The Tiers of Citizen Watches - Entry-Level to Luxury

So there are certain brands in the industry when you look at them at face value it represents some idea of what the brand is all about but might be setting it a little short in what it actually represents more broadly and I think this is an accurate representation of the brand citizen. What makes them so complicated is that they have this hierarchy of almost brands within the brand itself that makes it very challenging to navigate as a collector because if you go to their site, you go to our site, you look at some of the watches available and it's all over the place. So many different styles, so many different uh levels for their price tier. And it's a watch brand that's also neglected at certain pockets of what they do at maybe some of the higher price points. So, what I wanted to do with this video is break down into four independent tiers, figuring out the tiers of Citizen so that you can better understand the collection for the brand more broadly. This is not an internal classification that Citizen utilizes to then position outwardly to customers. This is my own processing of what Citizen is making available and trying to make sense of it all. So, what we're going to be doing with each one of these tiers, they're going to be broken down in different levels of quality specification. So, starting with a tier one, moving up to a tier 4. Each one of them are going to have some relevant examples, a price range that's generally going to guide us in terms of what you can look for at that given price and looking at those different classifications to have a better sense of what you can get for dollars spent with this brand. And as you're following along, if you want a better guide that goes in tandem with this video, because I'm going to be going through a lot of different watches here, we'll have a complete collection down below on our website where you can actually toggle between the different tiers, see the different watches within those tiers, so you have a better understanding. Uh so you can use this video as the guide to understand what is available each one of those tiers, and then that will be your reference if you did want to shop around for some of the different tiers. Uh, we've built that all custom for this video and a great reference if you want to actually take what you've learned here and shop around what Citizen has available. As we enter tier one, I think this is the reason why there's so much confusion around this brand because you have watches that represent this tier and then you'll see how things extend up from here. At this part of the catalog, this is where you see the more mass market side of the brand that produces watches for a variety of different consumers. Some of these are offered for deeply seated enthusiasts, while most of them are going to appeal to firsttime watch buyers who have little to no interest in expanding a passion for collecting watches. This is where you're going to find a broad assortment of models commonly found in department stores that are also going to do some of the heavy economic lifting for the brand and sales to casual watch buyers. For price range here, you're looking at well under $500 for retail prices. Some of them even coming below $200 when you see markdown prices for some of these during like holiday seasons and promotions. And I'm not going to be able to cover every single model in this range. We're just going to be looking at some of the highlights, the ones that I think are more worthy of mention, but this is more of that mass market type of appeal. You'll even see licensed character watches here from the likes of Disney, Star Wars, and Marvel just to give an idea of what this typically represents. You're also going to see quartz or eco drive solar movements. Not seeing much of any mechanical here, uh, but a place to start for this first tier. So, let's take a closer look at some of the collections. First up is the classic series. This is one of the most straight ahead choices in the catalog for an everyday watch starting at around $250 for the basic 40mm model. Most watches in the classic series offer simple styling, a date or day date complication, a few dial variants, and Roman numerals at 12. Most of the Corso lineup offers a few dial and finish choices including two-tone and gold tone. Perhaps most appealing in the Corso series are the 40mm models that provide a bit of Datejust adjacent style, including their K-shape and Jubilee style bracelets such as the blue dialed BM7330-59L. It showcases a go anywhere capability with 100 m of water resistance along with the eco drive movements found within all Corso models. Next up is the Garrison. This is my personal favorite from this tier by a good margin. So, the Garrison is one of the most loved attainable model ranges from the brand with a winning combination of fieldwatch style and leveled up capability. Every Garrison features 100 m of water resistance and the Eco Drive solar movement on the inside, but there are a couple enthusiast picks within the lineup that I would recommend. First up is the BM8180-3E. a perennial favorite with a vintageleaning 37mm case and an olive green fabric strap for that authentic military watch vibe. And also keep in mind that this is at the entry door of getting into Citizen entirely as a brand. Pretty nice choice if you are at that price tier and