Today’s watch is something of a curiosity – although it’s a Leopard high beat, it does not have the standard dial. Instead it is marked with the logo ‘Leod’or’ – which I believe was a fashion brand at the time, i.e. the early 1970s. When it first came to light, and I don’t think I’ve seen another example, it was checked out in Tokyo by its previous owner. The watchmaker had not seen another, but was convinced that the dial is an original Citizen one – it is certainly of the right quality and has an appropriate dial code. A forum discussion included reference to a pic of shoes with the Leod’or logo, so it does seem that the marking on the watch is a brand name. The watch is from April 1973, and is powered by the 7720 movement with 28 jewels running at 28,800 bph. This is easily distinguished from the earlier 72 range since it has the crown at the 4 o’clock position rather than 3 o’clock. This also means that it has the unusual day and date change mechanism, as found in Cosmotrons with the 78 movement – the date is changed by pressing the crown when the watch is held vertically, with 12 0’clock high, whilst the day is changed by inverting it to 6 o’clock high and pressing the crown. It can also be hand wound of course, and can be ‘hacked’, i.e. the movement is stopped when the crown is pulled out to help set the time very accurately.

The watch arrived with a very scratched faceted crystal, but I was able to find an oem replacement, and show off the sparkling dial and that unusual logo:

For information here is the 77 Movement ‘Family Tree’ with the high beat variants highlighted:

I’m ignoring my own criterion today – this one has no date window. It’s a favourite in my collection though, and it was not a simple purchase. It is my example of Citizen’s first auto, simply known as ‘the Auto’ which was launched in 1958, and they rarely appear for sale. The few I have seen have been in far from perfect condition and when I saw this one it looked very nice, cosmetically at least. There was a clear issue though, since it had no second hand. I took a risk though and bought it, based on an optimistic belief that a certain master watchmaker, namely Brian Leiser, aka 31 Jewels, would come to the rescue. That optimism proved well-founded, but it was not a straightforward process, not least because an obscure donor watch movement was needed. When I received the watch it wasn’t only the second hand that was missing, the gearing was also absent, and later Brian discovered as well that a very important screw was broken, which meant the auto winding wasn’t working. When I got it, the movement did run but only via hand winding – nevertheless that bode well for a positive outcome. Rather than go through all of that here, I invite you to read the page on I’ve done about this watch, which shows what Brian had to do – and how his skills came to the fore: https://sweep-hand.org/the-citizen-auto-1958/

The Auto came with either 20 or 21 jewels – mine is the 20 jewel version, in a stainless steel case with gold hour markers and hands:

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I chose to feature this one today because I found just yesterday that a French watch company – ‘Ultra’ – has recently been resurrected…..what’s that got to do with an early Japanese automatic I hear you ask! When I researched the Auto, and particularly the self-winding mechanism, I discovered the same design that Citizen used had been designed and patented by a Frenchman, Gerard Langel, some years earlier – he also patented an alternative ‘magic lever’ design, the type used by Seiko in their early automatics. I concluded that Citizen must have acquired the design to enable production of its first automatic in 1958 but I wasn’t able to find proof of this at the time – I researched this in late 2013/early 2014. But now I have been able to confirm what I thought – the new Ultra company, which has launched homage pieces to their original ‘Superautomatic’ model, refers to the design being sold to Citizen on their web site home page:
https://ultra1911.com/
I also found a YouTube video about the new Ultra watches, which includes an interview with one of the founders of the company and he refers to the link with Citizen (from 4:19 if you want to go straight to that bit): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNTO6FHaWfU
It’s good to be able to sew this one up – although it’s a shame Ultra are using Seiko movements in their new watches! I imagine Citizen bought the design to enable them to launch a competitor to Seiko before their own ‘Jet’ automatic design launched just three years later.

