Analogue diver with depth gauge, chronograph, date, powered-by-light, quartz accuracy – most watch manufacturers would balk at such a motley of design specifications. Yet, Citizen has done that for a quarter of a century, producing some of the most versatile dive watches at affordable prices. Go visit a scuba club: chances are that every fifth diver is wearing a Citizen.

BJ2120, the newest diver offering by Citizen launched an year ago, has earned a special place whereby, form gets precedence over function. Citizen divers were never famous for good looks, so it is refreshing to see a techno wonder that would be as much at home at sea as, at the club dinner.

Here is a review by a happy owner:

Packaging and Instructions: The watch comes packaged in a red lacquered wooden box with a tiny, small-font instructions manual in six languages. English language explanation of various modes could have been better, but some mistakes like 1m/5ft, 10m/25ft, 50m/125ft, 1-50m/27.5-125ft, etc, are unpardonable! (We all know that 1m = 3.3ft, don't we?) A downloadable PDF version of the instructions has bigger font size and has better readability.

Dial: The dial face (solar cells array, actually) is a beautiful fusion of sub-dials and needles set on a background that subtly reflects shimmering shades of black, anthracite and grey. Electric blue accents lend an ethereal aura to the watch. The hour markers are all sleek indices, while the hour and minute hands are elegant slender arrows, chromed at the edges. The minute markers also double up as depth gauge markers which range from 0-50 meters (option of feet available in the largely similar BJ2115 model). The sub-dial at 9 o’clock indicates time in the 24-hr format, for which there is not much use, in my opinion; a GMT readout would have been welcome, but maybe it is easier said than done. The sub-dial at 6 o’clock shows running seconds, though the small size of the sub-dial practically means that the ticking seconds hand just confirms that the watch is still working – something so essential for a diver in the deep. The sub-dial at 12 o’clock serves two purposes: In the chronograph mode it records elapsed minutes, up to 50 only; the other purpose is to indicate diving mode. (More about this later.) The long blue needle or the ‘function indicator’ has three purposes: In the chronograph mode it measures elapsed seconds, in the dive mode it becomes the depth indicator and, in normal timekeeping it indicates the charging level of the light-powered battery. 

Bezel: The bezel is made of two conjoined rings, the inner of polished stainless steel and the outer coated with matte black abrasion-resistant DLC (diamond-like carbon). The bezel moves counter-clockwise only and, ratchets with 120 audible clicks. Indications on the bezel alternate between indices (for fives) and numerals (for tens). The 20-minute sector on the bezel has blue minute tick marks, while the rest are in black.

Lume: The lume on the hour and minute hands is about adequate, considering that these are slender – a compulsion in chronographs – to avoid obscuring the sub-dials. The hour marker indices, small seconds needle, function indicator arrow head and the bezel 12 o’clock pip are also lumed.

Glass: The watch features a flat mineral glass with anti-reflective coating. A sapphire glass would have been a perfect complement to the tough stainless steel case and DLC-coated bezel, but cost may have been an extenuating factor for staying with the mineral one.

Caseback: If it is true that the real quality of a watch can be judged from its caseback, Citizen has floundered badly there. The engraving quality is awful and, quite clearly, seems like a cost-saving trick. What a shame!

Strap: The watch comes with a rubber strap only and bracelet is not an option; the latter might have been more popular with the majority who are desk divers. The rubber strap is not as robust as one would have wanted and, does not come with accordion pleats that can stretch over a wet-suit. A spare strap or two would, therefore, be a good investment. 

Battery Charge Level: Battery charge level is indicated by the blue needle which points to Level 2 (LVL2), Level 1 (LVL1) or Not Good (NG), etched on the blue strip between 50-60 minutes sector on the main dial. At Level 2, all functions are available; normal timekeeping is supposed to last for two months and dive mode for one month (@ 2 hours diving per week). At Level 1, depth gauge function reduces to 60 minutes. ‘Not Good’ level shuts off the chronograph and dive modes, but timekeeping is available for another 48 hours. Recharging is quite in accordance with the specified times for various lighting conditions. Purely from an aesthetics point of view, I would have preferred the charging level displayed ‘on demand’ with the press of a pusher. Somehow, the skewed-off blue needle irks me no end, and I would have loved to see it parked properly – pointing ahead at 12!

