Citizen Promaster Autozilla 1000m Titanium Divers Watch NH6930-09F (NH6931-06E) - Pure, Unadulterated Dive Watch, A Review

A grail watch in my view, the Citizen Promaster Autozilla 1000m Titanium Divers Watch NH6930-09F (NH6931-06E) is the epitome of design and manufacturing prowess of Citizen. The ability to design a watch that can take on an extreme environment, in this case, water pressure of 1,000 meters using titanium should be acknowledge. In this case, Citizen uses a proprietary alloy of titanium that has gone through a process called "Duratec".

There are two reference for this watch. One for Asia and the other is for North America and Europe. The NH6930 is an Asian market designation and the model with this designation has English and Japanese for the day wheel. Meanwhile, the NH6931 designation has English and Spanish for the day wheel.

The Autozilla as it is called, is due to its size and the fact that it uses an automatic mechanical movement. With a diameter of 55 mm and a thickness of 19 mm, this watch is a major presence on anyone's wrist. Made out of titanium, it is only 135 gm in weight. The choice of titanium is not only for weight savings but also to the fact that it withstands better to sea water compared to stainless steel.

This watch ISO 6425 certified for mixed-gas diving.

The Autozilla has a uni-directional bezel as well as the day and date window at the 3 o'clock position. The crown is placed at the 9 o'clock position. Hands and markets are all lumed. The broad sword minute hand has orange boarders. Although the hour hand looks a bit stumpy, it does it job.

The crystal that covers the dial is sapphire.

The bezel on the Autozilla is unique. As you can see from the photo above, the bezel has large groves at the top of the bezel instead of the sides like other typical dive watches. To use, one has to press down the bezel before turning it. The bezel has 120 click adjustments. There is a lume pip at the 0/60 minute position.

Also note that additional ring on the outside of the case which has the "Open" and "Close" words etched in black. This is the detachable bezel mechanism for easy cleaning. Engaging this mechanism will allow one to open the bezel. However, a safety measure has been incorporated by Citizen in the form of another locking level just above the crown.

This side profile (crown side) shows the large clean crown as well as the overall shape of the watch casing and the strap link. The crown in a screw-down. Just above the crown is the bezel ring clamp locking lever. Once this is open, the bezel can be taken off the watch.

Note the unique lug attachment to the rubber strap. This means, it is not possible to get third-party straps as replacement. 

In the photo above, the automatic helium escape valve. Also note the screw just below the HEV. By taking out the set of screws, one can disengage the straps from the watch case. There is a third-party lug extension which one can buy. With this extension, you can put standard straps on it.

Third party lug extension. Picture taken from the internet

The screw-down case back has a very nice etching of a diver. The information regarding the watch can be found here. "Duratec" is the technology used which involves a special treatment on existing materials like stainless steel or titanium to harden the surface. Applying this technique achieves a hardness 3 to 4 times higher by penetrating carbon from the surface in order to distort the crystal of the metal. The result is a scratch-resistant hardness for daily use.

The movement on this watch is the Miyota 8203. This movement debut in 1977. It is an automatic, unidirectional winding 21 jewels movement operating at 21,600 vph. Power reserve is approximately 45 hours. Although it has handwinding capability, it is non-hacking. It comes with hour, minute, central seconds, quickset date and quickset dual-language day (in this case English and Spanish). Accuracy is rated at -10 to +20 seconds per day. The rotor is undecorated.

As highlighted earlier, the lume of this watch is spectacular. Below is a shot of the watch after a good bath of solar sun. Bright!

The watch on my wrist. As you can see it rides high and snags on shirt cuffs. You cannot wear this watch for formal function. It will just look out of place.

The buckle and strap lead are also made out of titanium. The Promaster brand is clearly seen here.

A divers, a wetsuit band included is provided that allows the existing strap to be extended.

Due to the method to which the bezel is manipulated. There is a tendency for the spring ring to fail. As such, an extra spring ring is provided in the basic package.

Another interesting aspect of the North American version is the guarantee terms. For this model, Citizen can give 5 years warranty.

The Autozilla typifies tool watch, but with cutting-edge styling. Bottom line: For pure, unadulterated cool, the Autozilla is hard to beat.

Photo Bucket

READ MORE - Citizen Promaster Autozilla 1000m Titanium Divers Watch NH6930-09F (NH6931-06E) - Pure, Unadulterated Dive Watch, A Review

Seiko Marine Master Professional 1000m Automatic Diver SBDX011 - The Best Of Japan, A Review

Seiko has a number of notable offerings, Their professional watch series is one of the, if not the best, in the world. Under the Prospex sub-brand, these are purpose built tool watches.

In the last few days of 2013, I finally achieved one of my grails, the Seiko Marine Master Professional 1000m Automatic Diver SBDX011. Commonly known as the Tuna or Emperor Tuna or Darth Tuna or Hockey Puck, this is the flagship of the entire Seiko automatic divers' line.

Unfortunately, this watch is only available in Japan. But not to worry, my good supplier, Mr Katsu-san of www.higuchi-inc.com is ever ready to deliver. After just a few days, the familiar looking EMS box from Japan Post was on my desk.

Not a lot has been written about the SBDX011 even though it was released way back in April 2009. The reason is that it was destined only for the Japanese domestic market. Although Japanese horologists would provide the necessary write-up on this model, language barrier as well as the unavailability of the watch to be reviewed in depth outside Japan exacerbates the poor coverage on this model.



Therefore, I am taking this opportunity to contribute towards the existing pool of information about this watch.

When I opened the package, I was greeted by a set of origami made the staff of www.higuchi-inc.com. I was touched by the gesture.

