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Legibility is a key feature that all dive watches must-have. It’s not a dive watch if you can’t read it when you’re deep underwater, right? So, the brand made sure that the Citizen NY0040 has great legibility. Hands & Markers As Dave explained: “The dial pattern comprises 2,650 individual trapezoids of varying opacity, each created with a linear diffraction pattern. They are etched with a high-power femtosecond laser (one femtosecond being a quadrillionth of a second), on three different levels within the sapphire crystal dial.” In low light conditions, the HyCeram in the sapphire dial will reflect off the Mosaic and result in a soft and almost ghostly glow. The sapphire hands are also coated with HyCeram, and the brand also uses it for the luminous indices and on the sapphire dial. The results are simply spectacular. Different gradations of light ensure that your focus will be on nothing else but the watch when it gets dark outside. This is using lume on a different level, and I love it. At 42mm in diameter and 12mm in height, the Promaster Marine Automatic Diver 200m is a respectable watch, with average dimensions for a watch of this category. The lugs are short and also well shaped, meaning that the watch sits comfortably on most wrists. What’s important, though, is the material, since this Promaster NY0100, on the contrary to the NY0040, is made of Super Titanium™, which is solid titanium coated with a proprietary surface hardening technology called Duratect. This gives the watch a handsome shine (not the usual dark grey colour, but something brighter), lightness (40% lighter than steel) and scratch-resistance, with more than 1,000Hv hardness. As a result, the watch on its bracelet weighs just 110 grams, compared to more than 150 grams for an equivalent model in stainless steel. And believe us, it does change everything once strapped around the wrist. I bought the Citizen Promaster Diver NY0040-41e on a whim! I thought, ‘I wonder if it’s a good Seiko SKX alternative?’ I’m going to say that this watch was extremely low priced, due to being refurbished, however I came to find out that, it was sold as refurbished but it wasn’t. It has a dial error, missing some wording. Citizen just sold them cheap for that sole reason. Quirky value as an investment piece? I don’t buy them for investment reasons though.
NY0040: Better than the Seiko SKX007? Citizen NY0040: Better than the Seiko SKX007?
We, at MONOCHROME, are used to seeing, touching and wearing all kinds of watches, from accessible to ultra high-end. And still, this Citizen Promaster Marine Automatic Diver 200m Super Titanium Green Dial NY0100-50XE (sorry for the long name…) is an impressive model. If you add the price into the equation, the overall quality is stunning, with a watch that rewards you with durability, comfort, resistance and, not the least of factors, a very cool design too. Let there be light! Lume is often referred to because of its functional properties. But there is something magical about it. Not too long ago, I was researching the best Heuer/TAG Heuer watches from the 1980s. During that quest, I was reminded of the brilliance of the brand’s full lume dial diving watches from the 1980s. On top of that, our Fratello master of lume Lex wears his Chronoswiss Timemaster with a full lume dial regularly. It triggered me to find out more about the brilliance of lume dials and put the spotlight on some of the best lume watches. Fiat lux! So what is the water resistance rating of the Citizen NY0040? For anyone skim reading through you may not have found this out just yet. This Citizen NY0040 has an impressive diver’s 200m water resistance rating which makes it a proper ISO certified diving watch.Man, those titanium EcoDrives are brilliant. I’d say that if you’re a Citizen fan already you won’t regret going with an automatic NY-series diver. I’ll be honest, I got mine three years ago now, and I’ve never had any issues with timekeeping, which is quite impressive considering that I have no idea when it was last serviced. Throw in the mix that I’ve done just about everything and anything with this watch and it makes an impressive thing even more so!