Dive Mode: Citizen’s calibre B740/741 dive watches have been around for over two decades and, all have the same working principle. Dive mode is activated automatically when the water sensor comes in contact with water. This is indicated by the blue function needle moving away from charge level indication, to the zero meter (0m) mark. Subsequently, when the watch immerses in water deeper than one meter, depth indication starts. The dive mode cannot be entered while in the chronograph mode or, when the battery charging level is 'not good'. Diving mode (DV) is supposed to be indicated by the elapsed minutes needle pointing at the blue pie (in the 55-60 minutes sector) of the 12 o’clock sub-dial, when the water sensor is activated. However, due to an unexplained anamoly, it continues to indicate DV during normal timekeeping as well, instead of pointing at the 0-minute index. (The instructions manual says "DV will be indicated during normal timekeeping as well as in diving mode", which does not make sense, in my opinion). The maximum depth that can be measured is 50m. The dive mode automatically gets deactivated when the watch stays above one meter depth for ten minutes; it can also be deactivated earlier, manually. Any time during or after the dive, maximum depth can be recalled by pressing the pusher at 2 o’clock (the only one that can be used under water). The accuracy of the depth gauge in the dive end of a swimming pool was found to be good, but deeper dives were not tried. It was felt that the blue needle is rather thin for instant depth readout in murky waters. The depth sensor uses the change in piezo-electric sensor’s electrical resistance under pressure, to provide the depth indication. Since no moving parts are at play, it should be a fairly reliable system. 

Chronograph Mode: This feature of the watch is rather limited in function, and as in most analogue chronographs, is really an horological fashion statement, in my opinion. The rather measly 50-minute duration, one-second accuracy chronograph serves only a few basic purposes. I can only think of timing a few activities like breath-holding or pizza delivery! Races are out as fractional seconds cannot be recorded. Considering that multiple functions, including a complex depth gauge, had to be engineered into the watch, elapsed time in hours would have been asking for too much, perhaps. In the chronograph mode, the blue function indicator becomes the seconds counter, while the elapsed minutes are recorded in the sub-dial at 12 o’clock. The chronograph does not work in dive mode, so the bezel serves the purpose for checking elapsed dive time. A most quirky mechanisation of the chronograph is its 'set' and ‘reset’ function. First, on selection of Chronograph Mode with the pusher at 4 o'clock pressed for >2 seconds, the blue seconds counter rotates thrice from its previous Charge Level indication to its new 12 o'clock or 'zero' position. This initialisation takes 15 seconds (each rotation taking five seconds), which can be a bit frustrating. If this isn't nagging enough, wait for the reset: Once done with time measurement, the seconds needle unwinds for as many as 30 rotations (counter-clockwise, if less than 30 minutes are recorded, clockwise if more than 30 minutes). A reset could, thus, take as long as 150 seconds! Mercifully, normal timekeeping continues all the while during this strange chrono reset. One would be tempted to wonder if this was an eighteenth century chronograph still under development trials. Only engineers at Citizen would be able to explain why they were unable to decouple the seconds and elapsed minutes needles for reset. Maybe this was a compromise to minimise gears and pinions – my physics is not good enough to figure that out.

Comparison: Divers with depth gauges are not very common, what with dive computers having taken over most underwater functions. Nonetheless, some of the big names in dive watches do showcase an odd model each as technical innovations par excellence. Favre-Leuba Bathy V2, IWC Aquamaster Deep Two, JLC Pro Diving Geographic and Panerai Submersible Depth Gauge all belong to the high end category. Citizen Promaster Marine series, flag-shipped by the BJ2120, are worthy competitors. The following chart provides at-a-glance comparison of some analogue depth gauge dive watches:

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Conclusion: With a 200m Diver’s specification complete with a stainless steel case, screw-down crown, screwed-in back-plate, well-designed bezel, good lume and an accurate depth gauge, the Promaster BJ2120 is an impressive diver’s watch at a very affordable price. Throw in a chronograph – no matter how imperfect or quirky – and you have a timepiece AND a conversation piece all rolled into one!

NOTE: This review is also applicable to all BJ series Calibre 740, Promaster models, except for the dial and bezel description.

Here are some pics of my newest watch:

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