Back to a watch with a date function today, and it’s a Crystal Date from March 1967. The Crystal Date is the date only version of the Crystal Seven, getting its name from Citizen’s use for the first time in 1965 of hardened mineral glass. As with the 540, Compact and the export auto-dater models featured previously, this one uses the 5401 movement. Although this is the base Crystal Date model with 17 jewels, it features a very nice pair of slender lumed main hands and small lume dots on the outside of the hour markers. The dial is finely printed with an applied ‘A’ logo, and the fluted bezel is typical of the mid 1960s. It’s running well and keeping good time:

More details here: https://sweep-hand.org/2012/05/10/this-weeks-featured-watch-32-the-crystal-date-17j/

Well, it’s not one watch today in fact, but a group shot to celebrate Citizen’s line of hybrid watches first launched in 1966. The X8, just called the Electric Watch at the very beginning, was Citizen’s first battery powered watch, but retained a relatively conventional hairspring oscillated by magnets. The Cosmotron name was introduced in 1969, as Citizen developed the technology and raised the beats per hour to 36,000 in the 78 series and 43,200 in the 58 movement. The magnet driven hairspring was even retained for Citizen’s first quartz watch in 1972 which geared the quartz oscillation down to 57,600 beats per hour – a design produced only for a couple of years at most when it was replaced by fully electronic modules. The X8 Cosmotron line was produced only for about 10 years, its days were numbered as soon as quartz technology was applied to wristwatches, which for me makes it all the more interesting. There is an odd one out in the Cosmotron line-up though, and that is the GX. The movement in this is unlike any of the others since it is an in-house single coil tuning fork design. Citizen’s commercial arrangement with Bulova allowed them to make tuning fork movements under licence, and indeed they made and supplied parts for Bulova. But the GX’s 3701B movement was designed as well as built by Citizen – visually the difference from Bulova’s single coil version, the 319, is that the coil is placed on the opposite side. I don’t know why Citizen chose to call this ‘hummer’ a Cosmotron, rather than Hisonic – maybe it was linked to the contract terms with Bulova.

This group has examples from the evolution of the X8 Cosmotron, from the X8 Chronomaster (08 calibre) to the Cosmotron Special (78 calibre), the 58 calibre high beats and the GX (3701 calibre). Notable pieces here are the Chronomaster in the box, the rare chronometer model just left of centre with the light tan strap, and the GX just right of centre on its original beads of rice bracelet. And in the centre, with its blue dial, is the world’s first watch to be housed in a titanium case. This is an X8 Officially Certified Chronometer and is one of the less than 2000 pieces that were made in 1970:

More info on the X8 Cosmotrons here: https://sweep-hand.org/the-x8-cosmotron/

I noticed yesterday that there was a watch ready to run with today’s date, so effectively it chose itself This is an X8 Cosmotron from January 1971, with the date version of the 0480 movement, the 4840. This model, also produced with a silver dial, has a black dial which contrasts nicely with the orange second hand, and the wire framed hands work well over a dark background. The case is a chunky curvaceous steel affair, and has a very solid feel since it is quite deep. It’s comfortable to wear, and the dial is easy to read, with a date window placed, unusually but effectively, at the 6 o’clock position. Although the bracelet is a Cosmotron one, the catalogue pic I have of this model shows it on a mesh bracelet:

The silver dial version and more information is here: https://sweep-hand.org/2014/11/23/this-weeks-featured-watch-64-cosmotron-x8-4-480040/

Gone for a single sub-register chronograph today, i.e. with the 8100A 23 jewel movement. This is a 67-9551, with black coated case and a stainless steel bezel – so the case material code is BLS. This one is from March 1973, and is on an original resin strap. I’m not sure if this was the strap for this model though, so please let me know if you have seen an original catalogue scan or advert. The dial design is similar to the more familiar 67-9119 (8110A) model although it does not have the inner rotating ring featured on that one. I’ve not seen very many examples of the 67-9551 over the years, so it’s a nice one to find if you can:

Here’s a pic of the clasp – this type of strap does split over time, so finding on in good order is difficult:

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More info on all of Citizen’s automatic chronographs here: https://sweep-hand.org/citizens-vintage-chronographs/

I confess that this is not my favourite dial colour! Sandy brown would perhaps most kindly describe the main colour….It’s quite a rare one though, so I had to get it It’s one of the second generation of sports watches Citizen started with the Yacht and Soccer Customs using the 52 movement. And as with those this one uses the 7290 ‘hacking’ calibre. It has the same case number as its V2 siblings:

A bit more info can be found here:
https://sweep-hand.org/2012/02/29/this-weeks-featured-watch-24-the-yacht-custom/

I’m sticking with the Custom V2 sports watches today, following yesterday’s post – and there’ll be another one tomorrow This one uses the same 7290 calibre and the exact same case – also with an inner rotating ring, this one is specifically designed for sailing. It has the 5 second countdown marked, ready for the start of the race. This one has (in my opinion at least) a much better colour palette than yesterday’s watch. But, despite the neat ‘tail-less’ blue second hand, the choice of main hands leaves a lot to be desired. They are hard to read, to say the least, and are a strange choice for this dial. They are original by the way! The 72 movement is a nice one, running at 21,600 bph, with second setting (hacking) and quick-set for the date. Citizen called it ‘rapid date change’ in its briefing leaflets for dealers back in the day. The 720474 was used on three models, and although there is no depth rating on the dial, it was in fact rated at 10 bar/ATM, i.e 100 feet. So it was good for swimming and snorkelling, and makes sense therefore for use out on the water on your dinghy or yacht.:

Here’s a catalogue image from 1971, showing those badly chosen hands The last line of text above the price, translates as 10ATM water resistance:

As trailed yesterday. today’s watch is the last of the three 4-720474 sports watches from the very early 1970s. This one is from April 1970, and is a grey dialled version. Again the movement is the 7290, this time with day and date at the 6 o’clock position. The grey dial with blue highlights, shared with the main hands, is a nice combination and is certainly more legible than yesterday’s version. In common with yesterday’s watch the dial doesn’t carry the ‘Yacht Custom’ name as was seen on the first version, initially made with the 52 calibre. But it has the same features – an inner rotating timing ring, a second setting movement, and a depth rating of 10 ATM. The catalogue also describes it as having a yacht racing register ring. It seems that Citizen dropped model names on its dials for at least some of its second generation watches – it was the same with the Rally Custom, originally a Seven Star model like the Yacht Custom, but it only carried the Custom V2 logo when it was made with the 72 movement. The watch is running well and keeping good time:

Back to one of Citizen’s range of high beat ‘Leopard’ watches today – launched in 1969 there is no doubt that the movements used in these are of a high quality. Running at either 28,800 bph or 36,000, they offer a wide range of designs and, in good condition, they are great timekeepers. In the past at least, they could be found at reasonable prices (all prices seem to have risen recently unfortunately), unless you were after the top of the range ‘Highness’ models which have always been sought after and, therefore, have been expensive. Today’s model is a 24 jewel 7700 calibre piece with case number 4-770498, this time in a gold plated case. It features black italicised Arabic hour markers, which are very easy to read against a white dial with elegant gold and black hands. This one is in generally good condition, and runs very well and accurately – the crystal has some deep scratches unfortunately, but I’ve not been able yet to find an OEM replacement:

This is the third Leopard I’ve featured so far during the ‘lock-down’ series – there will be a few more yet Here’s some marketing material from 1969:

This watch asserts its 1970s heritage – Citizen introduced more colourful designs at that time as tastes changed and customers looked for something different from traditional design. Citizen pioneered the use of black coating on light alloy cases, and today’s watch combines that with a titanium carbide bezel and gold dial, so the case material code is BLTI. Previously I thought that the ‘TI’ referred to tungsten, but subsequent research confirmed it to represent titanium carbide. The gold hands and hour markers are nicely highlighted with black, and it’s finished off with horizontally faceted glass. The steel crown is not original to this model – it should be a gold plated one. The movement is the 6501, the day and date version of the 6000 calibre, with 21 jewels. An English only day wheel suggests this might have been aimed at the export market. The burgundy bracelet is an original, made of soft resin, I suspect not necessarily to this model. Black would have made more sense – this example is from October 1972:

More info on this watch here: https://sweep-hand.org/2011/10/19/this-weeks-featured-watch-15-6501-with-tungsten-bezel/

Citizen used their 52 movements, first used in the Crystal Seven line in 1965, in the Cutlass range. These traded on the slimness of the calibre, hence the name, and a number of different models were produced from 1968. They typically introduced some innovative (at that time) designs for the cases and dials, and used 27, 30 and 33 jewelled variants of the 52 (day & date) and 54 (date only) movement. I featured a 33 jewel model with a fancy dial on 12/04/20, whilst the one today empathises the case shape. The Cutlass is a good quality watch, and this is demonstrated here by the slender hour markers with black centre lines around a pale blueish grey dial. It’s finished off nicely be a contrasting set of slender black hands. The movement has a quick-set and ‘hacks’. The case numbers for these is unusual since they are in the form of 4-26xxxx rather than 4-52xxxx or 4-54xxxx which reflect the movement in the Crystal series. The bracelet looks to be an original for this model:

Scan from late 1960s marketing:

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Citizen’s second generation Seven Star watches replaced the original 52 family of movements with the 72 or 77 calibres just four years later, in 1969, and added the ‘V2’ moniker. In line with watch technology development at the time, the later movement ran at 21,600 bph rather than 18,000. Today’s example is from December 1972 and uses the 7710 calibre, so the winding crown is at the 4 o’clock position and it has a quick-set mechanism for both date and day. There were 10 or so versions of the 77 movement, whilst the 72 numbered over 20 variants, so you are likely to see fewer of the 77 models for sale these days. And they are good quality movements, used in high end pieces with up to 31 jewels. The least number of jewels used in the 77’s is 22, and mine today has 24 jewels – in good condition these can run very accurately and this one is no exception:

After the Seven Star V2 yesterday, I thought I’d feature on of the high grade watches to which it is related, although this one is in the 72 family. This one is a date only version of the 72, and is the 28 jewel 7430, running at 36,000 beats per hour. The ‘Highness’ is top of the Leopard range (well almost – the Glorious tops them all!) and is a chronometer grade piece, although not ‘officially certified’. Citizen themselves described it as an ‘excellent class of chronometer’, and they are desirable pieces for collectors. The first Highness models had their own special dial logo, and a medallion on the back, then Citizen dropped those and introduced an applied ‘CH’ to the dial or a printed ‘Highness’ in a unique gothic style of font – and that’s what we see here. Although some of the ‘CH’ models had colourful dials, more unusual case shapes and faceted crystals, this one is a classic design, with simple baton hour markers and slender dauphin hands, all with black centre lines. With quick-set date, hand wing and hacking, and a compact size – about 37mm excluding crown – it is a smart automatic dress watch. The Highness line emerged in 1970, and this one is from July 1971 (sorry for getting the second hand just there!):

And to finish it off, it’s good to have the right buckle:

Here’s the 72 Moveemnt ‘Family Tree’ which shows this one along with its siblings:

The Highness models, as featured yesterday, can be elusive – and expensive! – so a good alternative that is both easier to find and not so costly to buy, is one of the 36,000 beats per hour Leopards. So here is one of those today, case number 4-720903 and it was one of my earliest purchases. The oval dial and crystal on these is an attractive design, and the movement is the same as the ones used in the Highness, but not tweaked quite to chronometer standards. The 28 jewel variant in today’s piece is a 7230 – 72 because it has day and date complications, with hand winding of course, as well as quick-set date and hacking capabilities. With silver dial and a neat tail-less second hand that sweeps smoothly round the dial, it sits well on the wrist. The main hands are lumed on this model and there are lume dots on the outer ends of the hour markers – if you see a watch with lumed hands but no lume on the hour markers, or vice versa, then more likely than not the hands are incorrect (or the dial has been replaced/refurbished). After a rotor repair when I first got it, this one runs well, although I would always recommend a service first if you want to wear a high beat watch regularly. This one is from November 1973:

More on this watch here: https://sweep-hand.org/2012/01/29/this-weeks-featured-watch-21-leopard-36000/

The Crystal Seven line was an important one for Citizen, as it introduced a wide range of models using their 52 movement in 1965, featuring hardened mineral glass for the first time. It was this that put ‘Crystal’ in the name, and it proved a successful line, with many movement variants from 21 jewels to 43 jewels – Citizen’s highest ever jewelling, and now a sought after piece. With a ‘Custom’ line featuring more colourful dials and cushion cases, there was something for everyone. Today’s example is a 27 jewelled model, ACSS2923, from April 1968. This was one of my first purchases, and I have seen other dial designs with the same model/case number, so I can’t be sure that it is fully original – it feels it somehow though And the original bracelet is a classic, and very nice, beads of rice type:

More info here: https://sweep-hand.org/2011/06/23/this-weeks-featured-watch-8-the-crystal-seven-27-jewels/

Today’s piece might be mistaken for something of a novelty watch, the Challenge Golf. But it is far from that – it’s a serious bit of kit, with an automatic high-beat movement (28,800bph) with fine adjuster, hacking, hand winding – and a special, indeed unique feature – a golf score counter. The 7760 derivative of the 7700 movement is also unique to this watch, with the crown positioned at the 8 o’clock position. It is date only, set by winding back and forth at the 12 0’clock position, whilst pressing the crown moves the score counter found at the 12 o’clock position. Two case design were used, both black coated with either steel or gold plated bezels – a ‘TV’ style one and a round one, which is what I have here, from October 1973:

The other case design is shown here. with more information:
https://sweep-hand.org/2011/06/07/this-weeks-featyured-watch-6-the-challenge-golf/

Here’s a marketing image from 1972, showing the two bezels – on their white straps which are very rarely found these days:

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Finally, here’s how to use the score counter:
Citizen Challenge Golf Manual

After the somewhat technical Challenge Golf yesterday, I’ve gone back a decade or so to a 17 jewel Auto Dater with the Jet circular geared rotor – Citizen introduced the Jets in 1961 with the 031 calibre. The movement in this one was launched a year later in 1962, and is designated 113 and is best known in the Jet ‘Rookie’ models. This is the base movement, so doesn’t have hand winding. This example has a black dial, fairly unusual for its day, with slender dauphin hands and polished baton markers. Although its case/model number begins with ADR which defines it as a Rookie, the dial is not marked as such, rather it carries a 40m depth rating. The case appears to be plated rather than solid steel, and is far from mint, but I have a real soft spot for this one, which is from April 1965:

Citizen introduced its ‘Custom’ line alongside the more conventional cases and dials of the standard range in the mid 1960s with the Seven Star and Crystal Seven models. Today’s piece is one of the latter, a Crystal Seven Custom with 21 jewels – the case is not a typical circular shape and the pale grey/blue dial has split day and date windows and a contrasting black chapter ring. The primary hour markers are faceted steel squares, whilst the secondary ones are rivet shapes, so quite a lot going one deign-wise. The movement has quick-set date and hand winds, and runs at 18,000 bph. This example is from April 1969:

Since it uses the same 52 movement as the Crystal Seven, the Seven Star series was also launched in 1965. The range included Deluxe and Custom models, and today’s is a Deluxe with 21 jewels. With it’s own applied logo, the Seven Star is easy to distinguish from the Crystal Seven one, and they are usually reasonably priced compared to higher end models. A bit like yesterday’s watch, the Seven Star range included a nice variety of dial designs, and this one has a contrasting chapter ring, lumed hands and hour marker dots and a neat blue second hand. This one is from October 1969: