the Nomos Club Campus, and ironically on the California screen of the Silicon Valley pet, the sleek Apple watch. Possibly the coolest version in recent memory, however, comes courtesy of British brand Fears and their collaboration with Silicon Valley jeweler, Topper.
With collaborations and the blend of art and watches come fun details like handwritten scrawls on dials and seemingly handwritten numerals. We’ve seen some great examples this year. Notably, the end of 2023 released chocolate ceramic AP Royal Oak QP with rapper Travis Scott. With a cocoa-tinted textured strap and deep chocolate-coloured brushed ceramic, it might have been wildly polarizing. However, it stood out as an intensely interesting piece, with all numerals and text rendered handwritten, as crisp as only AP can.
Another notable release this year was the superlative fun of the Frederique Constant x seconde/seconde/ Slimline Moonphase. In a quiet year for the industry, it stood out with its irreverent take on the formal FC, indices strewn haphazardly on the dial. The moon itself is oddly non-circular, and the scrawled logo and dates of Romaric André come with the magic power of laughter.
There is no denying China’s importance as one of the biggest markets in the world for wristwatches, even if 2024 saw a dip in sales in parallel with their housing investment market bust. The importance of the Chinese market has had two effects on Swiss main brands and the increasing might of the independents. One is the proliferation of colourful editions for each Chinese New Year and the emergence of Chinese characters on the dial.
It feels like a natural move and a sign that the Swiss are adapting to a changing world, and for the prolific collectors out there, most brands do a mix of Roman numerals and Chinese characters to appeal to Western eyes as well. But one of the best combinations of colour and Chinese typography was the Parmigiani Tonda PF Xiali Calendar, a QP with a vibrant red guilloche dial and a full set of Chinese characters and numerals.
Oracle Time
At this point, unless there is a significant innovation, the battle between quartz movements and mechanical ones feels like it will forever be a stalemate. Mechanical watch fans can always fall back on the immense skill that it takes to produce mechanical watches, the engineering finesse, visual dynamics and romance of clockwork. Meanwhile a quartz enjoyer simply has to mention the idea of a power reserve and accuracy to blow mechanical watches out of the water. Case in point, the new Citizen Promaster Eco-Drive Diver 300m.
The Professional Diver 300m is equipped with the Cal.E365, a solar powered movement with a charge reserve of 365-days. Meaning that at full charge it can power the watch for a full year without additional charging. An impressive power reserve for a mechanical watch is 5-7 days, approximately 300 less than the Citizen. In terms of practicality and ease of use, it’s impossible to compare. Not to mention that quartz watches operate at a much higher frequency than mechanical watches ensuring accuracy that deviates at a rate of seconds per month instead of seconds per day.
As for the case, the Citizen Promaster Eco-Drive Diver 300m is a giant in the same vein as watches like the Seiko Tuna. It measures 46mm in diameter with a thickness of 16.3mm. A level of enormous that hasn’t really been popular since the late 2000s and early 2010s and it would still have been considered on the bigger side by those standards. Plus, in stainless steel it is a hefty chunk of metal. Fortunately underwater the weight of a watch is less impactful and the Citizen has a 300m water resistance rating, as stated in the watch’s name.
Style-wise, it has a broad bezel with pronounced grip and the crown is positioned at 4 o’clock. Nestled inside the bezel is the 60-minute scale on the dial’s flange and then the dial itself with a red-black vertical gradient. It looks quite cool as you don’t often see gradient red dial dive watches due to the overwhelming popularity of blue. It’s equipped with oversize hour markers to provide plenty of legibility too.
The Citizen Promaster Eco-Drive Diver 300m is priced at £499, which makes sense for the sheer amount of metal involved alone. Plus, the movement isn’t exactly a run of the mill quartz number, showcasing Japan and Citizen’s mastery of that technology. It’s not a watch for me personally but if you have the wrists for it and fancy something a tough as you are, here it is.
More details at Citizen.
Oracle Time
The Mühle-Glashütte S.A.R Rescue-Timer is a classic example of an aquatic watch that is not a diver. It first debuted in 2002, developed in partnership with the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (DGzRS) and designed to withstand the rigours of life at sea. And the fundamental purpose of ocean rescue is you get out of the water, not spend time in it. So, the chosen arena of the S.A.R Rescue-Timer is the tossing deck of a ship, not the ocean. Though Mühle are paying tribute to the waters with the new Mühle-Glashütte S.A.R Rescue-Timer Nautical Blue.