budget. Another standout is the 42mm BM 8560 which marks the first appearance of Super Titanium in this video and in terms of the price within Citizens catalog. In addition, it offers a highly legible dial with a day date complication. Available in green on tan leather or black with a full titanium bracelet. Next up is the Roland series, a 40mm daily driver with 100 m of water resistance and a simple modern aesthetic. Stick indices and Arabic numerals combined with the interesting dial textures, a vertically oriented day date layout at 12 and six and eco drive movements. There are several dial options along with bracelet or strap in choice of stainless, bi-metal or gold tone variations and even a triple register calendar version. And then wrapping up our first tier is the Addison series which has a 41mm case size, plain yet clean dials with narrow stick indices, and an assortment of colors at an attractive price point. Of course, the Addison has a solar eco drive caliber on the inside, 100 meters of water resistance, metal finish options, and an upgrade with its sapphire crystal. So, in tier 2, we shift from Citizens's more generic pieces to Citizen's core enthusiast models. This includes the broad promaster lineup of tool watches, among the most celebrated in their catalog, especially the divers and the pilots models, as well as some other fan favorites, usually capping out around $1,000. In short, this is the starting point where most collectors of Citizen put their attention. The Promaster range is one of the most significant and popular sections of the Citizen catalog, which makes total sense given the emphasis on rugged construction, functionality, and value for the dollar. Divided into three subsets, you have land, sea, and air. We'll hit on some of the high points from each category, starting with the brand's venerable divers. Of the three pillars, the sea collection is by far the most vast and is the sweet spot for hitting the ven diagram of overlap with the collecting community. At the core are the C ProMasters featuring both solar and automatic movement options. One of their most popular is the 200 meter ProMaster dive, an all business classic in a wearable 44mm case. It utilizes the solar powered eco drive movement, ISO compliant construction, and a bright orange minute hand on the highly legible dial. It also comes in a variety of colorways and a new smaller 37mm case size. and the updated E365 version is water resistant to 300 meters. For a more aggressive style, the Orca is just the ticket with its oversized markings and 46 millimeter case along with the Ecozilla with its rounded profile, 9:00 crown, and 300 m of water resistance. And then the oversized 53mm Aqualan 200M depth meter, boasting a legitimate depth gauge, maximum depth memory function, and a rapid ascent alarm. And if your tastes run more toward the mechanical movements, you have the Fugu automatic. It's named after a puffer fish. Features a 44 millimeter case similar to the Eco Drive Promaster Dive, but with a crown at 8:00. Another automatic model is the 41mm Fuji Subo, which gets a retro Mercedes handset in titanium construction. It's based on the classic challenge diver with a vintage model being found on the Australian beach covered in barnacles being on the ocean floor for years. That said, this line does seem to be on its way out as there are not that many examples still available. Now, the Air series of the ProMaster is where you'll find some of Citizen's more advanced tech with legitimate street cred amongst those in the trade. It takes Eco Drive and adds to the recipe with several variants featuring atomic timekeeping synced to the radio time signal in Fort Collins, Colorado. The aviation theme Navi Hawk and Skyhawk models typically have large case sizes, chronograph, advanced calendar functions, and world time functions, with some utilizing analog digital dials. Citizen has a long-standing association also with the US Navy Blue Angels arerobatic team. And you'll find an assortment of special editions in the ProMaster Air catalog at any given time along with other aviation ccentric collaborations including the UK's Royal Air Force Red Arrows and Canada's Snowbirds. Now, the Promaster Land Series is a much more narrow range than the Air and Sea models, featuring larger tech heavy references geared towards mountaineering and navigation. All current Land models use Eco Drive movements and have 200 m of water resistance. The 43.9 mm steel U822 model includes chronograph, world time, perpetual calendar, and alarm functions along with an internal compass bezel, analog digital display, and sapphire crystal. The Sunno Chrono Racer versions have a bullhead style crown and a pusher arrangement, a 1/5 flyback chronograph, alarm, and power reserve indicator available in stainless steel or super titanium. And then finally, the 47 millimeter Ultacron variants offering a built-in alttimeter for serious climbers, plus an electronic compass and power reserve indicator. Moving outside of the ProMasters, but remaining in this tier, there are three additional collections I would call attention to. Now starting with the Zenshin which boasts a modern integrated format rendered in super titanium available in threehand and chronograph eco drive versions as well as popular mechanical series with a small seconds display. Super titanium utilizes Citizen's Durate technology making it about five