Citizens have long been players in the affordable space, but, for me, their watches have missed the mark. However, in the last couple of years, they have put out more than a few watches that piqued my interest. The new Fujistubo Titanium diver is one in particular. The Fujistubo is a 200m, 42mm diver with a 60-minute bezel and an automatic Citizen NV6025-59H movement inside. The bracelet is matching titanium, and the entire watch has that classic black titanium sheen, aside from the case back, for $1,195 on a bracelet. There are frequent deals run, though; currently, they are at $956 on Citizen’s site.
On the Wrist
The 42mm wears well on the wrist and supplies plenty of the “Oh wow. This is light” feel that titanium watches are known for. The bracelet is roughly the same weight as a leather or NATO-style strap but has an additional lug-to-lug length of 12mm. The added length from the male end length will make the watch less wearable for some buyers with smaller wrists.
The male end link aside, the fitment of the case to the bracelet needs to be improved. As seen in the image above, the end link does not blend seamlessly into the lug design or case and looks almost like it was meant for a different watch.
In part due to the male end links and partly because the overall quality of the bracelet felt poor, I preferred the watch on a charcoal NATO-styled strap. The lightweight titanium case paired with a light nylon strap is unbeatable.
Citizen Fujitsubo Titanium Specs | |
Case Width 42mm | Lug-to-Lug 49mm |
Case Thickness 12.5mm | Lug Width 20mm |
Water Resistance 200m | Strap Bracelet |
Crystal Sapphire | Lume Yes |
Movement Citizen 9051 | Price $1,195 |
Dial Details
The four lines of text on the dial are printed in black that blends into the ombre dial. In almost all lighting conditions other than direct light, you will struggle to determine what the words say. That said, a fully murdered out dial like this is pretty cool. The hour had is skeletonized, limiting the dial’s legibility even further.
When illuminated, the hands, markers, and pip glow green. The lume glows intensely for a few minutes but pales compared to other divers in the $1,000 range. Compared to my Citizen Promaster solar, which is about a $200 watch, the lume was almost identical in strength and duration. The dial itself, though, is quite striking. I would love to see the ombre dial used on some of the steel versions of the Promaster diver.
Case, Movement, Misc
The bracelet comes with an extension clasp. The clasp is exceptionally long and still feels cumbersome, even with the reduced weight. A pin and collar system is used to hold the links together on the bracelet, and after sizing the bracelet, I found the pin and collar to remain loose. You can see a pin sticking out in the image above, constantly threatening to pull the bracelet apart again.
Thankfully, the crown is not recessed and does not have crown guards. Thankfully, because using the crown would be impossible without crown guards. For my fingers, the crown was difficult to use due to the small size; winding and time setting were both a struggle. A highlight of this watch is the movement within. Citizen has outfitted this diver with their in-house 9051 movement. We have written about this movement at length in other reviews, so I will mention that the added bonus here is that Citizen produces this movement.
Final Thoughts
To wrap things up on this Diver, I am left feeling encouraged by the progress Citizen is making to improve their watches to more enthusiast tastes. You can see this in the simplified dial design and beautiful lines of the 60s-styled diver. However, the overall execution is lacking and leaves much to be desired. The most significant areas for improvement are the crown, bracelet, clasp, and lume. At $1,200, there is no excuse for poor lume or bracelet design.
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