Starting with the case, it measures 42mm in diameter in steel with 100m water resistance, enough to survive a drenching in ocean spray but not designed for SCUBA trips. What makes it specialised for life on a rescue boat though is the bezel, which is made from rubber and in the new Nautical Blue colourway, is ocean blue coloured.
Rubber gives it a resilient, shock-resistant protection that’s smooth, which means when you are inevitably tossed from your feet by a rolling wave and slam your watch into a railing, both the watch, your wrist and the boat are protected. There’s also the human element that when you’re rescuing a person in need; they’re less likely to get hurt if you accidentally smack into them.
You might think most sailing watches are designed for the warmth of the French Riviera or a Caribbean cruise, but this is a heavyweight built for the arctic waters of the Baltic and North Sea, where conditions can change on a dime as whitecaps swell and grow (the white foam at the top of waves). It’s actually these whitecaps that inform the visual design of the Nautical Blue colour scheme.
The dark blue is designed to represent the water and the white triangle and baton hour markers – all coated with lume – are the crests of the waves. It manages to express a surprising amount of character despite the relatively minimalist design that ensures a high amount of legibility. The display consists of central hours, minutes and seconds with a date at 4 o’clock, all of which are powered by the Sellita SW200-1 housed inside. It’s the newer iteration of the movement too with 41-hour power reserve.
As for price, the Mühle-Glashütte S.A.R Rescue-Timer Nautical Blue is priced at £2,100 on rubber strap or £2,250 on steel bracelet. Both styles look cool with the wide, flat lugs of the watch. With its unique approach to the aquatic world thanks to the functionality of being a tool watch with a dedicated purpose, the S.A.R Rescue-Timer is one of the coolest horologically niche watches around.
More details at Mühle-Glashütte.
Oracle Time
2025 is already proving to be a busy year for the watch industry with a lot of events on the horizon to be excited about. From new watch showcases, collector fairs and exhibitions there’s plenty to get involved in. Including the debut of Hands On Horology, a brand new watch event in London presented by Oracle Time (we hope to see you there!). But when are all these things happening? Let’s take a look at the Watch Events Calendar 2025.
Location: Munich Trade Fair Centre, Munich, Germany
More details at Inhorgenta.
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
More details at Intersect.
Location: Lindley Hall, London, United Kingdom
More details at British Watch & Clock Makers.
Location: The Showroom, Washington D.C., United States
More details at District Time.
Location: Hickory Street Annex, Dallas, Texas, United States
More details at Windup.
Location: Palexpo, Geneva, Switzerland
More details at Watches & Wonders.
Location: Villa Sarasin, Geneva, Switzerland
More details at Time To Watches.
Location: Fort Mason, Gateway Pavilion, San Francisco, California, United States
More details at Windup.
Location: Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (Specific venue TBC)
More details at The Watch Collectors Club.
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Specific venue TBC)
More details at WatchPro.
Location: Protein Studios, London, United Kingdom
More details at Hands On Horology.
Location: Sheraton Skyline Hotel London Heathrow, London, United Kingdom
More details at The London Watch Fair.
Location: Venue West, Chicago, Illinois, United States
More details at Windup.
Location: Los Angeles, California, United States (Specific venue TBC)
More details at Intersect.
Location: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
More details at HKTDC.
Location: Rotonde du Mont-Blanc, Geneva, Switzerland (Various Locations)
More details at GWD.
Location: Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
More details at Toronto Timepiece Show.
Location: Sofitel Heathrow T5, London, United Kingdom
More details at Event Brite.
Location: Gotham Hall, New York City, New York, United States
More details at Watch Time.
Location: Center 415, New York City, New York, United States
More details at Windup.
Location: London, United Kingdom (Specific venue TBC)
More details at WatchPro.
Location: Reheinterrasse Düsseldorf, Germany
More details at WatchTime.
Location: Level 3, National Library, Singapore
More details at Spring Sprang Sprung.
Location: London, United Kingdom (Specific venue TBC)
More details at WatchPro.
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Specific venue TBC)
More details at Dubai Watch Week.
