Part 2 Citizen Promaster Super Tough Titanium Robert Swan BJ8010-53E PMX56-2571 Year 2016...Superlativeness of this watch!

You've read the last article?...Some repeats here but who can help it?...

The Duratect Titanium Super Tough Robert Swan Citizen was released in 1999 as PMX56-2571 in the Promaster range of Japan only models. The rest of the world had the BJ8010-53E model number with slight cosmetic differences, uniquely in the depth rating designation "W.R. 20 bar" Japan-only and "W.R. 200" rest-of-world.

This is one rare pre-millennium superlative watch. Released in 1999 with a limited batch of five hundred units, I say again, rare superlative. I extrapolated my arguments somewhere that there could be more than 500 units simply because of the two differing model numbers but I could be wrong and then again possibly right, who knows? There are many good...super good...and exorbitantly expensive so watches out there. However almost all of them do not have a superlative title. This one has one and maybe two.

This is a Citizen Promaster Titanium Super Tough Eco-drive watch. The superlativeness of this watch, however, did not derive from the subjective 'super tough' attribute of its name but in its anti-magnetism aspect, an objectively measurable quantity. Rated to be resistant to 16,000 gauss (go Google some basic magnetism in Physics) and I'm just, like many of you out there, going to take it at face value of what Citizen had proudly done in their laboratories.

ANTIMAG 16000...Oh! missing the case back stuck on back plate! Good riddance.

16,000 gauss superlativeness...the often mentioned Rolex Milgauss is rated ten times weaker in this respect!

Now to put more fuel into the fire as to its name "Super tough". How tough is it? I have mentioned the Duratect titanium surface wear and tear toughness in my last posting prior to this one. The other tough attribute is its anti-shock features. It being any Eco-drive, ermm, quartz will have less need for anti-shock features...nevertheless, the lesser shock the better...


In anti-shock terms apparently quite well endowed as shown below....

From this illustrative diagram alone, one can see the excessive enough use of black shock absorbent seal material in protecting the inner watch cases while seated into the outermost watch case, all in titanium and Duratect treated.

Looking closely, the watch actually consists of three watch cases, with the innermost case securing the Eco-drive movement by seals all round its outer circumference, bottom seat and before an inner bezel ring securing down the dial. This forms the first layer of shock resistance.

The middle watch case(a monobloc) has a thick bottom seal that partially covers the outer stepped portion of the circumference of the case.  It is secured into the outermost case using four sealed screws. Picture above missing the seals in the securing screws! This forms the second layer of shock resistance.

Here the seals are shown. Middle case secured via four screws with seals.

Top bezel secure down crystal to the middle watch case through a thick black seal as well as pinning down an inner bezel ring that press against another inner bezel ring before the dial and the innermost watch case against the middle watch case, all with seals in between, of course.

This forms a floating middle and innermost case for the watch. The engineering, IMO, allows very slight movements to be absorbed and tolerated by the seals and clearances in the securing screws as well as the crown. A double shock absorbent design seems to be in place, phew!

As if that wasn't enough Citizen did another shocking treat for us customers....

This was adding another layer of anti-shock treatment...this time in isolating shocks from the all titanium bracelet! IMO, another unsung milestone achievement for this watch. How effective all these seals treatment towards shock absorbance are, I believe, lies in the clearances of the holes where the screw bolts through to give it leeway for the minutest movement short of metal impacts. I would call this feature the third layer of shock resistance.

Fully functional all titanium, surface hardened by Duratect, tri-fold clasp with divers extension built-in into the bracelet clasp. A rare find!

Angularly curved handsomeness...triple (as explained) shock resistance...anti-magnetic...tough Duratect Ti skin...500 rare...IMO, anti-gravity due to its weightlessness...love this watch!

Don't trade this for any other watch!...

So in conclusion, this watch is not only the most anti-magnetic watch in the world, it is also, IMO, the most shock resistant watch in the world, coming in with a triple shock absorbance design! A dual champion in the world of superlatives...that's pretty rare. I can think of another two superlative titles but enough for now. So the next time you are thinking of a trade-in for an Autozilla, think again. :-)

Citizen Promaster Super Tough Titanium Robert Swan BJ8010-53E PMX56-2571 Year 2016

For a comprehensive information site I recommend here:

http://www.dodde.eu/Site/Welcome.html

done very well by a strong enthusiast of this watch. In this article, I post mostly pictures and some little details of my very own watch.

