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Thread: Citizen Promaster SST.

  1. #1

    Citizen Promaster SST.

    I am quite keen on the Citizen Promaster SST’s and they are not really seen on here so I thought I would post about them. SST stands for Split Second Timing. I have three and will post about them in order of purchase.

    Here is my first, the Promaster SST JW0035-51E. This was a limited edition and is done in titanium, with full DLC and sapphire. It was not cheap when issued, RRP was $1500 and I have owned it for over eleven years now.





































































































    Citizen obviously designed this with a motor racing theme in mind. One design feature I particularly like are the hinged pushers, they are large and are very easy to operate and are nothing like the usual chronograph pushers seen on watches. I also love the large crown with its ‘tyre tread’ design. Again very easy and comfortable to use.






    The emphasis is obviously on timing and the watch has 1/1000 of a second abilities. Amazingly it measures up to hundredths of a second with its analogue dials. The top left hand dial measures seconds, the small red hand on the middle top dial measures tenths by rotating the dial once a second and the larger hand on that dial measures hundredths by rotating the dial ten times a second. The hand is invisible when timing it is just a blur of motion. Is there any other watch that can measure hundredths of seconds via an analogue hand? The watch measures thousandths of a second digitally on the LCD.

    There is a ‘Race’ mode, where you can input the distance of a lap or race and then measure average speed, fastest lap, slowest lap. It retains 100 lap times in memory.

    It also has an ordinary Chronograph mode, World Time, Countdown Timer and Alarm modes. It is solar and has a hand reference setting mode.

    Obviously it has a slide rule bezel and this rotates easily and smoothly in both directions. The watch is 200m WR and uses a push crown not a screwdown one, I prefer this.

    The watch is very wide at 53 mm to the crown. This seems huge on paper but it wears quite a bit smaller. It is 52 mm to the lugs but the actual top bezel, which of course is what draws the eye is a far more modest 43 mm wide. The watch is a reasonable 13 mm thick and is comparatively light because it is all titanium.

    The bracelet is very comfortable and its integration with the case helps the overall design look of the watch, you lose the ability to change straps of course. There is no micro adjustment at the clasp which is a shame.


    A few wrist shots.



























































    I will post about the other two later in the thread.




    Mitch
    Last edited by Mitch; 24th September 2020 at 20:36.

  2. #2
    Craftsman
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    Thanks Mitch
    Interesting, feature packed watch. Not cheap though.
    I have a Citizen 3 handed solar diver for on the water. It came in considerably cheaper than yours though.

  3. #3
    Master
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    Love these Mitch, I've owned a few and currently hunting for JW0139-05E, the blue and orange model (only out in the US?).

    I actually bought the same watch you've shown in your post, was a very badly listed auction on eBay and failed to top £200 (£187 I think I paid). Flipped of course, I can't really get on with the complicated pilot-computer style bezel, much prefer the classic 5---10---15---20 layout.

    Looking forward to seeing more of yours.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by kevkojak View Post
    Love these Mitch, I've owned a few and currently hunting for JW0139-05E, the blue and orange model (only out in the US?).

    I actually bought the same watch you've shown in your post, was a very badly listed auction on eBay and failed to top £200 (£187 I think I paid). Flipped of course, I can't really get on with the complicated pilot-computer style bezel, much prefer the classic 5---10---15---20 layout.

    Looking forward to seeing more of yours.
    That was a fantastic deal. Was it this Limited Edition model? Citizen did a number of variations of this first Promaster SST, mainly in SS (those must be heavy!). I think the ordinary versions retailed at about $700 but discounts were available of course.



    Mitch

  5. #5
    Master
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    Exact same one Mitch. No box sadly, and some marks on the clasp which had broken the DLC coating, but I was amazed when it sold so cheaply, I was willing to go a good bit higher. The first one I bought was the super titanium model and that was £99 in a pawnbrokers. I've been lucky with these!!