Oracle Time
A few months ago, it was the case that you could walk through Oracle Time HQ and find almost half a dozen Citizen Tsuyosas on people’s wrists. Sadly those members of staff have moved on to new pastures and taken their Tsuyosas with them. But I distinctly remember the hype and furore that would break each time a new Tsuyosa was announced, bring with them a new wave of colourful, integrated bracelet sports watches at accessible prices to the UK. Now Citizen has announced the Tsuyosa 37mm with a reduced size case and unisex appeal.
It would be easy to describe the Tsuyosa 37mm as the ladies’ version of the Tsuyosa but that’s a bit too reductionist. The impetus behind the size change comes from the recent popularity in vintage proportions, harking back to the mid-20th century when sub-38mm watches were more common. 36mm, 37mm and 38mm watches have been experiencing a major resurgence and the Tsuyosa 37mm fits into that trend perfectly.
The watch also suits the reduced size very well thanks to the broad, flat faces of its angular design. It still maintains plenty of presence on the wrist and doesn’t look too small by any stretch of the imagination. It simply means there’s now an option for people who aren’t built with forearms like Popeye.
Beyond the updated case, the overall design of the Tsuyosa 37mm is much as you’ll remember from the 40mm version. Featuring a sunray brushed dial in mono-colours that are bright and fun. There are specifically three colours being made available at this new size: ice blue, pastel pink and dark green. It would be nice to see a few more of the colours from the 40mm collection make their way to the smaller model, especially the yellow which is a particular highlight. But as a core three with unisex appeal, this selection makes sense.
Housed inside the watch is the Cal.8210 automatic movement with 42-hour power reserve. It’s a Citizen classic, solidly reliable, easy to have repaired and most important of all, accessible. The Tsuyosa 37mm is £299, the same price as its larger cousins. On balance I don’t think the 37mm edition will suddenly outshine the 40mm as the model of choice for the majority of collectors, but it’s a nice option to have available for people who prefer smaller sizes.
More details at Citizen.
Oracle Time
Citizen have been killing it ever since they released the most affordable integrated bracelet sports watch to date with the Tsuyosa. And while they’re still hammering home the options there with some new, smaller pieces, they’ve also expanded their equally sporty, slightly more intense Series8, with the new Citizen Series8 831 Mechanical limited edition.
The Series8 is one of Citizen’s more diverse collections, taking in professional grade divers, GMTs and weird, multi-level bezels. That said, we’ve seen this faceted, octagonal 40mm case before in the Series8 Automatic. It’s a pretty substantial piece of watch, with much more wrist presence than its base sizing suggests, thanks to its dramatically angular lugs and mix of brushed and polished finishing.
So, what’s new? Here, it’s all about the dial. Citizen describe it as ‘reflecting light like a calm sea on a sunny day’ and while I usually hate that kind of overly poetic language, that pretty much nails it. It’s not just the light, icy blue colouring, but the geometric pattern across the whole thing. It’s cool and in a watch like this, already an intense bit of wristwear, it works phenomenally well.
In fact, the dial works well enough that I’m not sure why Citizen decided to interrupt it with a date window and the Series8 lettering underneath. The dial doesn’t just speak for itself, it shouts, and getting in the way of that feels like a mistake. Still, the bold indexes suit it, with doubles on the cardinal points, and the colour matched minute track keeps things nice and readable.
Inside is the ever-reliable calibre 9051 automatic: -10 / +20 seconds daily variation, 42-hour power reserve, 4hz frequency, decent magnetic resistance, all the good stuff. It’s relatively well finished through the sapphire caseback, even if it’s not exactly Poincon de Geneve-worthy. And not just because it’s Japanese. But honestly, for this kind of price, it’s hard to complain.
The closest comparison aesthetically would be something like the Zenith Skyline, a multi-faceted, integrated bracelet sports watch with a cool, patterned dial. But where the more prestige brand will run you well over £7,000, the new Series 8 is almost 1/10th of that at £850. Sure, you get a basic Japanese movement instead of a gorgeously finished Swiss number, but that’s still one hell of a value proposition.
It is however also a limited edition of 1,800. That’s a pretty high number, but given the price and Citizen’s global reach, don’t expect them to hang around too long at all.
More details at Citizen.
Oracle Time