One year ago, we released our first-ever review of a Citizen radio controlled product lineup; case in point, it was the Citizen Pilot. Today, we take a closer look at three new 2021 models, belonging to different collections instead, despite all offering WorldTime and Perpetual Calendar functions as standard.
Atomic timekeeping, otherwise said Radio Control, gives timing accuracy unmatched precision and aims at consumers who value accuracy strictly. Also, the timepieces pictured here all come with SuperTitanium exclusively, representing three different Super Titanium Radio Controlled Citizen watch options.
The Citizen H800 Sport Super Titanium.
Let’s begin the review by analyzing the newest and most expensive timepiece. The Citizen H800 Sport SuperTitanium stands as the new-gen of Citizen Radio Controlled watches whose design pays tribute to the avant-gardist design once introduced with the Satellite Wave GPS F100 series: the case is, therefore, edgy and refined and sports an equally beautifully engineered integrated bracelet. Regarding the glorious F100, you’ll hardly find one on sale, but luckily enough, the H800 has taken many design traits from that generation. Each timepiece is outrageously thin, super light, with a side view highlighting the sculpted polished and matte surfaces. The 800 series looks somehow closer to a Citizen Attesa (which you won’t find in Europe) than a standard Citizen. The outcome is as sophisticated as you won’t easily find in other products adopting the same technology.
The Citizen H800 Sport Super Titanium AT 8234-85E pictured here houses the latest generation Atomic timekeeping Eco-Drive powered movement. It works for six months in everyday use and ten months with the Power Save function mode on when fully charged. It receives radio signals from atomic clocks in the USA, Europe, Japan, and China; it automatically adjusts to 26 different cities’ time zones. The Chrono function is precise to 1/20 of a second, and the movement is protected against shocks, a feature initially found on the Citizen Promaster Eco-Drive Professional Diver 1000 BN7020-09E. Last yet not least, it is a perpetual calendar.
The uncluttered, well-organized dial layout makes it easy to read and use all the functions available at a glance (however, always read the user manual during initial setup, unless you’re an expert). The register placed at six – the 1/20 of a second chronograph counter – includes the radio signal reception gauge along with the day of the week’s display; conversely, the counter at noon houses the power reserve indicator placed alongside the sixty-minute counter and, on the right end side, the Summer Time indicator. In Italy, where daylight saving time applies, the H800 automatically adjusts to daylight saving time upon receiving this piece of information via the atomic clock signal.
The superimposed registers and the floated indexes remind me of the Satellite Wave GPS 50th Anniversary and confirm, again, that the H800 is the epitome of the most advanced Citizen concept design. Each H800 Sport Super Titanium is 43 mm across, and just 10.30 mm thick and stands as the most sophisticated radio-controlled Citizen watch you can buy in this price range. At just 89 grams, it is the second lightest radio-controlled timepiece out of the three, on par with what the Citizen H145 Elegance Super Titanium can offer. The Citizen H800 Sport Super Titanium retails for 678 Euros.
The Citizen (Promaster) Chrono Pilot Super Titanium CB5850-80L
The heading looks provoking, but it’s not; just take an eye at the dial, and you’ll spot the arrow-shaped Promaster logo. The Chrono Pilot Super Titanium reference CB5850-80L is Water Resistant to 200 meters, making it a Professional labeled radio-controlled timepiece far exceeding its siblings whose performance stops at a good 100 meters, which is more than enough on timepieces whose original domain is not professional diving.
Sporting a solid and long-established Super Engineer bracelet, the Chrono Pilot Super Titanium has been around for quite some time now and has been unstoppably updated and refined inside and out. His style is quintessential – yet old school – Citizen and unusually combines Promaster specs to atomic timekeeping and Pilot’s watch specifications, exemplified by the slide rule, which can be operated via the crown at eight.
The Chrono Pilot Super Titanium CB5850-80L is hefty at 43mm in diameter and, most importantly, at 14 mm in thickness, thus hardly adapting to everyone’s wrist. Elsewhere, it is coded as a “Promaster Air” since it is a pro pilot’s watch.
While it shares most functions with the newer H800, it houses an older Eco-Drivecalibre; the E660calibre’s Chronograph is not as refined as the H800‘s and the timepiece can adjust to 24 time zones instead of 26. Finally, it is not protected against shocks.
