The best Citizen watches

Citizen Eco-Drive Divers are some of the most popular affordable dive watches, and that’s because they don’t slouch on capabilities, and outperform watches that cost twice as much. Citizen isn’t content with simply releasing affordable solar-powered steel watches, and has updated this line with proprietary, scratch-resistant “Super Titanium.” The result is a watch that’s more durable — the lighter-weight diver that upgrades one of the top Citizen watches and keeps the brand fresh.

The biggest selling point of this watch is that it takes advantage of space-age materials to improve upon an already-classic diver. The all-titanium construction keeps things lightweight, with this watch weighing in at 3.3 ounces and change, when adjusted for my wrist. Citizen uses a proprietary alloy of titanium, which they claim is much harder than standard Grade V titanium, making this watch all the more scratch-resistant and keeping it looking new for longer. Being an ISO-certified diver’s watch, this watch has been individually tested for durability and features great luminescence and readability. Finally, this watch keeps good time, since it’s a Citizen Eco-Drive, which is guaranteed to be within plus or minus 15 seconds per day, and often performs much better.

The weakest point of this watch is the bracelet, and it mars an otherwise-stellar watch, being a janky single-link affair that has much less flex than three- or five-link bracelets. Additionally, the clasp is the only feature of the watch that’s less-than-adequate for diving, offering no wetsuit extension and only three holes for micro-adjusting. I’d likely end up putting this on a nylon strap for amphibious use, and a leather strap for desk-diver duty. Another issue is that for all the talking that Citizen does about the scratch resistance of its Super Titanium, it opted for ordinary mineral crystal rather than sapphire, which while not abnormal in this price bracket, is something that’s fast becoming less common.

If I had to list characteristics that were necessary for a field watch to be considered “standard-issue,” it would be things like accuracy, long life, durability, visibility in all conditions, and dimensions that fit a wide array of body types. The Citizen Garrison 8180, also known as the Citizen Chandler, hits all these points, and in some cases does so better than watches that cost double the MSRP. This is a watch that’s poised to become a modern classic, which brings Citizen’s Eco-Drive technology to the world of field watches.

The Citizen Garrison 8180 is, in my opinion, up there with the Seiko SNK in terms of the best budget field watches. It is slim and compact, and its unisex design means that no matter who you are or what you’re wearing, this one will fit just fine and won’t easily snag or catch on clothing or other objects. Many field watches are content with 50 or even 30 meters of water resistance, but the Citizen 8180 carries a much safer 100 meters, meaning that this is a watch that you can take near the water and be just fine. This is a watch that won’t quit, being solar-powered, so it’ll stay charged as long as you aren’t subterranean for six months straight. Topping it all off, this watch has great luminescence and readability, which is something that field watches can often lack.

At this price point, it’s not all amazing stellar performance, and the biggest issue is one inherent to quartz movements at this price: alignment. The second hand may not always align with the individual indices, which is mostly an issue for those who are nitpickers like me. Other endemic issues at this price point are the strap and crystal, with the strap being stiff, uncomfortable, and having fewer holes to properly adjust with, and the crystal being mineral glass that scratches more than sapphire would. The strap is replaceable, at least, but the crystal is an unfortunate effect of buying in this price bracket.

Back in the days before redundant computer systems in aircraft cockpits, pilots would have to track things like fuel consumption by using slide rules. Since then, technology has progressed, but at that moment in time, the idea of the wrist-mounted flight instrument was born. The Citizen Nighthawk was born of that, and is one of the best watches for pilots, since not only does it hearken back to that moment in time, but it also actually stands head and shoulders above any pilot’s watch in this price category, if you can forgive the complex dial.

The Citizen Nighthawk is a masterfully designed aviation watch that punches well above its weight, as most of the best Citizen watches do. This watch wears far smaller than its stated 42-millimeter width, and a good portion of that is the proportionally small 46-millimeter lug-to-lug length. Another thing that helps is the most fantastic bracelet, which is a real three-link solid steel bracelet, leaving no corners cut. Finally, the Nighthawk has good luminescence, so it’s legible in a dark cockpit, or just when you’re checking your watch in the middle of the night.

This watch has so many important functions that make it one of the best watches for pilots, but that makes the dial incredibly cluttered. On the dial, you have a slide rule bezel, standard clock dial, 24-hour display, and date window, and making sense of all that at a glance can be difficult. Secondly, as you’d expect from a Citizen watch at this price, the crystal covering the dial is mineral glass, which will scratch under heavy use. Finally, the clasp has almost nothing in the way of micro-adjustments, so you might find yourself in between sizes, unless you swap the clasp for something more substantial, especially if you’re a pilot who wears your watch over your flight suit.

The idea of an expensive Citizen watch almost sounds like an oxymoron, but this is a rare Citizen watch, indeed. This is the most accurate, most precise watch ever crafted, and that’s not an exaggeration. Specifically designed to deliver the accuracy that people associate with GPS-corrected watches, without the correction, the Caliber 0100 is the literal apex of independent timekeeping. This is an amazing watch, if you can afford it.

The unbeatable accuracy is the selling point of this watch, obviously, being so impressive that it’s only bested by atomic clocks. This was achieved by having a quartz crystal that vibrates in the millions of hertz (not the thousands), and by using things like anti-backlash motors, a movement that checks its own hand positions, and so much more, all powered by Citizen’s trademark Eco-Drive movement. Housing this is a beautifully finished titanium case with impeccable lines, polishing, dial, and indices, which are nonetheless understated unless you know what to look for.

Unfortunately, many people who spend Rolex money want Rolex recognition, and the Citizen Caliber 0100 isn’t it. Despite being one of our best solar watches of all time, for obvious reasons, most people will perceive it as being simply another Citizen watch, like any other watch you’d get at the mall. Another issue is how difficult this watch is to buy, since so many of these watches, if not all, are on the certified pre-owned market by now, owing to the extremely limited quantity.

Citizen started watchmaking long ago, but in recent years it’s been known for mastering solar quartz watches, perhaps unfairly. Citizen has been producing some of the best cheap dive watches for decades, and yet has remained overshadowed by the Seiko SKX. Unlike the SKX however, the Citizen NY series is here to stay, and it has updated its long-running series with Super Titanium and an improved movement.

The new Citizen NY series takes full advantage of Citizen’s embrace of so-called Super Titanium, being ultralight and scratch-resistant, making this a featherweight joy to wear. The crown position is an interesting one as well, not placed at the usual three o’clock position, or even the SKX’s 4:30, but instead positioned at eight o’clock. Not only does this make for a very comfortable watch for right-handed users, but it also makes this one of the best watches for left-handed people, since the crown is on the opposite side. Finally, and obviously, this isn’t just a classic oddball watch that’s made of space-age materials — it’s also officially certified, meaning this is just as much a tool watch as any other.

Unfortunately, like with a lot of Citizen’s more affordable watches, the bracelet is the weak point of this watch. Once again, it’s a single-link bracelet meant to look like a multi-link one. Additionally, like with other affordable Citizen watches, the crystal is mineral and will scratch more easily, so if you value scratch resistance, you’ll need a replacement. Finally, Citizen owns Miyota, and despite the fact that Miyota 9000 series movements are becoming increasingly common with microbrand watches from other companies, Citizen is committed to using an 8000-series movement with less stellar stats.