Summer Special: Seiko SKX007 vs Citizen NY0040 - Fratello Watches Summer Special: Seiko SKX007 vs Citizen NY0040 - Fratello Watches
The last watch on this list is more than just a timepiece with spectacular lume on the dial. No, this PAM01117 uses lume to show the outlines and the iconic dial elements of the watch. So lume is not just used on the dial. It can also be found on the 3D-printed titanium case and even on the stitching of the strap. Panerai did this by using Super-LumiNovaTM X1 to outline the case and essential elements. It’s the latest generation lume, and it glows like there is an ’80s neon party taking place on your wrist. This Citizen diver may not be the most iconic dive watch out there, but it does have quite an impressive history, as well as the specs to make it a thoroughbred diver. I can freely admit that this watch was never on my radar. As you might have read in my previous article on the Seiko 7002, it was the Seiko SKX line that firmly held my novice watch collector’s attention. However, being a student at the time the price was not one that I could even think about paying. I did know one thing — I wanted a proper automatic dive watch. It has been used for all sorts of outdoor activities summer and winter for years. Dived with it in Tobago and the Grenadines plus NE. Compared it with the diving computer and the depth gauge was reliable down to 32 meters – i trusted it.
To get things started we’re going to be taking a look at the general design of the dial. As is common practice for diving watches, the Citizen NY0040 has a high visibility design making it easy to read at a glance and in dim conditions. It’s impossible to talk about the Fugu without talking about its predecessor in the Citizen dive watch stable; the venerable NY004. The NY004 was first released in 1993, and famously adopted for combat use in 1997 by the Italian Navy’s Special Forces unit. Overall, it’s easy to see why the Citizen NY0040 has been such a popular timepiece. I think it’s a shame that it isn’t as well known as its Seiko counterparts to be fair. All that said, take note that the Citizen NY0040 refers to various watches under the Promaster diver collection. As aforementioned, Citizen NY0040 met with many changes over the years. It also inspired various iterations that also became increasingly popular in the community. You may find those watches with the same reference, appended by an identifying set of letters and numbers. Is Citizen NY0040 better than Seiko SKX007? Overall, the dial of this watch is clean and well-balanced. It’s basically how a basic dive watch should look and it doesn’t have unnecessary functions or information on it.
Citizen Promaster NY0040-17LE - Chrono24
I got a Casio Promaster 8203-824393 Y GN-4-S. As far as I know it’s called the “Japan” version. For me it is the “Yellow” version which means it has a yellow dial and a yellow rubber dive strap.I think it is an earlier version of the NY0040 because I own it roughly 30 years. It has lots of scratches because I used it many years on expeditions in Africa. It got a service some years ago and of cause new yellow rubber straps. It’s a shame that the original yellow strap is no longer available but that’s the way it is after all these years… The first watch on this list had to be the Chronoswiss Timemaster CH 6233LU with a full lume dial. It is the watch that our own Lex wears quite regularly. What I love most about the watch is the clash of styles. The use of lume automatically somehow awakens feelings of the 1980s. Maybe it’s because I grew up in the ’80s, where neon and bright colors played a huge part in defining the decade’s style. Without delving too deep into the psyche of luminescence, the bright dial is the perfect contrasting “modern” element for Chronoswiss’ classical style. This clash of styles looks amazing in real life. Right? I was completely blinded by the SKX euphoria of the watch community. I never even had the Promaster on my radar, but once it made its way there… there was no replacing it!
Citizen NY0040 Review – Promaster Automatic Diver
The casing of the Citizen NY0040 has this brilliant rugged design which gives the watch this robust style and feeling. The decompression table is worn out, and until a Seiko AD squeezed the gasket last year it was working just fine. Probably still does. There’s no denying it’s a well made Japanese watch that’s ideal for diving with the ISO certification and high visibility display. Plus it’s what I’d class as an affordable watch which is something I love featuring on this watch blog.I’m sure that when this is the case, the Promaster will get its chance to shine once again. Let’s take a closer look at this wonderfully underrated dive watch, which I feel makes for the perfect entry-level mechanical watch, or even a perfect weekend beater. Whether you wear it on the jangly OEM bracelet with its handy diver’s extension, on a vented rubber strap, or on a humble Nato strap, you really can’t go wrong.