Quiet Confidence
It's hard to communicate how such a simple design completely pops with a clear functionality, no frills, no whistles, okay, you can have the date now sit down. I'll just start in order and go through every aspect of this watch, it should take about two minutes. The bracelet is titanium, which I find wonderful with the Super Titanium treatment and the light weight helps me with tactile sensation issues, however, I know a lot of folks get used to the weight of steel. The standard clasp has two micro adjustments, but Citizens' bracelet sizing was spot on and I haven't had to adjust.
The dial is a deep blue, with a slight texture to catch, without reflecting, the light to creates a myriad of blue hues. The numbering is reserved with 15, 30, and 45 at the corresponding tics, and below that the five minute markers are under those. I had the thought that these could be removed for a even more cleaner look, but they don't add so much that it muddies the dial. A small critique is that the 45 next to the nine is under another 45, just like the 3 and 6 positions. The numbers on the dial are in my favorite layout with the exception of the California style dial at 12, 3, 6, and 9, which balances a watch that is all about balance. The lumes are great as well, clean, clear, and easy to read. The Citizen logo is typed precisely, as is the eco-drive and titanium words on the dial. Lastly, the ticking second hand floats above the dial is a light blue that accents the dial in such a complimentary way that you can't even accuse a splash of color as whimsy.
It's simple, straight, and to the point with quality materials that stay in a more affordable range. After some time, you might notice little details that subtly reinforce this symmetry, such as the fact that the '3' is shrunk slightly to that the date window and three equal the same surface area as the nine opposite (I work in an aerospace company and I used some instruments to measure it). Maybe you're waiting for a date and you're staring idly at the watch thinking about some of the things you might want to write about because you've bought four watches (2 from citizen, two from Longine's (Masterpiece collection) all returned before landing on this one).
