Skip to main content

Citizen or Seiko?

When people say Japanese watches, I immediately think Citizen and Seiko. Of course Seiko was established first and had it's foot through the door before Citizen could walk. However, Citizen also has a very interesting history and in my opinion it has made watches that rivals Seiko in form and function.

Here in the Philippines, both Seiko and Citizen are popular watch brands. However, of the two, Seiko is more popular. It is probably because of the unlimited options the Seiko 5 line offers and the reasonably affordable diver's watches that have now become very iconic. Citizen is not very far behind with their Citizen Eagle 7 line that rivals the Seiko 5, but I think the Citizen 7 is not as extensive. In general, most people here who like automatic watches go for Seiko.

It is probably an unfair comparison if you compared the brands in terms of their history and popularity since Seiko would take the cake. Citizen has mostly been an alternative to Seiko in terms of how its watches are viewed by the public. In the 90's if you wanted to be different from everyone else, you got a Citizen since most people then wore a Seiko. Citizen is a very underrated brand in my opinion and it deserves more recognition than it is given.

I own two Seiko 5's and one Citizen Eagle 7, but the Seiko 5's were hand me downs, but I bought my only Citizen 7 on purpose. Of course the Seiko 5's have more wrist time since I have owned them for over 20 years. I like the Seiko 5's very much, but if there is one thing I don't like about the modern Seiko 5's, with the 7S26 movement, is that it's not hand winding. Which is the thing that I like about the Citizen Eagle 7 that uses the 8200 movement, it hand winds. For me that's a big one up...a major one up.

I love Seiko for the sheer amount of choices from their Seiko 5 line, but technically, I like Citizen more because their watches feature hand winding. Once the Seiko 5's magic lever fails, its over. The watch is practically dead. For the Citizen Eagle 7, if the rotor (automatic winder) fails, you can still wind up the watch and use it.

In the end it's just a matter of preference. You may argue that the Citizen 7 is a better watch and I may agree with you, but you can't deny that the Seiko 5 is an icon. Seiko is still shelling out Seiko 5's, but I think Citizen has stopped making the Eagle 7.

So, is it Citizen or Seiko? For me, it will always be Seiko then Citizen. It wouldn't be fair to me if I just picked one.

Enjoy!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Watch Review: Citizen Eagle 7

While Seiko has the "5", Citizen has the "7". Also called the Eagle 7, this must be Citizen's answer to the popular Seiko 5 line. Though, I'm uncertain if the Eagle 7 lineup is as extensive as the Seiko 5's, the watches I have seen are quite good looking. And like the Seiko 5's, it has a myriad of different flavors and styles. I got this one from the used market earlier this year (2018). It was an accidental purchase because I was not counting on it being gold. The posted photos looked silver to me and there was no mention of it being gold. I was uncomfortably surprised when I saw the watch in person and by then it was too late to cancel the deal. Here it is, my Citizen Eagle 7. It came with a metal bracelet, but it was missing the end link. I scrapped the bracelet and got a black leather strap for this. It has a black dial with stripes, a day & date complication. It has that iconic eagle badge with a red shield. In the middle of the shiel...

Watch Review: 1974 Citizen Automatic Calibre 6501

My father gave me this watch sometime in 1993. I was in grade school and back then all of my classmates had those really colorful digital watches. I didn't mind though. I reveled in the thought that my watch didn't need any batteries. My classmates would look at me in confusion as I tried to explain that my watch didn't need batteries because it was an automatic. Of course back then, I didn't care about brands or movements or what "jewels" meant for a watch. It was just cool to brag about a watch with no batteries. I don't know where my father got this watch. He also couldn't remember how this came into his possession. It was obviously pre-owned since there was some name engraved on the clasp. By the time I was given this watch, it was already pretty scuffed. Of course in the years that followed, I also added to those dings and scratches. I've tried searching the internet for a similar one, but so far I have not found any. There is also no spec...

Watch Review: 2016 Winner Skeleton Mechanical Watch

Before I share to you my highly opinionated and very personal review, let me get a few things out of the way. I am not a watch critic. I am a watch enthusiast. I have little experience in reviewing watches and what I write in this post is not the "law". I have little technical knowledge about watches. If I happen to mention or mislabel some parts in the watch, please be kind. I am not recommending any brands nor is this blog backed by any watch brand or manufacturer. Let's start. I purchased a watch online back in March, 2018. It's a mechanical dress watch that is made in, you guessed it, China. A very affordable, manual wind, mechanical watch that caught my eye mostly because it didn't look half bad, with the skeleton movement and display back, and mainly because it was a manual wind and not an automatic. This one was not my first choice, but it turned out to be for the best since I now realize my first choice was not very coherent in terms of its colo...