Citizen Mechanical Aviator Green Dial NJ0100-38X - A Seiko 5 Wannabe, A Review (plus Video)

I was on my way to Vietnam. As usual, once I am at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, I would visit the Time Watch Shop at Terminal C. While browsing, I happened to look at the Citizen watch section. Out of the many watches, I saw something interesting. In the pile of watches on display, there was a mechanical watch with vintage styling. I was smitten with the design and I quickly bought it since it was not that expensive. The watch I bought is the Citizen Mechanical Aviator Green Dial NJ0100-38X.

This watch has a classic pillow-case design which gives it a vintage vibe. The green dial and the leather strap were the icings that made me pull the ‘trigger’ to get it.


The Watch

The watch is 42 mm wide with a thickness of 12 mm. Lug-to-lug length is 47 mm and its lug width is 22 mm. The watch casing is made of stainless steel and it is paired with a double-layered brown leather strap. Total weight of the whole package is 77 gm.


The Dial

The dial is green and comes with aviator markings. The slopping chapter ring is also painted green with a combination of line and Arabic numbers minute markers painted in white.



The primary hour markers on the dial are painted directly on the dial and painted with luminous paint. The styling of the hour markers are aviator-like with the 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock having a line marker, the 12 o'clock having the flip-down triangle with twin dots, the 3 o'clock having a shorten line marker while the rest have Arabic numbers.

As part of the 3 o'clock position is the date window. Square in shape, it is framed by white lines. The date wheel has a white background which helps balance the missing part of the hour marker.

There are only two lines of text on the dial, the brand at the upper quadrant and the word "AUTOMATIC" at the bottom quadrant.

The hours and minutes hands are sword-like and skeleton at the bottom half. The upper half is painted with luminous paint. There is a short extension beyond the skeleton part and painted black. Meanwhile, the seconds hand is thin and painted white in the forward part and painted black in the back part.

The Casing

Protecting the dial is a flat mineral crystal. Protecting the side of the flat mineral glass is the raised and polished fixed bezel that extends beyond the cushion casing. The cushion casing is curved downwards which helps its stability on the wrist.



The main crown is located at 3 o’clock. It is a T-shaped crown with gear-tooth cut sides for grip with sterile top. It uses a push-in-pull-out system to engage the column gears. In the safe position, you can manually wind the movement by turning it clockwise (turning it counter-clockwise does not wind the movement). The first position adjusts the date complication while the second position adjusts the hands. The watch does not have a seconds hand stop mechanism (or hacking).



The screw-down case-back is solid with a few information about the watch stamped at the peripheral. Due to the concave curvature of the casing, the case-back fits in nicely within the space without extending the thickness of the watch any further. Despite the addition of the raised fixed bezel, the height of the watch is just 12 mm tall.

The whole construction provides a water rating of 100 meters.



Paired with the watch is a tough double-layered brown leather strap with white stitching. It comes with two small leather strap guides and a signed buckle. Stiff straight out of the box but soften quickly with continuous wearing. It is comfortable and is a good fit to the overall styling of the watch.




The Movement

The Caliber powering the watch is the 8210. This is a 21 jewel movement operating at 21,600 BPH or 3 Hertz. It has a power reserve approximately 45 hours and a stated accuracy of +/- 20 seconds per day. It does not have a hacking mechanism.

Based on the Toolwatch app, I tested the accuracy twice straight out of the box. The first test recorded +24.6 seconds per day while the second recorded +24.4 seconds per day. This appear to be outside the stated accuracy rate. Nevertheless, I suspect that the movement needs to be 'broken' in before it shows its true accuracy. Continuously wearing it for a week could help stabilize the accuracy.

This Caliber is an old design first manufactured in 1975. Citizen is fast realising that there is a big market for affordable mechanical watches. The continuous strong showing of the Seiko 5 series indicate that there is a large proportion of the watch-buying community may not appreciate quartz-based watches. By using dependable mechanical designs, I believe Citizen hopes to capture marketshare. EcoDrive movements are accurate and dependable but mechanical timepiece has the old-world charm that a lot of people crave for.

Pairing a basic workhorse such as the Caliber 8210 helps reduce overall price and opens up the market to a lot more people. 


The Illumination

Below is a picture of the watch in the dark. I am partially happy that Citizen's designers did not completely replace the illuminated marker for 3 o'clock with the date aperture. The partial luminescence helps maintain a level of symmetry to the dial.




The Wearing Experience

The watch wears well on my wrist of 6.75 inches. The leather is stiff out of the box but soften quickly with continuous wearing.



This watch can be compared to the basic Seiko 5 models due to the technology used and the price point it is sold at. Visually, you cannot imagine that the standards used as reference for the design can ever create such a watch that looks solid, sophisticated and cool which belies the actual asking price for the watch.



This copycat strategy like Seiko 5 may not work with Citizen in the long-run. Many years go, Citizen used to have the Seven Star range of affordable mechanical timepieces that went head-to-head against Seiko 5. It eventually lost and re-directed its focus on its Eco-Drive lines.

With Citizen having made its mark on the quartz world, I guess it is time for the brand to re-look at regaining a foothold in the affordable mechanical watch section.


The Series

Based on my research there are six members of the series with the following combinations; black dial with bracelet (NJ0100-89E); black dial with strap (NJ0100-11E); green dial with strap (NJ0100-38X); white dial with bracelet (NJ0100-89A); blue dial with bracelet (NJ0100-89L); and blue dial with strap (NJ0100-20L).

NJ0100-89E	NJ0100-11E	NJ0100-38X
NJ0100-89A	NJ0100-89L	NJ0100-20L

This series was launch in early 2019.



Specifications

MSRP: RM1000
Purchase Price/Date: RM800; 26 September 2019
Movement: Caliber 8210
Jewels: 21
Frequency: 21,600 BPH or 3 Hertz
Power Reserve: 45 hours
Accuracy: +/- 20 SpD
Case Material: Stainless steel
Bracelet: Brown leather strap
Glass: Mineral
Water Rating: 100 meters
Diameter: 42 mm
Lugs: 22 mm
Lug-to-Lug: 47 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight: 77 gm
Functions: 3-hands and date complications (quickset)


Photo Gallery