Citizen Seaplane
The budget Citizen that I just could not pass up on. This is what you get when you want a watch to match your private seaplane. Imagine this: You go to your local airport, take off in your brand new Cessna 172 with floaters. You fly to your local lake, land on it, and jump straight into the warm blue water. There is only one choice for your wrist. But is it any good?
DESIGN
Full transparency: I don’t have my very own seaplane. I have actually never been in one. I have, however, been in a plane, and I have been in the ocean. Therefore, I think i’m perfectly suited to form an opinion on the very interesting Citizen Seaplane.
I think this is an incredibly good looking timepiece. I am still a bit hesitant towards some of the choices Citizen made in the design process. Because this is not really a pilot’s watch. Yeah, it’s super legible and the dial matches the traditional flieger style. The crown, however, is a nightmare to operate at the 1:30 position. Thus rendering it very difficult to adjust midflight.
On the other hand, this is also not actually a diver’s watch. Yeah, the bezel looks like something you could use to time a dive, but it doesn’t rotate. The watch is also only waterproof to 100 meters, I would not trust that when going for a swim.
Looks absolutely fantastic, though. I’m never going to either fly or swim with it, so that’s what’s important to me.
MOVEMENT
Citizen Eco-Drive is nothing to write home about. But it is very reliable, and you won’t ever have to change batteries. To me, that’s perfect in one of these occasional wear watches.
BUILD QUALITY
About what you would expect from Citizen at the 150 dollar price. It feels sturdy and well built, but nothing special.
STRAP
The strap is my biggest complaint with this watch. It collects dust like that’s what is was made to do. I will never wear the Citizen Seaplane on the original rubber. Luckily, it looks good on almost any 22mm strap you can find.
X-FACTOR
Oh yeah! I have never seen anything like this before, and it combines my two favorite watch styles.
CONCLUSION
I have heard of these watches being sold for less than 50 bucks. At that price, I would buy ten. At the original price, though, I would still buy one. It’s a great looking timepiece that will serve its purpose for many years to come, not needing anything other than a hint of sunlight every once in a while.