News

Citizen Introduces the Promaster Diver 200m “Green Anaconda”

A striking, Asia-only edition.

Introduced just last year, the Promaster Mechanical Diver 200m is an distinctive and compelling “tool” watch with an over-the-top style and impressive specs that include a hardened titanium case and magnetism-resistant movement.

Now the watch returns in even more striking livery in a limited edition that will be available only in Asia. Dressed in green and gold, the Promaster Mechanical Diver 200m Asia Limited Edition “Green Anaconda” has a hobnailed dial and bezel, while the case, bracelet, and bezel are all black coated.

Initial thoughts

The original model was easy to like, especially if you like chunky dive watches. Its technical features are amongst the best in at its price segment, while the slightly exaggerated styling also helps it stand out in the crowded segment of affordable dive watches.

What the first version lacked, however, was flair. Thought the watch was big and hard to miss, it was dressed almost entirely in shades of grey, which felt too restrained for the size and design. The “Green Anaconda” certainly took that lesson to heart with its striking colours that leave the hobnail patterning seem even more obvious than before.

The colours and textures are brought out even more by the contrast with the black-coated case and bracelet. They are finished in diamond-like carbon (DLC), resulting in a charcoal finish that’s slightly glossy. The dark finish also makes the watch look smaller than it is, which is useful given its 46 mm diameter.

With its sculpted lines and facets, the case is identical to the original but all black

Though the Green Anaconda is largely a change of colours, it is decidedly more attractive than the muted original. The appealing look does come at a price – the Green Anaconda retails for about 50% more than that of the original model.

But the price is justified by a couple of things. For one, the original was supplied on a rubber strap instead of a bracelet. And it also did not have a DLC coating.

While the Green Anaconda is not as much of a value proposition as the original, it is still fairly priced. . And it is certainly more appealing given its design and relative scarcity (since the edition is a 500-piece run). More broadly, it remains a value buy when compared to the competition, since similarly priced watches have less impressive specs, while similarly spec’ed watches usually cost more.

An emerald serpent

While green is a faddish colour and more common than it should be, it is still attractive when applied in the right context. The Green Anaconda gets it right in both tone and complements.

The dial is in a verdant green that’s nevertheless livened up with by the warm, gold-tone accents on the hour markers and hands, which are echoed by the two-tone bezel with an insert of Duratect Gold, essentially hardened titanium coated with gold. The gold-plated insert has DLC-coated studs and sits within a DLC-coated bezel ring for pleasing contrast.

The domed sapphire crystal is uncommon at this price and is highly attractive

Fortunately, the case and bracelet opt for a restrained, brushed finish with a DLC coating so the watch doesn’t seem over designed. But the case and bracelet aren’t just merely conventional titanium. Instead both are made of Citizen’s proprietary alloy known as Super Titanium, which is lighter and harder than the common alloys used in watchmaking.

And they are further treated with Duratect MRK, a surface hardening process that allows the hard DLC coating to better adhere, boosting scratch resistance.

The clasp is equipped with both micro-adjustment system as well as a wetsuit extension. Notably, the micro-adjustment mechanism can be engaged with the watch on the wrist, so the bracelet length can be adjusted on the fly

Inside the watch is the Miyota cal. 9051, a significantly improved version of the standard 9000-series movement.

The cal. 9051 is magnetism resistant thanks to its balance spring and escapement parts that are made of non-magnetic alloys, giving it magnetism resistance of 16,000 A/m. That’s more than three times the minimum dictated by the ISO standard for an anti-magnetic watch (which is pretty much most conventional watches).

Key facts and price

Citizen Promaster Mechanical Diver 200 m Asia Limited Edition “Green Anaconda”
Ref. NB6008-82X

Diameter: 46 mm
Height: 15.3 mm
Material: Super Titanium with Duratect coating
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 200 m

Movement: Cal. 9051
Features: Hours, minutes, seconds, and date
Frequency: 28,800 beats per hour (4 Hz)
Winding: Automatic
Power reserve: 42 hours

Strap: Super Titanium bracelet with diving extension

Availability: Starting August 2022 at Citizen boutiques and retailers
Price: 2,354 Singapore dollars, or about US$1,670

For more, visit Citizen.com.sg.

This was brought to you in partnership with Citizen.

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Independent watchmaking

Rune Bakkendorff Introduces the Moonwork Pendulum Clock

A minimalist, modern timekeeper.

