The Citizen Promaster Marine may not have the prestige of its Swiss competition, but if there is one thing Japan is know for, its mechanics and reliability. The Citizen Promaster Marine NY0086-16LE is my current favourite watch, it comes across as a watch that should cost 5 times what it does, and makes you feel like you’re wearing a premium sports watch.

The build quality is honestly hard to believe, and far surpassed my expectations when I placed the order online. My only real gripe is that it has mineral glass instead of sapphire crystal, as I am an active guy and often find myself a bit beat up (Sports watches suit my lifestyle and personality).

The Citizen Promaster Marine sits very well on my 17.5cm wrist and with it’s 42mm case diameter, I honestly would have preferred a slightly bigger face as I wear a Garmin Fenix as my daily which has a 47mm diameter and my Tag Aquaracer with a 43mm diameter. This being said, the latest generation of the Citizen Promaster Marine range comes with a slightly bigger case (44mm) and sapphire crystal which I only found out after making the purchase. I was going to sell it as soon as it arrived to go for the newer model, but I fell in love instantly.

The crown being at the 8 o’clock position is a nice aesthetic that draws attention, but it does take a bit of getting used to when you need to setting the time/date. I much prefer the wearability of the Citizen Promaster Marine compared to my Aquaracer which can dig into my hand at times.

I find watch brands can be a bit too “sheepish” with their case packaging, and when I saw the scuba tank case I had a good laugh and it made me feel like a kid at Christmas. The rubber strap is where I feel they saved some costs, it is quite rigid and has a few tooling marks but no one will notice it except you (I was in injection moulding a few years ago so I do naturally notice these things, you may not).

The bezel “Pepsi” colour-way is not as it looks in the website images, online it may look very bright and “cheap” but in person it is a deep blue, almost purple colour, and royal red which catches the light perfectly. The Saturn finish of the bezel really adds to the premium look and feel. Originally I preferred the Black & Red “Coke” version but I took the gamble as I wanted something different from my black and silver Tag.

In conclusion, I would say if you like the look of the Citizen Promaster Marine, get it. The Citizen movements are know to be superb and it’s an affordable avenue to get into watch collecting and watches in general. The Citizen Promaster Marine is a real head turner and if I ever do buy one of the newer generation sapphire editions I won’t sell this one, as it has the genes of the original Citizen Promaster Marine NY0040 which was adopted by the Italian Navy back in the 90’s.