times harder than stainless steel and helping prevent nicks and scratches. The mechanical variants run on 8000 series movements as is the case with most of the watches that we've referenced in tier 2 thus far and feature a go anywhere 100 meters of water resistance. Along with their titanium cases and bracelets, all Zenhin versions get a sapphire crystal for added scratch resistance along with a broad assortment of intriguing dial textures and colorways. The technical Sukiomi AT offers a greatest hits of Citizen in a 43mm super titanium format. Available in five bold dial colorways, the long list of specs includes the atomic timekeeping from its built-in radio receiver. One of the standout complications though is the inclusion of a moonphase display at six, which is unusual within Citizens Altogether and mirrored by the lunar surface dial texture. Other highlights include Eco Drive solar power, world time and 24 time zones, a perpetual calendar, day display, a power reserve indicator, and 100 m water resistance. And then wrapping up tier 2, we have a fan favorite and a breakout hit for the brand, the Suyosa, which has expanded its lineup since its release in 2022. A mashup of classic Rolex styling cues, the integrated looks, recalls the Oyster quartz Datejust, as does the president style three-link bracelet. You have bright dial colorways evoking Oyster Perpetuals, and a date Cyclops on the sapphire crystal also pays homage to the crown. Now, the automatic 8000 series movements offer hacking and hand winding. First launched at 40 mm, the Suyosa range now has branched out since with 37 millimeter versions and a 40mm small seconds model, which seems to not be as available these days, but has this Guisha style dial texture joining the party done by press all while maintaining an attractive price point in the process. The third tier for Citizens catalog is where the brand takes a step up in materials, 9000 series movements, and other specifications such as advanced timekeeping techniques that start around and extend past $1,000. The Series 8 family jumps up in terms of its finishing, which begins to show signs of refinement enhanced to the watches previously mentioned. They feature sculptural lines, sharp case work, and integrated Hlink bracelets. Think of these as the step up from the Suyosa series, also following a similar genre. Along with the finishing, the series 8 variants all boast four herz automatic 9000 series calibers, high magnetic resistance of 16,000 ampers per meter, well over 3x the ISO 764 standard, upgraded water resistance, applied indices, and enhanced dial textures. The ThreeHand 831 is a confident 40mm daily driver with 100 meters of water resistance and handsome looks. The 870 takes the time and date format and raises the stakes with an upscaled two-tone bezel reminiscent of the Omega constellation griffs. The 42.6 mm 890 checks in as a classy sports watch with 200 m of water resistance, adding an internal timing bezel to the checklist. Finally, the fan favorite 880 offers a true GMT movement in the caliber 9054 with its fully independent hourhand joining the birectional 24-hour bezel. The 90-54 is an improved true GMT caliber to the 9075, getting up magnetic resistance and a tighter accuracy standard. Moving along, we have the Aessa series, which leverages Citizens's expertise in timekeeping and materials with every model offering EcoDrive powered atomic or satellite GPS accuracy along with super titanium construction and 100 m of water resistance. The best comp here is to basically say that this is Citizen's take on the Seikko Astron series. The threehand CB028 models have a world time bezel, synchronized atomic time adjustment across 26 time zones, and a perpetual calendar. The 40.6 millm case receives the added protection of a DLC coating, which calls upon a sapphire crystal and has 100 m of water resistance. The AT8200 series adds a laundry list of functionality, including a 120th of a second chronograph, 12 or 24-hour timekeeping, and an atomic world time in a 42mm case. And then the 44.6 millm CC4000 models up the ante with satellite wave GPS timekeeping for world time reception, a host of options including UTC, daylight savings time, dual time, and world time, as well as a chronograph and power reserve capped off by a sapphire crystal and bezel. And finally, the CC 4100 variants boasts all of the above in a slick integrated 43.2 mm case available in multiple finishes. And wrapping up our third tier, we come to the PCAT series of classically styled chronographs. It's an acronym for perpetual calendar atomic timekeeping. So yes, I like PCAT more as that is much easier to say. The PCATs pack a ton of function and value into their 43mm cases, which start at less than $700. Available in several colorways and finishes, the PCAT offers what few can match in this neighborhood. It includes radiocrolled atomic time, 24 time zones, a chronograph, perpetual calendar, 12 or 24-hour time, a power reserve, and an alarm function courtesy of its Eco Drive solar movement. And on top of it, sapphire crystal and 200 m of water resistance. So, now we've arrived to tier 4. This is where Citizen starts to really flex its muscles of capability. But despite this, it's terribly and criminally underrated by comparison to many of the other collections that we've talked about thus far. This is where we begin to see that classification that I talked