Citizen celebrates this year the first–ever titanium wristwatch‘s 50th anniversary, quite an achievement in watchmaking. In 1973, the Japanese brand also launched its first Citizen Bullhead Flyback Chronograph, an odd-looking wristwatch, back then, powered by the sophisticated caliber 8110A, featuring flyback function and push-buttons placed at twelve, hence the nickname “Tsuno,” which means “Horn” in Japanese.
The 2020 commemorative edition embodies fifty years of technical prowess and product innovation and showcases two of Citizen‘s state of the art technologies: Eco–Drive™ and Supertitanium™. It is not Citizen‘s very first attempt in combining Supertitanium™ and Eco–Drive™ in a Bullhead, though. If you’re a watch geek, you won’t forget that Citizen introduced a 1000–piece Limited Edition Citizen Super Titanium Bullhead, exclusively available in Singapore, combining both technologies, although not as advanced as this edition, given the continuous evolution and improvement processes ongoing at Citizen.
Compared to the new timepiece (a collector posted the photo above on Watchuseek), that model was stylistically closer to the original Bullhead. We think Citizen experimented, with that limited product, how the market could have reacted to a modern Eco–Drive™ powered Bullhead. That Citizen Eco Drive Bullhead collection sold out in a blink of an eye, and it’s virtually impossible to find for sale anywhere on the market, at least not across the most known platforms.
The 2020 Bullhead or Tsuno Chrono Limited Edition watch offers the state-of-the-art Supertitanium™ (and Eco-Drive™) technology, paired to a steel-finish, and houses one of the most advanced movements available. It is the Eco-Drive E2100 caliber, consisting of 294 parts, powered by Eco–Drive™, which transforms any source of light into energy.
The 2020 Citizen Bullhead Flyback Chronograph Supertitanium™ watch
The case of the Citizen Bullhead Flyback Chronograph Supertitanium™ is impressive, at 43mm, across, and has mixed satin (bracelet, case side) and polished (bezel, buttons, and crown) finish, the outcome being a steel sports watch touch to it. Also, you’ll notice this edition debuts a sharper design over the outgoing Tsuno range: upper and lower sides of the case’s edges are squared and kind of manga-looking. In our opinion, the new one took inspiration from timepieces like the Citizen Bullhead Challenge Timer ref. 67-9356; take a look at its shape, and you’ll quickly find out they share the same triple-curved edgy top end, for example.
Nicknamed as “Bullhead Octagon”, given its odd-looking eight-sided squared shape, the vintage Bullhead has made its modern sibling look different from the 2019 Promaster Bullhead. Protected by a sapphire crystal, the four-register dial comes in two versions, a silver double “panda” with black counters, and a black one with dark gray registers.
The dial and the main features
The Chrono counters are placed on the right-hand side, while at 9 o’clock, there’s the power reserve indicator (the movement ensures an 8-month power reserve when fully charged). There’s an additional tiny hand between 4 and 5 o’clock, which activates the alarm and can be operated by pressing a button located in the lower right-hand side, whose design mimics an Allen screw. Regarding the Citizen Bullhead Flyback Chronograph Supertitanium™’s flyback function, the brand aimed at replicating a mechanical watch’s feel as much as possible: the jump start function is instantaneous, and the push-pieces offer a mechanical chronograph’s feedback. Additionally, the timepiece is guaranteed water-resistant to up to 10atm.
Case and bracelet are treated with Citizen‘s Duratect™ (Citizen’s proprietary surface-hardening technology) to make it virtually scratchproof. It would be great if Citizen would offer a replacement leather or NATO strap as standard. The Citizen Bullhead Flyback Chronograph Supertitanium™ watch is, as said, available on a white or black dial (reference AV0080-88E), and retails for Euro 698.
(Photo credit: Marco Antinori for Horbiter®)
Francesco Falcone @Horbiter®
