Watch Review: Special Citizen Center Second

Acquiring this piece was a bit of an impulsive decision. I saw this watch in the used market and the seller told me that it's not working as it was suppose to. I pulled the trigger anyway because I was enamored with how it looked. It was a vintage piece that spoke to me. Little did I know that it was a very small watch. By today's standards, it is in the realm of lady's watches. However, during the time it was released, it was marketed for both men and women. Do I regret buying this? Absolutely not.

Here it is. The Special Citizen Center Second.

As far as I know, this was  made in 1950, but I do not have paperwork to back this up. However, I did have a correspondence with the owner of https://sweep-hand.org/. He is the go to guy for things Citizen on the internet. He did provide some info on the watch. I'm quoting from part of his email to me.

"the old hand winder is from 1950 - the movement was known as the Center Second, and was an improved version of the 'New Citizen' which preceded it in 1949. Although the movement is similar in design to the F type, it was in fact developed separately with more accurate machining tools."

I got this on the 18th of February, 2018, for Php 1,000. Yes it was a steep price to pay for a watch that was not keeping time. I had it fixed twice between then and now. First, the grown and stem was replaced. The second time I had this fixed was mostly for cleaning. I don't have the details of what was done during the second repair, but whatever it was the guy really fixed the watch.

The watch is not pristine anymore and the seller didn't tell me how long he had the watch. Only info I got was that it belonged to his mother and that some time ago it stopped working.

It's a relatively small watch. It is a vintage dress watch that I only wear when I'm in formal clothes. In today's standard, it is the size of a lady's watch. However, this was marketed to both  male and female customers in Japan at the time of its release.

Let's check out the specs.

The dimensions are petite to say the least. It's very small, but not too small that time is impossible to read. The case is certainly not stainless steel as it is clearly plated. It has drilled lugs, an acrylic crystal, and crown at 3 o'clock. It is hand winding only.

The case back looks to be stainless and it has relatively few markings. It has a circular brushed finish. It is a snap on case back and there is no water resistance to speak of. You can see in the above photo the bracelet that it came with. It's one of those stretchy type metal bracelets that was too small for me or my wife. I opted to change it to black leather.

The dial is two tone depending on the viewing angle. If you stare at the watch directly, the darker circle in the middle somewhat fades to match the white part of the dial. See below photo.

A very nice touch to the overall look of the watch is the red second hand that is shaped like a sword. Hour and minute hands are thin and straight with pointed tips. The dial has applied, gold Arabic markers. No day or date on this watch and has a tiny push pull crown at 3 o'clock. To set the time, pull on the crown and turn counter clockwise push down when set. Turn clockwise on the crown to wind the watch. This has no overwind protection so I carefully wind the watch until I feel the crown resist then I stop. Any further winding can damage the watch.

Both the minute and second hand almost reaches the end of the dial where there is a printed minute track that are numbered at 5 minute intervals with 60 marking the 12 o'clock position. The hour hand is also very long and eclipses the Arabic markers. The hands are also gold and they are curved such that their ends almost touch the dial.

I don't have the movement specs since not much documentation exists online. The watch runs significantly fast. Gaining over 5 minutes in 2 weeks. Not sure if this movement can be regulated as I have not inspected the movement very closely. I also do not have a photo of the movement for fear of getting dust in the watch. By my estimate, it has an 18 hour power reserve.

I wind up the watch every 12 hours and so far it's been running with no apparent problems. I wear this to church and, occasionally, to formal gatherings. I have no wrist shot of this since it will only look really tiny on my 6 1/2 inch wrist. With that said, I still love wearing this watch. To own a piece that is over 50 years old is great. Although sometimes I wish Citizen made it a bit larger.

There you have it, the Special Citizen Center Second vintage watch.

Enjoy!