No 267 & 326 - Citizen Royal Marines Commando

This is one of my absolute favorite tool watches. How could you ever go wrong with a matte titanium case, 300m depth rating, Eco-Drive, lots of lume, screw down crown and case back and then top it off with a monocoque design? Exactly, you can't, impossible! And then to call it Royal Marines Commando, I mean, you don’t even have to try to sell it to me because I have already bought it. Perhaps the big Royal Marines logo ruined the dial a bit. I think it would have looked a lot cleaner without it. The engraving on the case back alone would have been enough. Anyhow, this watch is just awesome. A perfect everyday/adventure watch. The only feature it lacks is a bezel but at the same time I think it looks much better without one. The 40mm case with the 20mm lugs makes it sit perfect and you have tons of strap options to play around with. I didn’t like the kevlar strap it came on and mainly wore my first one on a black Isofrane. The second one got equipped with an original Seiko Marine Master 300 rubber which gave it a unique and cool look but it also was very comfortable once you’d broken in the rubber and it became a little softer and more flexible. 

#267 - The Citizen Royal Marines Commando, ref. BN0110-06E.

On the Isofrane.

I can only recommend this watch. I haven’t really got anything bad to say about it. It’s affordable and you really get your money’s worth. If you don’t like the Royal Marines logo there are a few other versions of this watch that has pretty much the same specifications but without the logo. 

#326 - The second one on the kevlar strap.

On the MM300 rubber.

 

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 263 - Citizen Navihawk

Citizen Navihawk. I can’t remember how or why I ended up with this watch. It’s nothing I’d usually look for so my best bet is that I accepted it as a means of payment in some other watch deal. The watch was cool though. Tons of features but I don’t think I even opened up the manual to learn about them. From reading the specifications you could tell that this watch could be a pretty nice travel companion using the atomic time keeping function that would automatically synchronize to all the different time zones around the world. 

#262 - The Citizen Navihawk, ref. JY8035-04E.

The watch itself looked pretty cool with its extremely busy dial and PVD treatment. It looked professional. It measured 48mm excl. crown but I don’t remember that the size bothered me, instead I remember it wore pretty nice for being that big. What I liked the most was the rubber that had the big NAVIHAWK print all over but I think Citizen should have fitted it with a better clasp than the cheap generic kind that you find on so many rubbers. I assume it’s a pilot’s watch but I have no clue how it compares to e.g. Breitling’s pilot series. Are Citizen doing their own thing? Are they copying Breitling? Are the features better/worse than Breitling’s? Should you even compare the two? I have no clue whatsoever. All in all it felt like a decent watch of good quality that could do a whole lot more than I figured out.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 229 - Citizen Ecozilla BJ8051-05E

The Ecozilla sure does look like a beast. It’s brutally big and on the verge of being unwearable. To me it is not aesthetically appealing in any way. It is ugly. Without the strap adapters from Suppaparts it is even uglier on its original integrated rubber. With the suppa adapters it wears bigger but it is more versatile and gives you the option to choose any rubber strap you want. I wore mine on the classic N.D. Limits original Citizen rubber. It got to stay with me for a few weeks in the summer of 2014 before it moved on. Far from being one a favorite.

#229 - The Citizen Ecozilla ref. BJ8051-05E.

An engraving seen on many other dive watches. Not very unique.

Martin and I on a beer break during pike fishing in early August 2014.

BBQ in late July. Later the Ecozilla got to go on a midnight swim.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 209 & 231 - Citizen BM6400-00E

So what do we have here? A so called Ray Mears Citizen? No, unfortunately not. But this one still is kind of cool. They do resemble each other but the BM6400 is made out of steel instead of titanium and doesn’t have the monocoque case. It’s basically a simpler version. But it is still water resistant to 200m and has the Eco-Drive feature. It also is way more common and cheaper (about $100 used) which are two good advantages if you’re looking for a good beater. It measure 40mm excl. crown and the lug width is 21mm. Put it on a rubber, nato or a canvas and it will look great. Overall a great legible and solid watch suitable for any outdoor activities. No wonder this series of watches from Citizen are nicknamed “tough”. That’s just what they are. I wouldn’t doubt a second that they can't live up to that nickname.

I’ve had two BM6400’s. The first one I used quite much, especially when fishing. For instance it got to go on a fishing adventure to England were it both got wet in the lake and in the pub. I mostly wore it on a 22m silicon tropic rubber (that I squeezed in place) which looked quite good but it did attract some dust. I don’t think I ever wore it on the canvas it was being delivered on. 

#209 - The Citizen BM6400-00E.

The great lume should not be forgotten!

At work.

At a local pub in Dorking, England, February 2014, after a day of fishing.

The second one I bought because I was planning to give it away to a friend for his birthday. My friends and I came up with something else and I still had the watch. Then later my sister asked me if I had any good recommendations for a watch that she could give to her husband. Knowing what he does for a living I figured this watch was pretty much perfect for him and I haven’t seen him without it since he got it. 

