Throughout the watch collecting world, one often hears of the "grail watch." These are generally watches that an enthusiast has been lusting after for some time and plans to one-day own, but due to cost, rarity, or both, immediate ownership is not possible. Most watch collectors have not only a grail watch, but a list of grails. For me, these include such pieces as the Ernst Benz Great Circle Chronoscope, any titanium Panerai Luminor, Fortis Marine Master Chrono, Breitling SuperOcean Chrono, etc. It's a long list.

Occasionally, I come across a watch that is not in the normal grail price range, but has many of the features or styling that draws me to some of my grail watches. A good example of this is the Citizen BL5250-02L: a handsome titanium chronograph with military and aviation styling not generally found in its price range. I have been interested in a BL5250 (the 02L designates a leather strap, where as the 53L is the titanium bracelet) for a couple of years, but only recently found myself ready to give one a try. I will admit -- I had very high hopes for this watch, and it has not let me down. Here are the specs:

• 42.5 x 13mm all titanium case.
• Mineral crystal.
• Lug width of 20mm.
• Blue dial.
• Solar Eco-Drive movement.
• 270 day power reserve.
• 1/20 second chronograph (max 60 minute).
• Perpetual calendar.
• Dive style countdown bezel.
• 24 hr register.
• Alarm.
• 200m water resistant.

View the Citizen Chrono-Time AT Photo Album.

The choice for an "always right" (solar-powered, atomic time synchronized) dress watch has, up to now, been somewhat limited. Apart from the Japan-only Seiko Brightz, the only watches in this space have been from Casio (and their Oceanus brand). The Casio watches that fit the technical specs (e.g. G-Shock GW-2500BD) can't really be classed as dress watches, and the Oceanus watches (like the OCW-S1000 "Manta") are expensive and have limited availability (indeed, Casio in the UK has abandoned the Oceanus brand). But now Citizen has entered the stage with the Chrono-Time AT -- the first watch using the new Citizen H610 caliber.

There are four models to choose from, one of which is the limited edition Rose Gold model reviewed here (the UK version is reviewed; some details may vary by region). The basic specifications are:

• Solar power with 240-day power reserve.
• Atomic time synchronization across four regions (US, Europe, China, Japan).
• Sapphire glass.
• Rose Gold plated with leather strap and two-part folding clasp.
• Hour, minute, second hands.
• Chronograph minute and second hands.
• Second time zone (24 hour subdial).
• Date and time zone indicator.
• Alarm.
• Perpetual calendar.
• Circular slide rule in the bezel.
• Weight: 97g (including strap).
• Diameter: 36mm (51mm top to bottom including lugs).
• Thickness: 13mm.
• Water resistant to 200m (~650 feet).
• 5 year warranty.

On the wrist, the rose gold is subtle and the whole watch looks sophisticated without too much bling (although it might appear otherwise from the official photographs – another reason why on-the-wrist is not the same as on-the-screen). I should point out that my wrists are quite small, so the watch looks bigger than it really is (it's only slightly larger that my Breitling Aerospace).

One of the watches that's really held it's appeal to me is the Citizen PMT56-2711. Unfortunately, it's out of production and hard to find, so when a reader recently asked me for alternatives, I wasn't able to help. Since then, I've found the Citizen BM6400-00E. There's also a version with a bracelet, the BM6400-51E, although that doesn't seem to be sold in the US.

Specifications:

• Water resistant to 200m (660ft).
• 40mm by 11mm.
• Anti-reflective mineral crystal.
• Stainless steel case.
• Screw-down crown.
• Screwed caseback.
• Blue lume.
• E711 Eco-Drive quartz movement.
• Canvas strap (the bracelet is available from Citizen parts for $65 or so, part number 59-S02596).
• Best of all, a list price of $195, and a street price of $120!

More information after the break.

Today, we bring you a treat. The beast in the flesh, the internet forum darling, the Citizen Ecozilla. The model for review is the BJ8040-01E, a large dive watch that makes you feel like an old-school diver from the minute it is strapped to your wrist. Lets review the stats:

• Dive watch rated to 300 meters (almost 1,000 feet).
• Titanium case.
• 6mm thick mineral crystal.
• Helium release valve.
• Uni-directional dive time bezel.
• 180 day power reserve.
• Citizen Eco-Drive solar quartz movement.
• Movement caliber: B873.
• 46mm wide and 18mm thick.
• MSRP: $595.

View the Citizen Attesa ATV53-2933 photo gallery.

About three or four years ago, I got an email from a reader chastising us for not having better coverage of Citizen. I remember thinking at the time that I really wanted more Citizen content on Watch Report, but that they just weren't doing anything all that interesting. I promised the reader that we would keep a closer eye on Citizen's new watches, and do our best to make sure they were better represented.

Fast forward to the present, and Citizen is now one of my favorite brands. Since June of 2006, we've written 11 articles on Citizen watches, and I anticipate that the pace will increase. Every year, Citizen is stepping up their game and releasing more and more watches that are grabbing our attention. Although I'm still a diehard Japanese-market Casio G-Shock fan, I now regard Citizen watches with the exact same level of respect.

A great deal of my interest in Citizen watches comes from the Attesa line which I consider comparable to the MR-G line of Casio G-Shocks. Both lines represent some of the most advanced, durable, and certainly coolest quartz watches in the world.

The first Attesa to really grab my attention was the ATV53-2832, but it was the extremely unique look and functionality of the ATV53-2933 that finally inspired me to do a full review.

Let's start with a detailed rundown of an extremely impressive (and lengthy) set of features:

So much of what we find appealing about watches goes beyond the case dimensions, the movement, the crystal, bracelet or strap, and into the details of the watch. It is the details that matter to watch lovers, things like the hands, lume colour, depth of the dial vs. the thickness of the crystal, the on-wrist weight of the watch. Is the movement noisy? If the watch has multiple functions, are they simple to access and easy to read? Details, are what makes a watch unique, complete, and set it apart in the market. Unlike functions, caliber, or finish, details are what a lot of us pay for when buying a new watch.

The Citizen Promaster SST is a watch with interesting details. Yet another ana-digi watch from Citizen, this one is designed as something of a race watch, capable of measuring split seconds and with an aesthetic clearly lifted from the instrument cluster of a sports car. The feature list is beyond standard as the SST has several cool tricks up its sleeve:

Up for review today is the Citizen JV0010-08E, also known as the 20th Anniversary Aqualand. It's a solar-powered dive watch/computer, sporting both analog hands and a medium-sized digital display. Citizen has made a lot of dive computers and watches over the years, but this is the first Aqualand that uses their Eco-Drive solar technology.

The features include:

• It's a very large watch, 50mm by 17mm thick, weighing in at 135g with the integrated 25mm urethane strap.
• Stainless steel case, with a brushed finish, matching buckle. The bezel is high-polish stainless steel. Screw-back case, no crown.
• Power reserve of 6 months to 2.5 years, depending on power save mode.
• The Citizen quartz U10 module is accurate to within 15 seconds per month.
• Water and pressure sensors (water sensor on the right side, pressure on the left.) that let the watch automatically enter dive mode when depth exceeds about 4m (12ft)
• Analog and digital depth meters, measures up to 100m (330ft). Out of the water, the depth gauge hand indicates power reserve (battery charge).
• Three alarms, each in its own timezone.
• World time in 42 cities plus UTC, 29 time zones.
• Local and world time, second timezone on digital display.
• Logging of up to 20 dives, each recording max depth, minimum temperature, total dive time, starting time and time zone.
• After a dive, the watch automatically measures surface time and shows you the dive time and max depth of your last dive, so as to avoid getting the bends.
• Electroluminescent backlight for the LCD display, and blue-glow lume for the hands, bezel and dial.
• Unusually for a dive watch, the bezel is under the (mineral glass) crystal and fixed. Normally, you rotate the bezel to line up with the minute hand when you submerge; Citizen cleverly inverted this: When it switches to dive mode, the minute hand zips to 00 and starts timing the dive!
• User-settable dive alarms for max depth, bottom time trigger sound as well as a red LED at 12 o'clock.
• Also alarms if ascent rate exceeds 9m/minute (33ft/min)

Ever wondered what the most accurate watch in the world is? It's probably not what you think.

You might guess a radio-controlled quartz watch like the Casio G-Shock Gulfman, or the Citizen Skyhawk. That's a good starting point. Atomic watches are very accurate if you can receive the radio signals. But there are large portions of the world where they don't reach (Central/South America, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, the poles, out on the ocean — even plenty of places that are technically within range, but for whatever reason, not conducive to signal penetration).

Another possible answer is a GPS watch like the Suunto X9i which works almost anywhere on the globe. Unfortunately, it has very limited battery life, and doesn't sync automatically.

Conventional quartz movements are generally accurate to ±15 seconds per month, or 3 minutes per year. That's good enough for pretty much any application, as evidenced by the fact that accuracy hasn't improved much since the 1970s. More modern technology has brought a few high-accuracy quartz movements:

• The ETA Thermoline movement, as used in some Breitlings.
• Seiko 8F and 9F movements, generally good to 10-20 seconds per year.
• And today's mystery contestant: the Citizen A660.

Say hello to one of the best wolf-in-sheep's clothing watches in existence: the Citizen Chronomaster (aka "The Citizen"). The A660 movement inside the Citizen Chronomaster is the most accurate in the world right now, rated to an amazing ±5 seconds per year. There's a variety of faces and hands, but the basic watch style is a very understated men's dress watch. The cost is around $1,100 - $1,300USD at present — not bad for such impressive technology and looks.

Specifications for the model shown to the right, the The Citizen Chronomaster CTQ57-1022 (our favorite):

View the Citizen Skyhawk A-T photo gallery.

Most pilots and aviation enthusiasts tend to be gadget lovers. Whether it's an entirely new digital avionics package in the cockpit, or one of the most advanced aviation watches on the market, we lust after it. So when the Citizen Skyhawk A-T was announced last year, my interest was piqued. While the Skyhawk line of aviation watches has almost 15 years of history and refinement, the combination of Citizen's Eco-Drive movement with atomic timekeeping technology (as denoted by the A-T moniker in the name), and a new design, this watch not only makes a great companion while in flight, but looks great and gives you something to brag about back on the ground.

Features

The Citizen Skyhawk A-T is the third generation in the Skyhawk line, and represents a major step forward in features. While you do lose one alarm (from three alarms to two), you gain functionality such as atomic timekeeping, perpetual calendar, LCD backlight, and world time pre-programming for 43 cities and time-zones. Additionally, the watch is now rated to be water resistant up to 200 meters (about 650 feet), versus the 100 meters of the previous generation.

Features of the Citizen Skyhawk A-T include:

One of my favorite watch complications is the GMT hand: a separate (typically fourth) independently settable hand marking 24-hour time. It's extremely useful for people like pilots, travelers, and businesspeople who not only need to be able to switch between different time zones easily, but who also need to be able to keep track of two time zones simultaneously.

The addition of the GMT hand came in the mid-1950s when Pan Am worked with Rolex to create a watch for pilots flying transatlantic flights. You can read more about the history of GMT watches in Christian's review of the Rolex GMT Master II. But for now, back to Citizen.

I recently learned that Citizen has added several new GMT models to their Attesa line of high-end quartz watches. I was particularly struck by the unique, stark, and tough look of the Attesa ATD53-2903. Of course, as is typical of most of the coolest Japanese watches, it's only available in Asia, but since watches know no borders, I was still able to find plenty of information:

• List price is ¥68,250 (about $600 USD as of 12/21/07).
• 39mm in diameter, 10.9mm thick, and 47g heavy.
• 24-hour indices on the chapter ring.
• DLC coated titanium case (read more about Diamond Like Carbon).
• Eco-drive (solar-powered quartz).
• 100m water resistant (about 330 feet).
• Atomic Radio-set (but only receives the Japanese time signal — bummer).
• ±15 seconds per month (with no radio reception).
• Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating.
• Calf skin band (would really love to see a matching DLC titanium bracelet option).

I really like the look of the Citizen Attesa ATD53-2903. I like the clean and readable face since I find that jet lag reduces my comprehension, and I get very grumpy about unreadable watches while traveling internationally. This Attesa has the sort of clutter-free face and clean, distinct hands (plus nice little touches like anti-glare sapphire crystal) that make for a great travel companion.

There aren't a lot of affordable (i.e. quartz) GMT watches out there, so I'm pleased so see such an attractive new entry from Citizen. If only if were 5-band atomic like the new Oceanus 5 Motors, I think Citizen would have one of the best looking affordable travel watches out there.

By Paul Hubbard