about earlier. Brands within a brand itself and then also are able to show products that I would deem as complete luxury propositions. Really, what you're seeing at this price range is more of the idea around Citizen. And as they elevate, they have this distinct execution of fusing Japanese craftsmanship with bleeding edge tech. And you're going to see a lot of that tech being showcased in what these watches are capable of. Now, there's no other way to really put it. The model family known as the Citizen is a phenomenal set of watches that I am very happy to finally see get distribution in international markets. It can be best described as the brand's answer to Grand Seiko, and they do a nice job of stacking up. Here you'll find similar level of outstanding fit and finish in both high accuracy quartz and mechanical models. Distinguished by citizens applied eagle mark dials display fascinating textures like Japanese washi paper, sand ripples, and feathered brush strokes matched by precisely cut applied indices and dothine hands. The AQ4100 quartz models are powered by the Eco Drive caliber A060, boasting a jaw-dropping accuracy of plus or minus 5 seconds per year. And keep in mind, these are coming by way of solar charging, bypassing the need for routine battery changes. The movement also offers an energy saving function, shock detection, time difference correction, automatic hand positioning, perpetual calendar, and a precise date change over at 12 among other perks. Sized at 38 mm and crafted in super titanium, the course models are water resistant to 100 meters and also receive a DLC coating in platinum, rose, or yellow gold tones. And the brand hasn't forgotten about its mechanical watch makingaking shops as well. The Citizen also comes as a sleek 40mm integrated steel model with small seconds display. And the caliber 0200 and 0210 movements are accurate to minus3 to plus 5 seconds per day offer a 60-h hour power reserve and fine finishing visible through that display case back. At the apex of Citizen's Solar Tech is where models like the Eco Drive One line sit. The brand's thinnest light powered watches ever. With a movement just 1 millimeter thin, and that's roughly the same thickness as a credit card for reference, some versions have an unbelievable case height of under 3 mm altogether, with the tallest versions checking in at a shade over 4.5 mm. The 36.6 mm models have a traditional case shape and a small second sub dial and are available in a variety of colorways and finishes. In a stylistic left turn, the 38.6 6 mm time only variant draw inspiration from 70 sports watches while maintaining a total thickness of just 3.88 mm thanks to its one piece construction. And finally putting a bow on tier 4, we finish with a brute of a tool watch that puts the pro in promaster, the mighty 1000m. Now if you were ever to jump on a dive boat and look at what's on the wrist of those that are ready to take the plunge, you would see the Citizen Promaster Diver series quite frequently. This take in the ProMaster series is the granddaddy of them all. As you might have guessed, this 53 millimeter super titanium Brute is water resistant to 1,000 meters with a durate finish for added scratch resistance. The watch also features Eco Drive solar power with a 540day power reserve, an automatic helium escape valve for saturation diving, and a locking bezel ring that safeguards against accidental turning. The dial is also very legible thanks to some of the widest loom hands and markers that you're going to see. And despite its massive size, the 1,000 meter checks in well under 200 g due to titanium's lightweight and will wear better than you might think given its lack of traditional lugs. At nearly $3,000, the ProMaster 1000M does not come cheap. However, its construction practically guarantees nothing short of a direct hit from a torpedo will sink it. But there you have it, guys. Those are the tiers of citizen watches. A brand that I think is overlooked in certain pockets and can be very confusing for first- timers that are trying to navigate the brand. So, if you did find this one helpful, please give this video a thumbs up, subscribe, hit the bell icon. Really do appreciate that. If you did find this helpful, uh, let me know in the comments down below. If you have any other tips for people, if you're a collector of Citizen, uh, leave those comments down below. That's also helpful for people that are trying to navigate the brand for the first time. And if you find these videos helpful on trying to understand the hierarchy of a brand, is there a brand that we have not touched on yet, and I think we've only done two of these thus far that you would like us to go deeper with? Uh, leave a comment down below on what you would like to see. I think to this point it's just Seikko and Citizens. So, just two Japanese brands. Maybe there's something in the water in Japan where they just are a little confusing with how they set up their collections, but a lot of brands are guilty of this. So, if you'd like us to do more, let us know in the comments which one you would like us to attack next. Also, check out teddyer.com. Full authorized dealer for over 35 brands. Every purchase from our website comes with quick and fast fulfillment, dedicated customer support, and a full factory warranty for all the products that we offer. 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