Citizen Chronometer (1960s) CR1507051

[Risto]

There's not much love for vintage Citizens here
Anyway, I have had some vintage Citizens before (bullheads, Record Master, Chronomaster, Diamond Flake) and recently bought a Chronometer model reference nr CR1507051.

Why I like it: design, 37mm case, manual wind good movement, overall quality.
I chose the stainless steel one, which is rarer than the gold (and filled) models.
Anyone here has one?

Some background info:
https://vintagecitizenwatches.com/2015/06/14/citizen-chronometer/
Bogdan created that website and has gathered a great number of models he owned, so I am quoting him regarding this Chronometer model.

"Some say it was born as an answer to Seiko’s Grand Seiko line. Others say it was made to demonstrate a point, that Citizen is capable of great things, so they constructed this awesome timepiece, the best one! And it stands its grounds up to this day as both vintage and modern, classy and elegant, and powerful watch no matter the reason it was made in the first place. This model was launched in November 1962 and was produced for about 4-5 years. Being a Chronometer means it has a very high accuracy level, ranging from -1 to +10 s / day. The very large balance wheel and the fine adjustments along with the carefully designed and constructed movement proved it to be the best movement Citizen had at the time. The finishing is great too and even today I find it very pleasing to look at. It is a hand-winding movement (soon after this most of the watches were automatics) and runs at 18.000 vph while having a nice power reserve of about 53 hours. On the Citizen website can be found a certificate (the picture below) that proves the quality of the watch, also some solid gold models sell for 15+ k USD."

Also, according to this Hairspiring article:
https://hairspring.com/finds/cr1507051-citizen-chronometer/

"It is said that the production and assembly of the Chronometer was entirely separate within Citizen, where one skilled watchmaker saw one piece’s construction through from beginning to end over the course of one day. This was the old way, from the Shokosha Watch Research Institute before it became Citizen. The line was not commercially a huge success, the process could not be scaled, and the line folded five years later."

So, some pics I took of mine and some I borrowed from Bogdan.

 

[Dan S]

Those are nice, and quite desirable IMO. I have a later Chronomaster. As you know, after a certain year, the Japanese manufacturers stopped using the word chronometer.

 

[Risto]

Dan S

Those are nice, and quite desirable IMO. I have a later Chronomaster. As you know, after a certain year, the Japanese manufacturers stopped using the word chronometer.

Do you mean after 1968?

Btw, nice Chronomaster! Love the no-date version. Had one.

 

[707mm2]

Risto

Do you mean after 1968?

No Seiko still used it in the early 1970s.

This might be the highest quality japanese wrist chronometer imho, as good as Seiko chronometers might get they are still under. It is I think the only wristwatch movement ever offered to public sale to have a fully jewelled escapement (wheel and lever) all under the balance wheel, like you could find on some observatory chronometers.

 

[Risto]

What does that fully jewelled means exactly?

 

[707mm2]

Risto

What does that fully jewelled means exactly?

I meant with counter pivot/cap jewels on the escape and lever. Very few wristwatches sold to public had cap jewel on the lever, only that come to my mind are some Lord Elgin and Valjoux VZ based AP and PP, and this Citizen is the only one to combine this feature and an undersized escape wheel under the balance wheel, a combination you only find elsewhere on chronometers made for competition.

 

[Risto]

Thanks for the great info! I shall make some good macro shots of this movement soon. It does look interesting.