Both of these watches are purposeful-looking dive watches that seem prepared to take a beating. They both have solid lugs, crown guards and bulky bezels. Dial-wise, though, they take different paths.

NY0040: Better than the Seiko SKX007? Citizen NY0040: Better than the Seiko SKX007?

Even though we recently focused our attention on the (truly impressive) Citizen Caliber 0200, this highly accomplished model is an exception for the brand. When it comes to its core range, where Citizen has long excelled, we have to look at far more accessible watches. And one, in particular, has long been a fan’s favourite, a watch with its own community, the Promaster. And today, we’ll look at the brand’s latest iteration, the Citizen Promaster Marine Automatic Diver 200m Super Titanium™ NY0100-50XE with its green dial. And even if it has moved into fashionable territories with a dial bearing the industry’s hottest colour, it remains one of the best value proposition dive watches on the market. Promaster

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Both the hands and the hour markers have a good coating of lume to make reading in dim lit conditions much easier. Most decent diving watches are expected to come with sufficient lume. We love the watch as much as you’re probably loving it right now! Let’s review the specifications of the watch.

Summer Special: Seiko SKX007 vs Citizen NY0040 - Fratello Watches Summer Special: Seiko SKX007 vs Citizen NY0040 - Fratello Watches

The Citizen NY0040 from the Citizen Promaster collection is one of the most recognizable watches among watch enthusiasts. It is distinctively sporty and has a certain look and function that many collectors vie for. The Citizen NY0040 is, indeed, a watch built to last. Such a watch is not something you can look past, especially at its price point. Movement: Citizen in-house Miyota Calibre 8200, self-winding movement with a manual-winding functionPersonally, I’d have preferred a coin edged bezel design but that’s more down to my personal taste than anything else. That being said, a lot of other people obviously seem to like it. Overall, it’s easy to see why the Citizen NY0040 has been such a popular timepiece. I think it’s a shame that it isn’t as well known as its Seiko counterparts to be fair. At first, the idea was to select the best full lume dial watches from the past and the present. But during the research for this article, the scope kept getting wider as the magic of lume is not restricted to full lume dials. While there certainly is a list to be made with the best full lume dials, it would put some amazing watches that play brilliantly with the theme of light by using lume out of scope. So in that light (pun intended), let’s take a look at some of the best lume watches. Seiko and Citizen are two Japanese watch companies that have been duking it out for decades. Both offer watches at all sorts of price ranges but really bring in revenue through production of moderately inexpensive, yet high quality, timepieces. Impressively, each company manufactures in-house movements and most of its own parts. Due to economic pressures, both now utilize factories throughout Asia instead of solely relying on Japan, but I’ve never been able to tell the difference quality-wise no matter where the pieces are made. Seiko and Citizen are famous in many sub-genres of watches, but both have really done well when it comes to their divers. Here again, the two make dive watches with a wide range of pricing and functionality and are revered by both professional and recreational divers.

Citizen Promaster NY0040-17LE - Chrono24

After looking into the watch design, quality, features, and pricing this watch received a 9/10 from us at The Watch Blog. The outer edge of the dial consists of an angled chapter ring. This is a great way to give the watch dimensions. A lot of watches tend to look flat and two-dimensional, so it’s a smart choice to include an angular chapter ring instead. On this chapter ring, you can find the seconds markers. Date Window & Inscriptions Protecting the front of the timepiece is a mineral crystal glass. This is commonly found on mid range watches as well as diving timepieces. Mineral crystal glass is specially hardened to offer a good level of both scratch and shatter resistance. The shatter resistance if often a key decider for diving watches as you’d often rather have better shatter resistance than scratch resistance. This is why we don’t see sapphire crystal glass so often. Watch Movement If you are a Fratello regular reader, you knew this had to be on the list. The A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Lumen made it to the finals of our March Mania contest earlier in the year. It shows how much you all like this beauty of a watch. In the finals, it was up against ‘my’ Czapek Antarctique Terre de Adélie, where the Czapek took the grand prize. But that does not take anything away from the spectacular Datograph Lumen. This is one of my favorite watches currently out there from a brand that is considered industry royalty. Overall, the dial of this watch is clean and well-balanced. It’s basically how a basic dive watch should look and it doesn’t have unnecessary functions or information on it.

