Citizen Series8 890 Cherry Blossom Hands-On Review
At the beginning of the year, we reviewed the Citizen Series 8 GMT. Our team liked the watch as it represented a step up for Citizen. A lot of brands are entering the stainless steel integrated bracelet sport watch category, with some doing it better than others. Citizen’s first real entry was the Series 8 GMT, which not only offered a competitively priced integrated sport watch, but a trendy GMT design (utilizing Citizen’s own in-house GMT movement).
Fast forward a year, and Citizen has expanded the Series 8 lineup, adding a collection of divers to the catalog. I had the chance to review the Series8 890 Cherry Blossom Limited Edition and see its a solid watch for its price. Yes, it clearly has some design inspirations, but the value proposition of this watch is also readily evident.
When you first look at the Series8 890, or any Series8 watch for that matter, you will note that it has some clear Genta inspiration. The octagonal case is Royal Oak-esque and the “ears” remind me of a Nautilus. Some may be turned off by such design choices, but I’m not. There is a whole range of watches inspired by Genta, the Royal Oak and Nautilus, ranging from high-end pieces to more affordable pieces (like the Tissot PRX for example). Clearly, Genta’s designs have entered the cultural zeitgeist, and many brands “want a piece” so to speak.
What is important, then, when you create a piece with such inspiration, is that you add enough to let is stand on its own. And I believe Citizen does an admirable job here. For example, the bracelet is tapers 4mm, making it elegant on the wrist, but is chunky in a way that Genta’s direct inspirations are not. This gives the Series8 its own identity, at least when it comes to the bracelet. And did I mention that it’s incredibly comfortable on the wrist.
But where the Series8 890 Limited Edition really stands out is in the dial. And here, Citizen is really paying homage to its Japanese heritage (in a way that Grand Seiko has done so successfully in the past). The dial is a beautiful array of geometry, adding different depths and patterns to the dial. The watch, an almost salmon/copper color is inspired by Spring, and the cherry blossoms prevalent in Japan (and especially Kyoto). I’ve always though that Citizen would be wise in taking inspiration from their Japanese heritage and glad they did so here. And turning the cherry blossom inspiration into something a bit more geometric, just means the design is digestible by the general public as well. I can see the inspiration in the dial, without feeling overwhelmed by it.
One might think that given the very intricate dial pattern, the watch might be illegible. But I found the watch to be very legible where it mattered. The extra thick hands and white applied hour indices allowed me to easily read the time, which is important on a dive watch.
Similar to the Royal Oak Offshore, the Series8 890 has an internal bezel, with an extra crown at 2 o’clock to rotate it. I do think this is a more elegant approach than a standard dive bezel on an octagonal case, and is well-executed here. It is the same copper color as the rest of the dial, and creates a cohesive look between the dial, bezel and case.
Now the watch is considered a diver, and has 200 meters of water resistance. However, the crown is not a screw down crown. I am told that the internal gasket allows for the watch to have 200 meters of water resistance even without the screw down crown (but that’s not to say I still don’t prefer a screw down crown). But because I am not a diver myself, and don’t even swim with most of my watches, I don’t see this as an issue. But I would like for Citizen to update the 890 in the future with a screw down crown. That might even add a bit of additional depth rating to the watch.
The Series8 890 comes in at 42.6mm in diameter and 15mm thick. That might seem like a big watch, but it actually wears a bit smaller than that. That 42.6mm includes the large protruding ears on the case, and the watch is only 46.6mm lug-to-lug (which is actually quite short for a watch it’s diameter). So I wouldn’t be that intimidated by the watch if I had a smaller than average wrist size and I felt it wore well on my 6.75 inch wrist. But obviously, it’s not a slip under your cuff type of watch.
The Series8 890 runs on the Citizen Caliber 9051 automatic movement. It has a 42 hour power reserve and is accurate to -10/+20 seconds per day. The Citizen mechanical caliber 9051 offers automatic functionality, enhanced magnetic resistance and a thin movement profile, making it a great movement to power the Series8 890.
As I said at the beginning of this review, there are some obvious similarities in the Series8 to the Royal Oak (and Nautilus). And if that takes this watch out of the equation for you, I would understand. But I also understand that the Royal Oak is a watch with half a century of history, that has become an icon. And with the current prices of the Royal Oak (at both retail and on the secondary market), many people (dare I say most), cannot afford one. So I can get behind a brand that pays tribute to the watch, taking some of the obvious design cues, but also adding their own twist. And that is what Citizen has done here with the Series8 890 Limited Edition. With the watch’s octagonal case and cherry blossom-inspired dial, it is a verifiable fusion of East and West. There is clearly enough there to separate the watch from some of its inspiration. That, to me, makes it an interesting option for those looking for something stylish yet affordable.