    Sadly I'm going to have to pay up for the next one, looks pretty tough to find in the UK

  6. #6
    Very clear bright red light and decent lume as well.








    Mitch

  7. #7
    Here is the second Promaster SST I bought, the Toyota 86 JW0104-51E model. This is a collaboration with Toyota to celebrate the Toyota GT86



    https://citizen.jp/news/2013/20131120.html




































































































    The watch has the same case and the same module as the first SST. It does have a more highly polished bezel and crown and drops the slide rule bezel and function, for a more cleaner look.



    The dial is a bit different though the three top dials are set in a carbon fibre pattern and the initial starting point of the hands are different to better reflect the actual dials on a Toyota GT86.

    Also the watch specifically says it is Duratect, unlike the first and also has full DLC. The watch says 'made in Japan', again unlike the first.

    Only 350 of this model were made, making it quite a rare thing. You can find them for sale but they tend to be up for more than £1000.





































    So which one would get your vote? They are both very attractive, one has a more 'tool' look and one is a bit more elegant, if such watches qualify for the term 'elegant'.




    Mitch
    Last edited by Mitch; 27th September 2020 at 14:11.

  8. #8
    Master
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    The lime looks great - love the red lit area - and the pushers look good. The top one is my favourite as I like the pilot bezel.

  9. #9
    Citizen replaced the original SST with this one.





    I did not buy this one because, though it used the same movement, it is a 'sanitised' version of the original. It was smaller, it lost the wonderful huge hinged pushers, the crown was dumbed down, it lost its integrated bracelet and overall it became a pretty generic design package that had nothing to particularly recommend it other than the great movement and top dials.

    I think the first SST was a bit marmite and I think Citizen thought this more bland styling would sell better. Perhaps it did, I don't know but I did not buy another until the third generation came out. more on that later.



    Mitch

  10. #10
    Here is my last Promaster SST, the latest version.

    This was much improved over the second version though my preference is still for the original.

    It still uses the same movement but looks much better with more interesting pushers and a better designed case. the base model also came with a sapphire crystal as standard.












































































































    Very nice lume.







    Here are all three together.








    So any thoughts about this SST series and which would be your preference out of them?



    Mitch

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by thenikjones View Post
    The lime looks great - love the red lit area - and the pushers look good. The top one is my favourite as I like the pilot bezel.

    Cheers.

    The pushers on the original ones are indeed fantastic and there design helps to get more accurate figures when you are timing.

    Mind you it seems most on here must think the watches are a bit bland, not worthy of comment. I mean, analogue watches that time via a hand that spins round its dial ten times a second are two a penny obviously.

    There are some but if you look at the price of most of them it might depress any enthusiasm for them.



    Mitch

  12. #12
    Master
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    Wow, superb set!! Love the Toyota branded one, that's a new one on me I must confess, but the black and red would be my pick.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by kevkojak View Post
    Wow, superb set!! Love the Toyota branded one, that's a new one on me I must confess, but the black and red would be my pick.

    Cheers!

    As they are all black and red, not sure which one is your preference.



    Mitch

  14. #14
    Grand Master MartynJC (UK)'s Avatar
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    The only other watch I am aware of with 1/00th sec resolution with the second hand is the Zenith Defy 21 - the second hand swept 360deg / second and able to resolve to 1/00th sec. It had two independent springs and a pwr indicator for the Chrono - one for the watch time and one for the chronograph function.



    OP - I like your first version the most with those unusual pushers! Thanks for sharing.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by MartynJC (UK) View Post
    The only other watch I am aware of with 1/00th sec resolution with the second hand is the Zenith Defy 21 - the second hand swept 360deg / second and able to resolve to 1/00th sec. It had two independent springs and a pwr indicator for the Chrono - one for the watch time and one for the chronograph function.



    OP - I like your first version the most with those unusual pushers! Thanks for sharing.
    Well there are some others and some which spin their hands at ten times a second, like these SST's. They are all very expensive though.


    https://timetransformed.com/2014/10/...graph-watches/



    Mitch

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