The knurled bezel and crown make it a bold, rugged timepiece paying tribute to early 2000s Citizen Promaster watches, which usually appeal to the brand’s die-hard fans but keep being crowded with numbers and Infos. Compared to the Skyhawk or Navihawk collections recently launched overseas, and similar products available in Italy, they somehow look obsolete. The Citizen Chrono Pilot Super Titanium CB5850-80L retails for 598 Euro.
The Citizen H145 Elegance Super Titanium
Last is the Citizen Radiocontrolled H145 Elegance Super Titanium, a classic take on the same template, Chronograph excluded. It is the lightest timepiece pictured here (it weighs just 88 grams) and the smallest, given that its round case measures just 40 mm across.
In brief, it works as Citizen‘s Eco-Drive take on the three hands watch with a bracelet but offers ingenuity and complication you won’t find on a mechanical watch this priced. Engineers adopted Duratect PTIC platinum finish to mimic a steel appearance without boosting Vickers hardness compared to standard Duratect TIC seen on H800 and Chrono Pilot.
Its calibre ensures a 26-cities time zone automatic adjustment via a shock-protected movement, which makes it comparable to an H800, like for like. The case comes standard with a five-link bracelet and hidden folding clasp with double safety pushers. Finally, the H145 comes standard with a low power reserve alarm function. The Citizen H145 Elegance Super Titanium retails for 498 Euro.
About SuperTitanium
Super Titanium is a Citizen‘s proprietary technology and the result of years of research and development after the Japanese brand introduced the first-ever titanium watch, the Citizen X-8, in 1970. The brand’s goal was to increase titanium’s hardness and scratch-proof properties by treating the material to such an extent that it far outperforms steel in lightness as much as in mechanical properties. The technology has evolved to extend and release several types of treatments, as exemplified by the graph pictured below:
All the products in this review adopt the Duratect TIC treatment, which increases the Vickers hardness by a factor of ten Vs. Standard titanium. The Citizen H145 Elegance Super Titanium includes a platinum finish (Duratect PTIC) to mimic polished steel as faithfully as possible. The Citizen Radio Controlled H800 Sport Super Titanium showcases an external black bezel treated with Duratect DLC whose surface hardness grows to 1400 Vickers.
Final thoughts
The three models reviewed are a much different take on the Citizen Radiocontrolled Supertitanium template and aim at other customers, in my opinion. The H800 series is the most sophisticated proposition, well honouring the F100‘s legacy as much as the Satellite Wave GPS F900 does. Take it with a black dial, and you’ll end up wearing a pleasantly designed watch, housing the state of the art Eco-Drive powered Radiocontrolled technology. I’d no doubt pay the extra price compared to a Citizen H145 Elegance Super Titanium, which wears smaller, at 40mm, but looks too mainstream.
The Citizen Radio controlled Chrono Pilot Super Titanium reference CB5850-80L is a different story, technically and aesthetically. It’s a Promaster at heart; it’s a Pilot’s watch with a tool watch appearance and an obsolete design in the benchmark. Above all, the lume performance is the most significant area of improvement; when you master so much information and details, readability is a top priority, first and foremost on a Chrono Pilot Super Titanium.
The perpetual calendar is a complication that adjusts the watch's calendar for varying months and leap years. This cycle will end in 2100, and the wearer should apply the first manual correction.
Case
It encases the mechanical movement and is crafted in one or more parts. It can also be a single piece, as with some professional diving watches, or made of unconventional…
Calendar
A feature that shows the day of the month and, in some cases, the day of the week. Some calendar watches show the date on sub-dials, while others display the…
Power Reserve
A mechanical watch feature displays, on the dial or the case back, the remaining power in a watch movement, showing the length of time until the timepiece must be rewound.
Chronograph
Complication that helps the wearer to measure time intervals without affecting the watch's standard time-telling function.
Water Resistant
A watch is water resistant when it can withstand splashes of water. It indicates the depth to which a watch can be worn underwater.
Crown
Placed on the case side, it winds the mainspring. When pulled out, it also sets the time and the date. A screw-down crown increases water resistance and protects the movement…
Calibre
A calibre is the type of watch movement encased in an assigned timepiece. Its name is usually associated with the manufacturer's name and a standard code, e.g., ETA 2824.
Bezel
The bezel is particularly useful on diving watches, allowing you to check dive times. In this case, it unidirectionally rotates and usually comes in two parts: a metal (or ceramic,…
Complication
The addition of any mechanical complication to a movement that usually displays the time.
Time zone
Time zones refer to the twenty-four regions of the globe. Milan, Rome or Naples will indicate our time zone here in Italy.