One of five hundred made (possibly more...but not much more) is this very well known (to those few hundred fortunate individuals...) but rare Citizen watch:

My surviving example in this year of 2016, after having brought it through some careless use, like while fixing my car, only because it was super tough. I had thoroughly enjoyed the watch since purchasing it in a watch shop in Chadstone Shopping Centre, Melbourne, Australia in the early post-Millennium years. Don't remember the year.

It grabbed me as a super tough...true to its name...with metal injection moulded Duratect titanium which basically meant that the moulded titanium was further surface hardened by one or several of Citizen's proprietary processes all labelled with the 'Duratect' heading.

Duratect titanium, taking its toll after several years (a good decade plus...) of my very own abuse! I'll just say it took my bashing very well indeed. The Duratect surface hardening technology (perhaps it was the earlier type) still shows microscopic dings and dangs all round the bracelet and the watch case as shown above. These shots were captured with a Nikon 105mm macro lens. The edges suffered the most as compared the flatter regions. No surprises here.

These photos above were captured a couple of years earlier. The ones below are recent in 2016.

My watch had suffered two breakdowns to date. The first breakdown was a good 10 years ago approximately. It had the same symptoms, watch stopped completely and would not respond to any amount of sunlight charging. Back then I had it figured out to be a bad battery, yes despite being an Eco-drive (Non perpetual calendar) powered by sunlight, a battery of sort is needed to keep charge.

I had it sent in to Malaysia's Citizen service centre in Kuala Lumpur costing me RM400 back then. It came back working fine till recently. The same non-charging symptoms had arisen again. I'm guessing its to do with the battery technology.


This time in 2016, Malaysia's Citizen Service Centre rejected my watch saying that they do not have the parts anymore. So I tried Singapore and wouldn't you know it, Singapore had no problems ordering parts for my watch. They had the seals and recommended that I change the crown also to which I gave a resounding yes.

Kudos to the Singapore Citizen Watch Service Centre...You're the best!

Part numbers for seals and crown of my watch. B872 is the calibre of the watch.

Technician who took apart my watch on the spot recommended a change of the crown to ensure seals are fresh to 20 atm (200m) water depth.

Singapore's Citizen Service Centre...

Singapore's Citizen Service Centre...

A rare picture from the Net. A watch case within a watch case. This watch boasts the highest anti-magnetic rating amongst watches to the tune of 16,000 gauss. How strong is 16,000 gauss? Simplified, here we are into the territory of big electromagnets of the kind used in lifting steel structures or check out this youtube video of a 1.5 Tesla (15,000 gauss) MRI machine:

Youtube Dangers of MRI

The culprit for my non-performing watch state...battery technology from the pre-millennium era.

Earlier adjusted bracelet...I prefer to centralise my watch case and clasp on my left wrist a bit more...so a re-adjustment by myself was done. 

Added an extra link on one side while removing one from the other to balance it.

Simple push in with a blunt tool to remove and install links...You can see this is a tri-fold clasp with a diver's extension. All titanium.

I still have my original bits of the bracelet left from brand new. Bracelets are adjusted to the current configuration I'm wearing now in 2016.

Rubber/Silicone (Your guess good as mine) cushioning had gone a bit out of shape but still doing its job. No replacement parts available for it though. The inner watch case back being a monobloc like a Seiko 1000m Marinemaster, actually had a stuck on piece of stamped (with raised lettering and Citizen symbol) alloy or stainless steel piece that had dropped off at some stage of my watch's earlier life. If it was meant to drop off, I'll agreeably think that it should. Cost-saving way of Citizen to make this earlier generation of titanium watch I think. To Duratect treat or manufacture a case with titanium having raised letterings or symbols may have been prohibitive at the price point of this watch in those years, perhaps.

Picture from the Net of the original stuck on alloy(or stainless steel) piece portion of the watch back case.

Brand new watch crown. It may seem off-centred...several online pictures show the same phenomenon on other watches. The wedging lock action and positioning of the floating (in rubber /silicone) inner watch case may have slight movable offsets.

Loosened crown shows the V-shaped wedge of the seating surface as the crown is tightened.

That's all for the time being folks...

