The New Citizen Aqualand Promaster 40th Anniversary Limited Edition

In certain very specific situations, one’s life could very much depend on a watch, especially when it comes to environments humans are not good at surviving without support. And this is where tool watches can, literally, play a vital role. Plunging ourselves into the depths of the ocean, for instance, is a fine example of where we need a little assistance. Throughout history, the dive watch has evolved from a simple time-only watch to a state-of-the-art computer. There are some though, that can be labelled iconic, such as the Citizen Aqualand. Known as the first dive watch in the world with an electronic depth meter, it revolutionised diving. Now, four decades on, Citizen honours that feat with the rather cool Aqualand Promaster 40th Anniversary Limited Edition.

We’ve gone over the entire history of the Citizen Aqualand leading up to this release, so we won’t repeat ourselves too much, but it serves a very important role in the history of diving. The Citizen Aqualand was introduced in 1985 with Ref. C0023, and it was the first successful attempt at merging a dive watch with an electronic depth gauge. Fitted with Calibre C022, the Aqualand displayed not only time, but also the depth of your dive in a digital display in the upper half of the dial. The asymmetrical watch had a depth sensor on the left side of the case (impossible to miss) and an array of pushers to navigate through various settings. Even today, enthusiasts and collectors hunt for original specimens from the early days of the Aqualand.

To commemorate this monumental watch, Citizen basically recreates the original. In an almost one-to-one remake, the new Aqualand Promaster 40th Anniversary Limited Edition comes in that same 50.7mm by 14.8mm asymmetrical shape. The case is made in steel, with a matte grey finish just like the original. Back in the day, it was available in full steel (C022), steel with gold accents (C033) or black PVD-coated titanium (C029). For this anniversary edition, Citizen opted for the most striking of the bunch, adding a gold-plated screw-down crown, pushers, unidirectional bezel and depth sensor to the muted case, similar to the Ref. C033 from the 1980s.

Old….

versus New.

Checking old (above, left) versus new (above, right) side by side reveals only minute differences up front, mostly found on the dial. The now sunray brushed black base dial comes with gold-outlined luminous hour markers, oversized hour and minute hands (of which the latter is bright orange) and a central gold-coloured seconds hand. The printing on the dial also reads “Citizen Quartz” up top, yet changes from “water 200m resist” to “Diver’s 200m” at the bottom. Up top, there’s again the digital screen for all the functions the Aqualand is capable of displaying, and surrounding the dial is a very steeply sloped minute track.

The caseback screws into the case on its own, so no pesky tiny screws needed here. Decorated with a special engraving to celebrate the watch’s 40th anniversary, it hides Calibre C520. This quartz-powered movement not only displays running time, but also has a calendar function, a daily alarm function, a 60-minute chronograph function accurate to 1/100th of a second, an ascent alarm function, a diving timer function, and, of course, the depth indication. Battery life is said to be 2 years, and it’s accurate to ±20 seconds per month.

Worn on a BENEBiOIL ™ biomass-based black polyurethane strap with signature wave-section, the Citizen Aqualand Promaster 40th Anniversary Limited Edition retails for EUR 497. It’s limited to 5,800 pieces worldwide and available as of now.

For more information, please visit CitizenWatch.com.