An update to last year’s Citizen Promaster NY008 series with the NY009 – with new colours and metal bracelets.
Citizen Promaster Mechanical Diver 200m NY009: the Fugu
The new NY009 series of watches is now available in four vintage inspired styles with new colours taken from the early history of diving.
The Models – all six of them
Highlight piece is the NY0099-81X with a green dial and green bezel. This is limited to 1,989 pieces and numbered on the case back. (a nod to the fact that 1989 is the year when the Promaster was introduced). This model is only available in South East Asian countries – Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Along with this, three other models are also in this announcement. These have a black dial and come in three different colours of the aluminium bezel insert. The NY0090-86E is a black bezel, the NY0091-83E with a wine red bezel and the NY0098-84E with a blue bezel. All are available in rubber/silicon strap or stainless steel bracelet.
The black and wine red models use a rose gold colour for indications on the dial – with the Citizen and Promaster logos in rose gold as well as teh minute markers, the “Divers 200m” text.
These 3 models are Asia Special Edition and are limited to 2,000 pieces each and available in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
In addition two further models are also available. These are in a two tone colour scheme with stainless steel and gold plating.
A reference to a popular aesthetic in the latter part of the 20th century. Both models come with bezel and crown in gold plating to contrast with the stainless steel case. They differ in the colour of the dial, bezel insert and strap. The NY0095-12L comes with a blue dial, bezel insert and matching blue rubber strap printed with the ND Limits decompression table. And the NY0094-85E comes with a black dial, bezel insert and on a two tone stainless steel bracelet. Both are part of the Asia Special Edition and limited to 2,000 pieces each.
The Fugu
The characteristics of the Fugu remain the same as last year’s released NY008 models. The model dates back to the original NY004 introduced in 1993 and its place in Citizen history. But the history goes further than that, and harks back to 1959, these were the first Japanese made water resistant mechanical watches and were known as the “Parawater”.
The principal characteristics are the left hand crown position at 8 which is designed to prevent inadvertent knocks as well as better ergonomic comfort for the wearer. And the distinctive bezel, with alternating smooth and serrated edges are designed to provide a positive grip under water, especially when being operated with thick gloved hands. This design is inspired by the pufferfish, or in Japanese “Fugu”.
The movement: Cal.8203
While we were not privy to see how the Cal. 8203 movement looks like in the flesh, but the following photograph is taken from the website 17 Jewels. An analysis of the movement and more photographs as the movement is being disassembled is found on the web page.
The movement is robust and a well designed to withstand the rigours of a tool watch, but it is certainly no sight to behold. Movement finishing is kept to an absolute minimum, with zero effort devoted to cosmetic finishing. The original movement is made by robots in the Citizen automated production lines at Miyota. And though is marked “Unadjusted”, performs quite well in our experience, coming to near chronometer specifications in daily use.
Calibre 8203, a movement that offers hand-winding capability as well as
approximately 40 hours of power reserve, and beats at a classical 21,600 bph.
We omit the Competitive Landscape section as this remains unchanged from the one in our NY008 review. Click on the link to read that.
Concluding thoughts
The Citizen Promaster Diver Mechanical 200m NY009 series Fugu remains to have carved out a nice niche in the inexpensive tool watch category.
It looks the part in the aesthetics department, with Citizen taking care to ensure that finishing of the case, dial, hands, and the straps/bracelet are excellent. From the aesthetic refinement to the build quality and to the touch. The movement, though is rather raw in the finishing department, is a proven mechanism which is robust and able to withstand the daily abuse of a tool watch. And the price comes in at rather reasonable levels, ranging from S$498 to S$664.
Citizen Promaster Mechanical Diver 200m Specifications
Model NY0099-81X
Retail Price with GST SGD 663.40 Limited Number 1,989 pcs Case/Band Stainless Steel Crystal Mineral Crystal Dial Colour Green Bezel Insert Colour Green Size Diameter 42mm
Model NY0090-86E NY0091-83E NY0098-84E NY0096-12L NY0094-85
Retail Price with GST SGD 599.20 SGD 599.20 SGD 599.20 SGD 497.55 SGD 642.00 Limited Number 2,000 pcs each Case/Band Stainless Steel Rubber strap Two-tone \ SS & Gold Crystal Mineral Crystal Dial Colour Black Black Black Blue Black Bezel Insert Colour Black Wine Red Blue Blue Black Diameter 42mm
Movement Cal.8203
Automatic / Day & Date Display / Rotating Bezel 200m water resistance / Luminous (hands + indices + bezel at 12 o’clock)/ approx. 40hr power reserve
