My Eastern Watch Collection: Citizen Promaster Mechanical Diver 200M NB6004-83E (similar to NB6004-08E, NB6005-05L, NB6006-02X)

Not many brands can be recognized as a premier dive watch designer. By this I mean brands that can come out with iconic designs that are evergreen and a source for inspiration for many other brands to copy and emulate. Seiko with their Tuna design and Rolex with the Submariner design are such iconic examples. Citizen is one such company that is a member of this exclusive group. Citizen's call to fame is its iconic 1982 Professional Dive Watch 1300m.

In March 2021, Citizen launched an updated modern offering of the iconic 1982 Professional Dive Watch 1300m in the form of the BN0220-16E. This latest rendering is powered by an Eco-Drive module and only has a 200 meter water rating (the original is a quartz engine with 1300 meter of water rating). I was able to get one for the collection (click here to read the review).

Also in March 2021, Citizen quietly announced the launched of the Citizen Promaster Mechanical Diver 200m series. These watches has the NB600X reference code. This new series is not sold widely around the world. What makes it interesting is that it represents a return to automatic movement-based dive watches by Citizen. The automatic movement introduced by Citizen is a new design and designated the Caliber 9051. The movement is a modern 4Hz frequency mechanism with 42 hours of power reserve. The movement is also highly magnetic-resistant.

The NB600X series has a design that is refreshingly new in the way it plays with angles and surfaces of the watch. Fundamentally, the design is contemporary but the subtle way the surfaces and angles interplay with each other makes it unique. Moreover, the combination with a new automatic movement is significant as the last time Citizen came out with an automatic movement was in 2010.

I had to get one for the collection but due to the fact that it is not sold widely around the world, where I am staying, I can only have access to the NB6004-08E, the flagship model for the series. Good thing I delayed getting it as I found out that Amazon UK has the only bracelet version in stock, the NB6004-83E. It also happened that I was making a trip to Scotland and I immediately made an order.

The Series

Citizen in known for advanced quartz and solar-powered watches. It was a happy surprised that for 2021, the brand started to focus some energy in developing mechanical powered watch, Citizen finally listened to customers and saw how the market is progressing.

This 2021 mechanical Promaster is the first (hopefully of many) high-end mechanical professional timepiece with a new caliber. Large and stylish, it has many cool features that justify the asking price.

Currently there are four models under the series. These four models are not available in all jurisdictions. The typical model found in most jurisdiction is the NB6004-08E which happens to be the flagship model for the series. This model is the one used by Citizen in press releases and videos.

NB6004-08E

I found out that there is a bracelet version of the watch, the NB6004-83E. However, this version is only sold in a few jurisdictions (I was made to understand only Europe got this version). This second model has the same case design and dial colour as the first model.

NB6004-83E

Nevertheless, if you were to go to the Japanese website for Citizen, you will be able to see two additional models which I believe are unique to the Japanese market, i.e. these are JDM models. These have the urethane strap as standard with a DLC surface treatment for the casing. The NB6005-05L is the only one of the series that has a blue dial instead of black.

NB6005-05L

The fourth and final model is the NB6006-02X. This has a gold trim around the bezel rims, hands and hour markers. Generally, this would be considered as a unique or limited edition model but it is not.

NB6006-02X

The models that come with the urethane strap as standard also come with an extended strap if you need wear the watch over a dive suit.

The Watch

The Promaster Mechanical Diver 200m is a tool watch made for professional divers. For a stated 200 meter dive watch, the watch casing appears to be built to withstand much higher pressures. Made out of special titanium alloy unique to Citizen, the Super Titanium™ the case has been further treated with Duratect MRK, another Citizen’s proprietary technology. This technology is a surface hardening formula, making it lighter and more resistant to scratches.

This watch is substantial with a case diameter of 46.0 mm. Looking at the dimensions, it would not be wrong to categorize this watch only for people with larger wrists. However, careful design and the use of the bracelet to provide balance allows this watch to be worn by people with smaller wrists as well. Although it has a case thickness of 15.3 mm, the bracelet and the thick clasp provides equilibrium from a visual point of view.

There are many angles and surfaces on the watch. All the surfaces has been finely brushed. The design of the case also includes a semi-shroud for the large uni-directional bezel also in titanium. I must say the bezel is the core to this watch's DNA. It features deeply stamped dive time markings, six exposed screws, and a deeply engraved diamond pattern. Here is where the character of the watch manifest itself. A number of online reviewers have opined that this new series from Citizen has the most expressive bezels found on any new diver’s watch for 2021. I can't agree more on this assertion.

The Dial

The dial is business-like with a strong focus on legibility. Painted in black, the base of the dial once again features a diamond pattern similar to the bezel. On the dial itself, there are applied hour makers, which comprise of various shapes. These applied markers are painted with luminous paint. The same paint is also used on the (Citizen's iconic) handset with the orange framed minutes hand and seconds hand ball pointer. Apart from the orange paint on the handset, there is also a spot of orange at the 12:00 marker.

Apart from the applied hour markers, there is also another timing scale located at the sloping chapter ring. This can be used to track minutes and seconds.

At 3:00 is the date aperture. The simple rectangular cut is made through the dial without any framing that allows one to observe the date wheel. Citizen has not eliminated the applied hour marker for this location but instead designed something that sits on two sides of the aperture.