The package was well insulated. Not that it matters anyway since the watch has a built tough reputation.

The main watch case in rectangular and in black. A cardboard sleeve protects it.
 

After taking off the sleeve, you will find the familiar box with the Seiko brand printed on top in white.
 

Opening it reveals the watch. What a stunner. The size of the beast is breathtaking. Even though still wrapped in plastic, you can clearly see the immense bulk of the watch.  It truly deserves the various nicknames given to it. 
 

One of the documents that came with this watch highlighted the caliber of the movement used in this model. The 8L35 in an automatic, windable and hackable in-house movement by Seiko. Using 26 jewels, operating at 28,800 bph and a power reserve of 50 hours, this movement is one of the top line movements that Seiko reserve for only its best models, namely the Grand Seikos. In this particular case, the SBDX011 is deemed to be Seiko’s best-in-class, hence it’s right to use the 8L35. In fact, the 8L35 is an undecorated variant movement similar to that of the 9S55 Caliber.

Seiko claims the watch is +/- 10 to 15 seconds a day but as in most cases, Seiko's actual accuracy is better. In a number of reviews made about this watch, the accuracy of +/- in seconds should be measured in months instead of days. For example in an August 2008 article by Ariel Adams, he said the 8L35 has been better than even chronometer ratings with accuracy clocking in at +/- 10 to 15 seconds a month. In another article written in February 2010 by @bigrustypig, he mentioned accuracy of +12 seconds per month.

The Marine Master has a 52 mm diameter single block titanium case with special coating and a height of 17.4 mm. The dial is covered by a thick internal anti-reflective coated sapphire crystal. With the standard rubber strap provided, total weight of the package stood at 140 gm.

The care for details is excellent. The workmanship on the titanium case with its DLC-like treatment is so smooth like liquid metal. The case protection in the form of the shroud is made of some kind of matte ceramic, fixed by four hex screws, also DLC-like.

Looking at the dial, it is very legible and perfectly finished for professional use. Big luminous hour markers using Seiko’s proprietary Lumi Brite paint generates maximum brightness for referencing under almost all circumstances.

There is a lot of writing on the dial. It tells us the model name, water resistance level (1000 meters) and the fact that it has an automatic movement. It also tells us proudly that it has been made in Japan. The concept of writing a lot on the dial is similar to that found on the Rolex Deepsea Sea Dweller.

Operationally, the bezel action is finer than the Seiko SBDX001 (or 300MM). It’s very exact and there’s no looseness. The bezel pip falls on each division perfectly. Bezel grip is good, wet or dry. It takes 120-clicks for a full rotation.

The flat sapphire crystal is well recessed under the matt bezel and the bezel insert itself is recessed ever so slightly into the bezel face.

The watch comes with a date function at the 3 o’clock position. The date window replaces the 3 o’clock marker. This is the only complain I got about the watch. Seiko should have placed the date window somewhere unobtrusive. In the dark and underwater, would you care what date it is or would you care how many minutes have lapsed? Taking away the 3 o’clock marker makes the lume shot on the watch looks handicapped.

Below is a photo I took which shows the lume. Note the dark area where the 3 o’clock marker should have been? I hope Seiko would look into this when they design their next diver.
 

The angle shot below shows the quality of the anti-reflective treatment used.

When looking at the watch from the side; the size, the height and the concentration of weight implies a very uncomfortable wearing experience. However, in reality, it is not so. In fact, wearing it is comfortable. The placement of the lugs instead of at corner of the watch casing to below it helps reduce the overall gap to below 50 mm i.e. smaller than the diameter of the watch. The only sacrifice with this design is that the watch rides high on the wrist. Definitely not for formal wear.

The drilled lugs makes it easier when removing a strap. The signed crown, the hex screws, the rear case design and the encompassing shroud are all built to very high tolerances.

The curved underbody and the watch’s high ride make crown accessibility excellent, even with the SBDX011 on the wrist. You can easily manipulate the big crown when wearing the SBDX011.

The crown wind is smooth and easily connects to its thread when screwing it down.

The standard rubber strap provided looks similar to straps provided to other Seiko divers but has been given a bit of finesse to put it apart from the rest. The buckle and keeper are titanium and has the same DLC-like treatment similar to the casing.

The famous tsunami logo is etched on the middle of the case back. To access the movement, the watch can only be open from the front as the whole watch is made out of one solid piece of titanium with a single access.

Between the movement's top plate and the "floor" of the watch case is a thin sheet of lead for anti-magnetic properties. Size of each of the 4 hexscrew heads is 5 mm. The screws are blackened with a DLC-like coating.

The watch is capable of diving right down to 1000 m. Nevertheless, there is no helium escape valve (HEV) mechanism needed because the watch simply doesn't need one. With the use of a proprietary L-shaped gasket, Seiko has totally eradicated the need for the HEV.

Here are a few wrist shots. Despite the casing overwhelming my 7.5 inches circumference wrist, it wears well and comfortable too. More importantly, the watch does not flop around. I’ve read from other reviewers that they face this problem but I then realized their wrist size is sub-7 inches in circumference. It does appear that this watch can only be worn comfortable by persons of certain built.

There is no way this watch will every slip under the cuff of a shirt. Anyone thinking it can be used with formal attire is sadly mistaken.

Simple, no-nonsense buckle strap.
 

All in all, the SBDX011 is the best that Seiko has to offer. Everything from build quality, to the movement, to the history is nothing short of true professional diving watch.

READ MORE - Seiko Marine Master Professional 1000m Automatic Diver SBDX011 - The Best Of Japan, A Review