Citizen Super Deluxe

This series represents the evolution of the Citizen Deluxe, which was Japan's thinnest wristwatch when it was released in August 1958. At that time, it gained a lot of success. In fact, sales reached the 1 million units threshold in 1960, establishing the highest number of sales per single model in Japan.

In December 1958, the Super Deluxe series was launched in the domestic market, with the following watch being the first of the series.

The watch in my possession has a 37mm stainless steel case (80 and 100 micron gold-plated and full gold cases were produced).

On the caseback, the serial number (31210903), the reference (1507065) and the writings "stainless steel" and "parashock" are lightly engraved.

Internally, it is perlage finished.

The indexes are applied and very well polished on every surface, just as the dauphine-shaped hands are.

The writings "Phynox" and "Parashock" respectively indicate the adoption of an unbreakable mainspring and the presence of an antishock device. The three stamped stars appeared on the Super Deluxe's dials from December 1963 onward, along with a 1-year warranty.

The movement housed in this watch is the 9200, which is closely related to the 2B/9200 fitted in the Deluxe series. To achieve a thickness of 3.65mm, Citizen developed a gear train called "indirect three-hand", in which the second and minute hands are not directly attached to their respective wheels as they are usually in the "central three hands" setting. In short, these wheels branch off from the center, and through a series of pinions, they drive the hands, thus preventing the wheels from overlapping and consequently reducing the total thickness.

This architecture was also adopted by Seiko, when they released the Gold Feather in 1960.

However, as the quality of materials continued to improve over time, Citizen gradually abandoned it in favor of the simpler "central three hands" architecture.

Initially, this movement featured 23 jewels, but this version was later replaced by a 25-jewels variant, which is the one fitted in my watch.

It was a high-end movement throughout its production period (1958-1965). In fact, it was adjusted in 5 positions (), from which the "specially adjusted" writing derives. A 23-jewels model was subjected to a chronometric test at the Swiss Official Watch Testing Institute in September 1959, and it was evaluated as accurate as an official chronometer watch.

A Super Deluxe that deserves special mention is the Parawater 120m, reference D1307051. Featuring a one-piece 120-meter waterproof case and a rotating bezel, it was probably produced in 1965 for a very short period (I have found only watches produced in February).