Citizen Launch Unite with Blue Collection for World Oceans Day

Today, June 8^th, is the UN World Oceans Day, raising awareness for and celebrating one of the most important and biodiverse habitats on the planet. If you’ve so much as dipped a toe into watch collecting you’ll know that many of the top brands take a passionate stance on conservation. Blancpain has their Ocean Commitment, Seiko has Save the Oceans and PADI collaborations and now Citizen has launched their new Unite with Blue collection for World Oceans Day.

The Unite with Blue collection consists of three watches and they are the Promaster Dive ref. BN0166-01L, Attesa Chronograph ref. AT8188-64L and Attesa ref. CB0215-18L. Let’s kick things off with that Promaster Dive.

Citizen Promaster Dive Unite with Blue Edition Ref. BN0166-01L

The Promaster Dive is in many ways Citizen’s answer to the Seiko Prospex line, which makes sense as they are Japanese compatriots. The watch has a 44mm diameter case in stainless steel with a pronounced diving bezel that’s reminiscent of the Seiko Tuna. For the Unite with Blue edition, the bezel has a two-tone colouration in blue and green that evokes images of the abundant waters of the world’s oceans.

Those colours are also seen on the watch’s dial, which has been constructed from 100% recycled polycarbonate materials. The aquatic colour scheme has been achieved through the use of pigment-free ink that reflects light to create the intricate gradients of blue and green – it’s a beautiful design. Beyond the water themed colours, the dial is well adapted to being under water too with plenty of lume and highly legible circle and wedge-shaped hour markers.

Beneath the surface of the watch is Citizen’s Cal.E168 Eco-Drive movement. Eco-Drive is Citizen’s term for a solar quartz movement that uses the power of light to charge its battery, making the watch long lasting and sustainable. You wouldn’t expect anything else from a watch championing sustainability. The movement also helps the watch to be accessible at just £299 in a limited edition of 7000 pieces.

Citizen Attesa Unite with Blue Edition Ref. AT8188-64L and CB0215-18L

Citizen is pretty famous for having a hugely diverse selection of watches so I wouldn’t blame you for being unfamiliar with the Attesa. It’s one of Citizen’s sportiest lines, which can be seen through the two Unite with Blue editions’ 42mm and 42.5mm diameter cases in titanium. The titanium means they’re super lightweight and durable, both of which are attributes that suit the facetted design.

Of the two Attesas here one is a chronograph model and the other is a worldtimer. Both have dials of the same green-blue colours as the Promaster Dive, although here the colours appear to bleed across the various complications. And there are actually a lot of complications, especially on the chronograph AT8188-64L. It features hours, minutes, seconds, 60-minute timer, 1/20 second chronograph subdial, a 24-hour indicator, days indicator, date window, power reserve indicator and world time display. The CB0215-18L has the same complications sans the chronograph and subdials.

Housed inside both are Eco-Drive movements. The H.800 for the chrono and the H.145 for the second version. As for availability and pricing, there’s a fairly substantial difference between the two. The chronograph model is £1,495 with 2,400 pieces and the worldtimer is £895 with 2,200 pieces. That differential is largely due to the fact that the chrono comes with a full titanium bracelet while the worldtimer is on an integrated leather strap.

It’s great to see support for such an important cause as World Oceans Day and it’s even better when they have dials as cool as these ones. The combination of colours and the organic gradients between them is really nice. Of the three, I think I’d go for the Promaster Dive because it is a serious value proposition.

More details at Citizen.