Collection: Citizen Promaster Dive and Diver Watches

Citizen Promaster Dive and Diver watches

Every watch here is a Citizen Promaster diver rated Diver’s 200m, which in Citizen’s own chart means it is built and tested for scuba diving with an air tank. The line runs from a 36.5mm Professional Diver to a 46mm titanium automatic, plus the larger Aqualand with its depth meter: most run on Eco-Drive, charged by light, and a smaller group on Citizen’s mechanical automatics.

Promaster, a line for professionals since 1989

Citizen launched Promaster in 1989 for people working on land, at sea and in the air, and the dive watches are its sea branch. Citizen made the Promaster bezel unidirectional in line with the ISO standard for diving watches, so it can’t be turned the wrong way by accident during a dive. Luminous hands and markers and a one-way elapsed-time bezel run through the range. The Aqualand name goes back further: Citizen launched the Aqualand in 1985 as the world’s first diver’s watch with an electronic depth sensor and renamed it Promaster Aqualand in 1989; today’s version shows depth to 70 metres, records the maximum depth and sounds a rapid-ascent alarm, in a 53mm case.

The Eco-Drive divers

• Promaster Dive 40.6mm: a compact, ISO-standard diver with sapphire crystal on a rubber strap, in black, blue or white. A good size for wearing out of the water too.
• Promaster Dive 41mm: sapphire crystal on a steel bracelet, including a green dial in a gold-tone case.
• Professional Diver 44mm: the classic Promaster diver, with the elapsed-time bezel and Promaster crown, on a rubber strap.
• Promaster Diver 44mm and 45mm: the bracelet versions, in steel or in Citizen’s Super Titanium.
• Professional Diver 36.5mm and Promaster Dive 37mm: real dive watches sized down, with an easy-grip bezel, on rubber or steel.

Eco-Drive charges from any light, so the caseback never needs opening for a battery, which also means the seals are disturbed less often. The Promaster Dive BN0267-04L is a good example of the current 40.6mm design.

The automatics

The 44mm Promaster Dive Automatic reissues a Citizen diver from 1989, nicknamed Fugu, the Japanese name for the pufferfish, and known by its serrated bezel. It runs on calibre 8204 with day and date, on a bracelet or a rubber strap, like the NY0158-09L. The 41mm Promaster Mechanical Diver is based on Citizen’s 1970s Challenge Diver, in Super Titanium under sapphire crystal: calibre 9051 resists magnetism, keeps about 42 hours of reserve and runs within −10 to +20 seconds a day. The same movement sits in a 46mm black titanium version on rubber.

Choosing a Promaster diver

Start with size: 40.6mm and 41mm wear easily every day, 44mm and up make a bigger statement, and the 36.5mm suits a smaller wrist. Then the movement: Eco-Drive for quartz accuracy with no battery, an automatic if you like a mechanical movement. Super Titanium is a good choice if weight bothers you; Citizen says it is five times harder and 40% lighter than stainless steel, and you’ll find it alongside other makers’ in our titanium watches. The newer models have sapphire crystal; several of the longer-running 44mm and 45mm divers use mineral crystal, which is tough and replaceable.

Looking after a dive watch

Screw the crown all the way in before the watch gets wet, never pull it or turn the bezel hard underwater, and rinse the watch in fresh water after salt water or a pool. Have the seals checked whenever the case is opened. Our guide to what water resistance really means explains each rating, and if you want a dive-style watch from Bulova or Caravelle as well, see all our men’s dive watches.

Questions

What does Diver’s 200m mean, compared with a plain 200 metre rating? On a Citizen, a plain 200 metre rating covers swimming and snorkelling. Diver’s 200m on the dial means the watch is built and tested to a diving standard and suits scuba diving with an air tank.

Are the 36.5mm and 37mm models proper dive watches? Yes. Citizen lists them as women’s watches, but they carry the same Diver’s 200m rating, one-way bezel and luminous markers as the larger models.