#231 - Number two which initially was bought to serve as a gift.

I know there is another reference for this watch, BM6400-18E, which I think is the same watch but just upgraded with the Promaster logo on the dial, but I’m not entirely sure of this. Maybe they were manufactured during the same period but sold in different markets? I haven't investigated that any further.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 130 - Citizen Aqualand AL0004-03E

So this is the Aqualand I got together with the Tissot Seastar in that package deal. Instead of a digital display for the depth meter, like on the classic Aqualand, this one has an analog hand showing the depth. Bought it just for fun, two tones are always nice, but I never had any intentions to use it. I just wanted to check it out. I’ve seen the same model in PVD with gold details and also one with a full lume dial. It still seems to be a pretty popular model among all the different Aqualand’s. It definitely is a beater and most of the used ones you see for sale are usually pretty banged up. If I had to choose between this one and the classic Aqualand I’d go for the two toned JP2004-07E which in my opinion is a cooler watch.

#130 - The Citizen Aqualand AL0004-03E.

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No 118, 190 & 293 - Citizen Aqualand CO23 & JP2004-07E

The two tone classic Aqualand; my favorite in the Aqualand series of the ones I’ve had. My first one was the CO23 which was a wreck and showed obvious signs of having taken in water sometime during its lifetime. Got it really cheap and I only wanted it because it still had its original two tone bracelet which you don’t see every day. I think the analog part was working but the digital module was dead. Sold it for parts together with the second CO22 I had. The modern JP2004-07E is the one I really like. There aren’t many beaters that I would prefer to be two tone but this one really looks great with its gold details. But one thing that really surprised me when looking back on the pictures I took of it is that it didn’t have a serial number on the case back which I find really mysterious. This was nothing I noticed during the time I had it. I remember owning the JP2000-08E at the same time as my JP2004-07E and they worked identical and there was no difference in the lume (I would have remembered that!) which otherwise would have been a good tell if the JP2004-07E would have been a fake. But I really do find it strange that it didn’t have a serial number.

#118 - The Citizen Aqualand CO23 on the original bracelet. In pretty poor condition.

#190 - The Citizen Aqualand JP2004-07E.

Case back without serial number.

It’s a shame that none of my Aqualands ever got to feel the touch of water. The only Aqualand right now that I might be interested in trying would be the so-called “Enzo”; the PVD version. Quite cool and the fact the Jean Reno wore one in the movie Le Grand Bleu, which might be one of the best movies of all time, makes it an icon. This would probably be my favorite if I had had one. I just wish there'd been a modern version of it because I really hate the design of the old case back.

UPDATE - May 1st 2016.

Last month I received another JP2004-07E as a part trade in a deal. I figured an Aqualand would always come in handy and had no problem accepting it when it was offered to me. Luckily they are always easy to sell. No wonder since they are great allround beaters. I was glad to see it had a serial number and then discovered that it is almost invisible i certain angles so my second Aqualand, which I thought was without a serial number, most likley had one but it just wasn't visible in the pictures.

#293 - Received it head only.

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No 48, 114 & 119 – Citizen Aqualand CO22 & JP2000-08E

The classic Citizen Aqualand. A diver’s watch rated to 200m with an analog and a digital display that also is fitted with a depth gauge and an alarm. An ugly shaped beast that gets cooler the more you look at it. A true icon, no doubt about that. I got my first one in July 2010. This was the original version with the case back that was held down by six tiny screws. I received it on a red silicon rubber strap which I had to cut away with a knife because the spring bars were impossible to access. Instead I put it on a 24mm black nato. One chill summer morning when I took my bike to work the glass fogged up on the inside. Had to order a set of those specially shaped O-rings before I wanted to wear it again.

#48 – The Citizen Aqualand CO22 on the red rubber before it arrived to me. (picture taken by previous owner)

Got my second CO22 in January 2012. It was pretty banged up but looked really cool and came on its original rubber strap which was so soft and super comfy. Sold it together with a CO23 (the two tone version) as a package deal. The Aqualand sure is a great beater but I do feel a little uncomfortable with vintage watches and decided to get the latest version of it.

#114 – My second CO22.

It took me until September 2013 to pick up the new JP2000-08E. And why I picked it up was just because I got a really good price on a used one and couldn’t let it get away. The thing was that the day before I was offered the used JP2000-08E I had actually gone and bought a brand new JP2004-07E (the new ref of the two tone version). I actually do find the two tone a little cooler. I know it’s not a tooly look with the gold details but I think it looks great. Anyhow, the JP2000-08E was quickly flipped for the same dough. I just wanted to own it.

#191 – The JP2000-08E, the modern Aqualand.

The round screw down case back instead of the case-shaped case back.

The vintage CO22 is cool but I prefer the new JP2000-08E. It’s a solid beater that actually has got some really cool features. It can be found new for as low as $250 if you know where to look. The classic Aqualand, along with the Omega Bond Seamaster, is probably the two watches that I feel like I spot most frequently while inspecting random people’s wrists.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.