There are five lines of texts and logo on the dial. The brand sits prominently on the upper quadrant while the rest are located on the bottom quadrant. At the bottom edge of the dial in small print are the words "MADE IN JAPAN 9051-S166441 EY". All the texts and logo are painted on the dial in white.

Protecting the dial is a domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating. Due to the curvature of the crystal, different angles changes the appearance of the dial. It creates a nice effect.

The bezel has a squared-off gear tooth edge to facilitate grip and is one of the most outstanding part of the watch. Along the inner circle of the bezel is a sloped section with minute markers painted black. As highlighted earlier, the embossed dive time markings, exposed screws, and a deeply textured surface creates a lot of visual cues. As required of a professional dive watch, a luminous pip is also located at 12:00. Meanwhile, the uni-directional bezel has a 60-click gradation for a complete rotation. There is no looseness felt when turning the bezel.

On closer inspection, the bezel actually has two tones, a medium-grey bezel with a dark-grey insert. As highlighted earlier, each part of the case is treated with a variant of Citizen’s proprietary process that hardens the metal’s surface. The case is treated with Duratect MRK, the bezel with Duratect TIC, and the dark-grey bezel insert, Duratect DLC. All three treatment creates different shades of grey that is pleasing to the eye.

- Duratect MRK treatment for the case starts with the component placed in a vacuum chamber that’s sealed and then heated to several hundred degrees. The hot chamber is then saturated with a mix of gases, causing certain molecules to bond with the surface of titanium, increasing its hardness.

- Duratect TIC treatment for the bezel is a coating of titanium carbide that increases the wear-resistance without compromising functionality.

- Duratect DLC treatment for the bezel insert is short for diamond-like carbon that gives it a darker, slightly glossy finish, while also improving its scratch resistance.

The bezel sits on the watch casing partially protected inside a semi-shroud that flares out from both the lugs. The side profile shows the semi-shroud more clearly. It has a similar design to the Seiko Monsters.

At the 3:00 is the knurled screw-down signed crown. Although designed like many other Citizen Promaster dive watches before, my personal view is that a change in design is in order with this watch. Having a simple knurled screw-down crown for an Eco-Drive powered watch is fine as the frequency of manipulating the crown to manually wind or adjust the time is very low (the movement is so accurate and being powered by light makes the number of time you need the crown in the one or twice a year category). However, for an automatic watch, it could be in the weekly or even daily category. As such, a slightly larger and more tactile crown is preferred in this case.

The case-back of the watch is a solid screw-down titanium plate with some key facts about the about including the serial number. The case-back is again very business-like and devoid of any graphics.

Underneath this back plate is the new automatic Caliber 9051. The 9051 uses anti-magnetic materials for the balance spring and surrounding components to boost the overall magnetic resistance of the watch. It is capable of maintaining performance even when placed one (1) cm from a device emitting a magnetic field of 16,000 A/m. With 24 jewels, the 9051 has a stated accuracy of between -10 sec/day and +20 sec/day. The main springs have 42 hours of power reserve.

This new caliber is an iteration from the 90xx series family of movements. It is fairly thin at 4.1 mm high (thinner than an ETA 2824 but thicker than the ETA 2892). The 9051 satisfies the Japan Industrial Standards requirement for a “magnetic-resistant portable watch”, specifically the highest-spec Type 2 as per the JISB7024, which requires magnetic resistance of at least 16,000 A/m. That’s sufficient to withstand the magnetic fields generated by mobile devices.

The NB6004-83E is the only model in the series that comes with a titanium bracelet. Made out of the name material as the watch casing, whole weight of the watch combine is only 147 gm. The bracelet is attached to the 24.0 mm wide lugs and tapers down to 20.0 mm at the clasp. The clasp has a double push button with safety latch. In addition, the clasp also includes a diver's extension that is accessed via a dedicated pair of push buttons. The clasp does not have any micro adjustment points. Nevertheless, the diver's extension which is on a ratcheting system can help fine tune the strap length to the wrist. Meanwhile, on the safety latch, the brand is stamped prominently on the metal.

Citizen employs short lugs to the watch. This helps contain the overall size of the watch to (lug-to-lug) approximately 51 mm. When compared to the width of the watch casing, the lugs only added 5 mm to the full length of the watch.

Below is the shot of the watch in semi-darkness.

The Wearing Experience

Although there is no reason to doubt the capabilities of the new Citizen Promaster NB6004-83E, Citizen took the initiative to comply by ISO (International Organization for Standardization) as ISO6425 certified. This certification is only obtained once a watch passes all the tests under that particular standard. This added comfort by an independent third party shows how confident Citizen is about this product.

Using a titanium alloy as the main material makes it a relatively lightweight watch. Nevertheless, this watch is still significantly obvious to the wearer. It feels substantial on the wrist and won’t fit under the cuff. Titanium is also an inert material that won’t cause irritations to the skin. Furthermore, it has way better anti-corrosive properties especially when immersed in seawater.

I have a 6.75 inch wrist. I had to take out 3links for me to sized the bracelet to be (slightly) loosely on my wrist. Above is a video of the watch on my wrist.

Citizen's design philosophy on professional tool watches remains true with the NB6004-83E. A diver will appreciate this watch immensely.

The Unboxing

Citizen provided a very interesting display box for this watch. Citizen's plastic-based yellow SCUBA tank watch-box is a cute presentation for this timepiece. Instead of keeping it in the storage box, I am inclined to actually display it on the shelve.