Citizen Goes Sporty With the new Series 8 890 Mechanical Models (Incl. Video)

For most watch enthusiasts, Citizen is probably best known for its wide range of affordable quartz, solar-powered and mechanical watches. Watches like the Promaster series, for instance, have been fan-favourite models for years. More recently, the Tsuyosa collection made quite an impact for its honest yet compelling proposition. There is one collection that, however, delivers much more, the Citizen Series 8, which could be considered the brand’s accessible luxury range. And a new member has just arrived, a contemporary and robust sports watch with integrated design, the Citizen Series 8 890 Mechanical Models. 

Citizen has much more to offer than just its entry-level collections. Surely, the Promaster and Tsuyosa watches are popular (and for objective reasons) but the Japanese watchmaker has long demonstrated stronger capacities. Remember, Citizen is what we call a vertically integrated manufacture, meaning that it basically does everything in-house. From cases to dials, lab-grown sapphire crystals and complete movements, Citizen can do it all (almost), and it even builds the machines required to build its watches. Next to producing watches under its own name, Citizen also owns Bulova, Alpina, Frederique Constant, Arnold & Son and Angelus, as well as Swiss movement maker La Joux-Perret.

This enables Citizen to produce watches from very affordable to very expensive (such as the recently launched The Citizen Mechanical Caliber 0210), and everything in between. Today, we are looking at something “in between” with the new Series 8 890 Mechanical, an automatic sports in the edgy Series 8 collection of luxury sports watches. Now, the Series 8 range is home to some rather solid and practical watches, such as the Series 8 880 Mechanical GMT, a sensibly priced Traveler’s GMT watch, and the time-and-date Series 8 830 models.

Citizen now expands the Series 8 collection with a modern and compelling sporty-aquatic watch. Crafted from stainless steel, it follows the trend of luxury sports watches, with a barrel-shaped case, a raised bezel, an integrated bracelet and a textured dial. That also means it’s almost automatically compared to other iconic watches in this category. Yes, there is a certain resemblance here with a Royal Oak Offshore Diver. No doubt.

Let’s start with the case, which measures 40.5mm in diameter and 11.7mm in thickness – fairly reasonable considering the sporty edge of the watch. The lug-to-lug size is 46.6mm, but since the first link of the bracelet is not articulated, the real L2L jumps at a more sizeable 50.7mm. So on the wrist, it’s quite a large watch in that respect. Nevertheless, the faceted design is well-finished with a mix of polished and brushed surfaces. A sapphire crystal on top, and another one around the back, protect the dial and movement.

The case of this Series 8 890 Mechanical is fitted with an eight-sided bezel that’s brushed on the top and the side, intersected by a broad polished bevel. On the left, a small metal plate balances out the crown guards on the opposite side. The crown surprisingly doesn’t screw down, but the watch is rated to a 200m water resistance nonetheless. The second crown operates the internal diving bezel, but it could do with a more pronounced knurling for better grip.

The blue dial has a traditional Japanese checkered pattern, giving it tons of life when sunlight hits it. In low light, it shifts to dark blue or even black and in bright light the pattern feels much more present. In all circumstances though, the Series 8 890 remains very legible thanks to a broad sloping inner rotting bezel in blue and white, oversized hour and minute hands and generously sized applied markers with lume. At three o’clock, the marker makes way for a framed date window, with a white date disc underneath.

Powering this new Series 8 890 Mechanical is Citizen’s in-house Calibre 9051, which runs at a rate of 28,800vph, or 4Hz frequency. The finishing is a touch industrial, but at least there are some stripes on the mainplate and signed rotor. One thing that will surely raise a few eyebrows is the fact Citizen states it is regulated to run within -10 to +20 seconds per day. I must admit that during our time with the watch, it ran well within that range.

The finishing touch to this new sports watch is an integrated steel bracelet, complementing the overall look of this trendy model. Brushed on most surfaces, its H-shaped links are decorated with polished bevels on the sides and the bracelet is closed by a folding clasp with a push-button release.

In addition to this blue model in stainless steel, the Citizen Series 8 890 Mechanical collection will also comprise two other versions. The first, also released in the permanent collection, comes with a gold-coloured case and bracelet, black contrasting elements on the sides and a grey-toned dial. The third version is a bold limited edition of 1,700 pieces, which comes with a striking copper pink (salmon) dial, which incorporates cherry blossoms into a unique geometric pattern. We unfortunately couldn’t see this version but it does make quite an impression.

Availability & Price

With this Citizen Series 8 890 Mechanical, the Japanese brand offers a compelling and robust aquatic/sports watch with a rather impressive built quality. The blue and gold models are available from the permanent collection, the pink edition is limited to 1,700 pieces. Prices range from EUR 995 or USD 1,595 for the two steel editions, to EUR 1,095 or USD 1,695 for the gold-coloured model. For more details, please visit CitizenWatch-Global.com.