Scratches and fit of my brand new Zilla Bracelet and Citizen 1000m Autozilla after 1 week on the road...Year 2016

The brushed finishing on my Zilla Bracelet after a week of real down to earth but careful kind of use...

Stainless steel clasp has couple of scratches. One reason for the brushed finishing to help hide them.

Links have minor scratches which are somewhat hidden by the brushed finish. The unseen wear and tear is in the interlink rotation and double ended screw cap bars contact! After six months I'll like to review this again!

Titanium adapter ends has some scratches. The curved end solid links has some inevitable titanium to titanium rubbing contact or polishing, for a better word. This is better than titanium to stainless steel contact which will definitely result in very apparent looking scratches.

Here we have a titanium link end that has minor scratching as it was previously adjusted to be halfway into the stainless steel clasp cover.

The bracelet end that joins to the clasp end with three fine adjustment holes per side has some titanium to stainless steel contact, not really scratches!

Duratect is protecting the watch case well! So far no major banging into any walls or metal. No intentions to!

Also showing the fit of the Zilla Bracelet on my hand and the scratches from when one rests the hand on table tops.

A good fit, IMO.

Comfortable yet tight enough.

Minor skin marks from fit of bracelet.

Where the clasp sits.

Diving helmet imprintation. :-)

So far so good. I would reckon the bracelet fit is good. Some may be shocked by the temporary skin imprintation. I am keeping a close watch and adjustments can be made anytime I "feel" uncomfortable.

Until then...Cheers!

Watch Modding the Speedy Gonzales way...Zilla Bracelet for the Citizen Autozilla 1000m...Year 2016

Am late to the watch modding scene...better late than never :-)

I've been to the Suppa Parts site www.suppaparts.com

and seen the Zilla Bracelet page. Voila!

Came away blown by the Zilla Bracelet! A beautiful all titanium bracelet with rare enough 24mm curved edge solid ends and 5mm thick solid links with special titanium adapters (Citizen Zilla series specific) and comes with a 22mm wide straight edge STEVRAL stainless steel foldover clasp with buttons and divers ratchet extension that I now deem a thing of beauty having held it in my hands! This bracelet was custom designed for the Zillas only.

The stainless steel extensible foldover clasp has dual sided buttons for the clasp lock and the divers ratchet extension requiring four buttons in total. Long enough for wet suit use? Maybe. It felt light enough as compared to an all stainless steel bracelet.

The bracelet comes pre-fitted with the ends titanium adapters, a drop-in for Citizen's Zilla series, basically the lone-ranger Autozilla and the Ecozilla variants. These titanium adapters uses spring bars as opposed to the other Suppaparts variant not meant to support this bracelet using screw bars. I suspect the screw bars probably differs in external diameter and may not fit this bracelet's curved ends, thus the spring bars.

Suppaparts ordering was quite a no-nonsense affair...in a sense...instructions online tells one there is no need to ask for stock availability/time of delivery, etc. If the product was shown online at their site, be assured that Suppaparts still makes it and will deliver so else no!

I had initially thought to send mail to their contact to sus them out first! Their international office being located in Thailand(no address given, strictly online) although orders for the US have their US counterparts in US soil. The Zilla Bracelet was exclusively ordered through the Thailand office only, due to sold out orders in the US! Wow! that got me excited even more!

A point to note is that the titanium is not surface hardened and nothing like the Duratect treated Zilla watch cases of which it was meant to be fitted to.

5mm thick links just strikes a chord of music in my inner aesthetic admiration portion. I imbue true appreciation beyond words. This art form is...is just Picasso doing alchemy with metallurgy done right! :-)

How to describe? Curved metallic angular beauty with the right radiusing...I can only compare this to an all steel billet crankshaft or connecting rods to have any semblance.

Yummy...Sweet...

Speechless...at the moment...

I ordered online and PayPal'ed the Zilla Bracelet...unlike most other online stores who would immediately(within the same day or two) give an email confirmation of your order, Suppaparts was quiet! Second day nothing...Third day nothing. Got me wondering if I should have sus'ed them out beforehand again. Then I remembered to check PayPal and voila the shipping info was updated on the second day with a Fedex tracking number! The package had arrived at my town already and in my urgency I went straight to my local Fedex office and promptly signed for it! What a delight!

Oh! no affiliations with SuppaParts except for admiration of the wizards behind them! :-)

Next...modding the Autozilla...