7. Panerai Luminor Marina Fibratech PAM01117

This Citizen diver may not be the most iconic dive watch out there, but it does have quite an impressive history, as well as the specs to make it a thoroughbred diver. I can freely admit that this watch was never on my radar. As you might have read in my previous article on the Seiko 7002, it was the Seiko SKX line that firmly held my novice watch collector’s attention. However, being a student at the time the price was not one that I could even think about paying. I did know one thing — I wanted a proper automatic dive watch. It’s impossible to talk about the Fugu without talking about its predecessor in the Citizen dive watch stable; the venerable NY004. The NY004 was first released in 1993, and famously adopted for combat use in 1997 by the Italian Navy’s Special Forces unit. What do you think of the Promaster? Do you own one? How do you like it? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

My Citizen Promaster NY0040: The Only Diving Diver I Own (2021)

Finally, among the multiple watches produced under the Promaster collection, there’s one that has always ranked highly in the heart of enthusiasts, the Promaster Marine Automatic Diver 200m, also known as the NY0040. Launched in 1997, this watch (made of steel, in this instance) is one of the rare fully mechanical models of the collection and yet remains one of the most accessible, enduring, robust and, obviously cool-looking models. Consider this watch the SKX007 of Citizen, in terms of accessibility, attractiveness and robustness. And this NY0040 is the base for the watch we’ll be discovering today, the NY0100-50XE. Titanium and green dial for comfort/resistance and fun, but still the same old brilliant watch underneath. They’ve gone for both a brushed and polished finish which is something I’ve always been quite a fan of. The top of the casing is finished in a brushed style, however, the sides of the casing have a polished shiny finish. I tend to find this sort of design gives a watch a high-quality look. Regarding weaknesses of the SKX007, I dislike how the dial is a crisp white and the hands are off-white. To some, it may appear like patina, but I find it a little cheesy. Also, I see a small gap between the day and date wheel, which is not typical for Seiko. Aside from that, my only other general wish is for a hand-winding movement, but because this is Seiko, I can’t be too surprised that the watch is sold without one. With its new green colour and this Super Titanium case and bracelet combination, there’s really a lot to love about this watch. And yet, the utilitarian, blue-collar feel of the original Promaster Marine is still present, just with better specs all around now. Sure, it’s quite a lot more expensive than an NY0040 (which comes at EUR 239), but this green titanium edition remains very accessible and brings a lot to the table for that price. Availability & PriceSo what is the water resistance rating of the Citizen NY0040? For anyone skim reading through you may not have found this out just yet. This Citizen NY0040 has an impressive diver’s 200m water resistance rating which makes it a proper ISO certified diving watch. Whether you are looking to dip your toe into the world of mechanical watches and are looking for a solid starting point, or you are in the market for a quality beater, the Citizen Promaster NY0040 definitely holds its own. Despite having flown under the radar for a long time, I think it’s a watch that deserves more recognition and consideration. With a retail price of around €190, it’s a true value proposition. With a military past for added credibility, these Citizens are a perfect care-free companion for any situation you might find yourself in. It’s also an automatic watch, so a lot of watch enthusiasts consider this a great diver. It’s one of the many reasons it gets compared to the SKX007 from Seiko. Both are great options for entry-level sports or dive watches. They also both carry the same aesthetic and practically the same functions. However, the distinct differences make the two ultimately different from each other. Let’s dive deep into the features and functions of the Citizen NY0040. To understand why it’s one of the most sought-after Citizen watches, let’s get to know it better. Here’s an unadulterated review of the Citizen NY0040 and why it could be better than the SKX007.