The result of a collaboration between a Danish clockmaker and design studio , the Moonwork is a tall, sculptural clock that stands almost two meters high. It’s an old-school pendulum clock in function but entirely contemporary in expression, from the thin, minimalist frame to the clever time display without hands.

Danish clockmaker Rune Bakkendorff worked together with fellow Danes of design studio Ahm&Lund to create the clock, which made its debut late last year at the Cabinetmakers Autumn Exhibit 2021, a Scandinavian furniture fair that took place in Copenhagen.

The Moonwork at the furniture exhibition. Photo – Scandinaviandesign.com

Initial thoughts

A thoughtfully designed object, the Moonwork is attractive on several levels. At first glance, it is slender, simplistic, and hardly resembling a clock save for the pendulum. But paradoxically it is a clock, making the featureless time display is immediately intriguing.

It is a clock, but not quite. The Moonwork does away with the conventional telling of the time and instead displays the lunar cycle – the moon phase is projected onto the white porcelain dome that forms the dial. An impractical but beautiful solution, this makes the Moonwork more of a sculpture that indicates the passing of the time.

Remove the white porcelain dome and the entirely mechanical workings of the clock are revealed, although moon phase projection relies hundreds of LED bulbs that are hidden behind a silver sphere that rotates slowly to cast a shadow

But having been constructed by a clockmaker who also restores of antique clocks, the Moonwork contains traditionally and elegantly executed mechanics. Amongst its notable features are the constant-force spring with a stopwork, giving the movement an accuracy of within a minute per lunar cycle (which is about a month). And as expected for such artisanal work, the components of the Moonwork are almost all made by Mr Bakkendorff in his Copenhagen workshop.

Lunar time-telling

The creators of the clock, Mr Bakkendorff along with Ahm&Lund, devised the clock to challenge the “traditional perception of time by placing it in a different and larger context, as opposed to the stress and bustle of everyday life.”

In so doing, they eliminated everything found in a conventional clock – seconds, minutes, and even the hours – but the Moonwork still conveys time, albeit on a different scale. That explains its visual subtlety.

Since it is a moon phase, it keeps time on a monthly basis, with the display having a period of about 29.5 days – it indicates the progression of a month and only that. Appropriately enough, the clock has a month’s power reserve when fully wound.

A comparable complication in a wristwatch would be the weekly calendar, which provides the month of the year but also the approximate time of the month.

But the Moonwork is no ordinary moon phase display. It avoids the usual one-dimensional display of a slowly rotating disc but instead utilises light and shadow to show the age of the moon. In fact, the display is a more accurate reproduction of the Moon’s motion from a conceptual standpoint, since the Moon itself can be seen observed due to the interplay between light and dark.

As a result, the clock requires some electrical components as a light source. Traditionalists might raise their eyebrows at the LED bulbs, but they are a discrete addition to the 337-part movement, which is entirely mechanical and key wound as is traditional. The movement is regulated by a pendulum and slowly rotates the silver sphere, creating a shadow that varies over the month.

The hand-hammered silver sphere that creates the moon phase shadow

The endpoint of the gear train is the Graham escapement that does without a balance wheel, but instead comprises a pallet fork linked to the pendulum; each swing of the pendulum releases a tooth on the escape wheel

Made of traditional materials like brass and steel, the movement is finished simply but cleanly

The parts are made with a mix of traditional and modern techniques like CNC machining and hand filing

Natural materials

Thanks to the sharp eye of Ahm&Lund, the Moonwork is unusually minimalist in both design and construction. Interestingly, the outline of the clock is modelled on a chair designed by Ahm&Lund, which was named after its founders Isabel Ahm and Signe Lund, a furniture designer and cabinetmaker respectively.

The selection of materials gives the simple and plain Moonwork textures that are evident on closer inspection. The rear of the clock, for instance, is actually a large disc of clay that was moulded by hand to create an organic, cracked pattern. It was then fired and lastly oiled to bring out the nuances in its texture, which evokes the Moon itself.

On the front is a dome made of Parian Porcelain, which is translucent when fired at high temperatures. It has a slightly textured surface with a glazed finish, again bringing to mind the lunar surface.

Finally the base of the clock is made of Swedish basalt, a rock formed from solidified lava – which is also found on the Moon, albeit not in its Swedish form. Securing the clock to the base is a thin, stainless steel frame that has been coated black.