Hands-On: Looking At Size Differently With The New 37mm Citizen Promaster Dive
Surprises abound in this industry. The key is to roll with them. When I wrote up the new Citizen Promaster 37mm divers a couple of weeks back, I had an image in my head of what these watches would look like in the metal. Smaller is better, so a smaller diver will be better, right? Well, now that I’ve had proper time with the blue version of the 37mm Promaster with its bright blue strap, I think it’s time to ditch the superlatives. The 37mm riff on the known Citizen dive watch is not better or worse than its larger predecessor – it’s different in a surprising way.
I opened the box that this watch comes in – it’s more of a canister in the mold of an oxygen tank (a very nice on-theme touch by Citizen) – and let out an immediate “Oh, I understand what this is now.” You see, the stated dimensions of a watch, in this case, 36.5mm, don’t always tell you the full story. That measurement takes into account the entire case and bezel. As a point of comparison, imagine a field-style watch like the Rolex Explorer at 36mm. With no functional bezel, the dial real estate is vast and accounts for much of the overall diameter measurements. On a watch like this, you move inward from case to bezel to dial. And once you get there, you find the dial is smaller than you were expecting – or at least I was expecting.
In any event, in the box, it looked small. But then I put it on and got that familiar feeling I love from my 36mm Explorer, my 36mm Datejust. It’s the feeling I long for – the feeling of me wearing a watch, and not the other way around. And to be honest, when I strap on a 42mm diver, it doesn’t necessarily blend in with the overall Danny Milton experience. This one did.
And then my wife Kasia walked into the room and saw me doing my initial examinations of the Promaster. As a watch photographer, she’s seen basically every design form there is, and we’ve had our fair share of divers in for review. But this one sparked her interest both from a colorful aesthetic and a sizing standpoint. At one time, her daily wear was a Seiko SKX007 which she eventually stopped wearing due to the overall size. This was different. And because it was different, I wanted to make this review different. So here, you will see the watch through the prism of her wrist, and not mine.
I mentioned this in my introductory coverage, but the announcement of this new size in the model range struck me as the ultimate play for a truly unisex diver. While I still find it a tad smaller than what I look for in this style of watch, the fact that Kasia and I could both pull this off effortlessly was very cool. It also just so happened that we were traveling through Tokyo when we had this watch with us so it only made sense to shoot it there.
Walking the streets of Akasaka under the overcast skies of the mid-June rainy (and unbearably humid) season, the bright blue of the strap was a standout feature. And the rubber is a welcome material against the heat and humidity. This watch is powered by Citizen’s Eco-Drive E168 movement which uses ambient light in a process that eliminates having to change batteries. A full charge provides six months of use, and there were plenty of UV rays coming through the Tokyo clouds.
You see a lot of Citizen watches around the city – it is a Japanese brand after all – but this one was so new that we got a few glances from passersby. That also may have been the result of us blatantly having a photoshoot in the middle of the street – who’s to say?
The blue dial and bezel colors are very reminiscent of the larger model except that the markers here are outlined in a reflective blue – a brighter blue than the navy-adjacent dial color but darker than the powder-blue strap. Regardless of this bit of blue flash on the surrounds, this 37mm Promaster still maintains its toolish charm.
One thing that stood out to both of us was that this is a perfect vacation watch – particularly in the summer. Obviously, its 200m water resistance makes it a no-brainer choice for aquatic adventure. But the blue color of this variant just gives you that summer vacation vibe, the kind of watch you put down in the cooler months but glance at to remind you of the memories of warmer times.
Is this smaller version of the well-known diver better than the original? That’s entirely subjective. In the end, it’s different, and in a world where we get a whole lot of the same – we’ll take different any day of the week.
The Citizen Promaster Dive 37mm. 36.55mm x 11.6mm with 18mm lug width. Stainless steel case, aluminum elapsed time bezel in blue, 4:30 date window and 4:30 crown. 200m water resistance. Eco-Drive E168 movement with hours, minutes, seconds, date functionality. Power reserve six months once exposed to light. Closed caseback. Blue rubber strap. Price: $375.
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For more on the new Promaster Dive 37mm, visit Citizen online.
Hodinkee
