Ernest Hemingway wrote, in his bullfighting book Death in the Afternoon, that before he discovered the traditions and art of bullfighting, he found the sport to be “simple, barbarous and cruel.” Rest assured that there will be nothing like that in this lighthearted comparison between two champion bulls.

It was a great year in 2004 for bullhead watches. Both Seiko and Citizen released limited edition chronographs in the bullhead style. Seiko came to market with the unique SBDP021 Prospex chronograph designed by Japanese Formula One race car architect Takuya Yura, and Citizen released their Eco-Drive bullhead inspired by a Citizen original watch from the 1970s.

The Seiko was released in a numbered edition of 600 units. Citizen released their bullhead in two colors: silvery white (CTZ66-0472), and dark blue (CTZ66-0471), in unnumbered editions of 500 each. Little known to most collectors, there was also an extremely limited run of 15 silver dials with special caseback engravings made for the Singapore market. Retail price for the Seiko was 130,000 Yen (about $1,200 US), and the Citizens sold for 105,000 yen (about $920). With so much in common, I thought it would be fun to compare and contrast these two models. Let’s start with the Seiko.

As the picture shows, this is a unique watch. Takuya Yura had fun with this design, and while it may not be the easiest watch to use, it scores high on the “cool” factor chart.

With a 90 degree turn of the bezel, the watch head releases from the case and can be propped open to access the functions. Does this make it easier to time events? No, but it is a fun thing to show to your watch buddies.

In addition to the pop out case, the SBDP features a sapphire crystal and titanium construction utilizing Seiko’s Diashield technology. Diashield is a hardening process Seiko uses on titanium watches, similar to what Citizen does with Duratect.

Being titanium, the watch is light. Although the Seiko measures 45mm across by 12mm thick, it wears like a smaller watch. The absence of protrusions (crowns and pushers) and the flat profile allow this watch to disappear on the wrist. It’s quite comfortable, but I could understand how it could feel too small and too light for many used to the typical large, steel watches of today.

The Citizen wears like a much larger watch and has an altogether different feel than the Seiko. Although smaller in diameter at 42mm, it’s thicker (15mm), and feels much heavier than the ultralight Seiko. The Citizen is also flashy. The silvery dial, the solar panel subdials, a large domed sapphire crystal, and the shiny bezel, all flash at you in a pay-attention-to-me manner.

There is nothing flashy on the Seiko. The dial is matte black. The entire case and bracelet have a non glare satin finish. The flat sapphire crystal is non-reflective, and all protrusions are neatly hidden within the outer case. Neither watch has an overall presence that is preferable to the other; they are just different.

Being an Eco-Drive product, Citizen had to incorporate solar panels into the watch. In this case, they’ve done this utilizing the four subdials. It’s a shame this had to be done, as the Citizen dial is both a work of art and a minor disappointment. Print quality on the non-Eco-Drive portion of this dial is as good as it gets. Everything is extra crisp on this dial and it exudes quality. Well, that is, until you look at the subdials.

On the subdials, it appears that Citizen just couldn’t get the print quality to match that of the main dial. The indices are thicker and don’t convey the elegance of the main dial. Also, because of the solar cell’s limitations, there is “ghosting” of the markers as well as unnecessary reflections. It’s a price to pay for the Eco-Drive technology, and again, if the main dial wasn’t so well done, the shortcomings of the subdials wouldn’t be so glaringly obvious.

Although not flashy, the dial on the Seiko is quite nice. Indices are sharp and uniform on the both the main dials and registers. The chronograph hands are painted a bright orange and the old school minute and hour hands fit the watch well. The simplicity of the dial makes the Seiko more legible than the Citizen.

For good reasons, Citizen’s E210 chronograph movement has become a favorite among Japanese watch collectors It’s a wonderful movement with useful functions. In addition to hour and minute counters, Citizen added an alarm function as well as a four-step power reserve indicator. The pushers activate with the traditional snap, and the little toggle crown for the alarm is very cool.

In contrast, the 7T62 movement in the Seiko isn’t as functional. The chronograph only tracks up to 60 minutes, there is no date indicator, and alarm setting on the Seiko is cumbersome. Even though the Seiko can track another time zone, for me, there is no question that the Citizen gets the nod in both ergonomic design, and actual functionality.

To finish, there are some miscellaneous facts to throw out about each watch. The Citizen has a nifty little micro adjustment built into the clasp that allows you to make adjustments on the fly. No such thing on the Seiko. However, the Seiko does have a flip lock and push buttons on the clasp, for an added level of security, where the Citizen only has push buttons.

Continuing on with the safety theme, the Seiko also has a screw in crown that the Citizen lacks. Finally, an item of note on the Citizen: the silver dial edition is graced with a darker outer bezel possibly made from tungsten or even ceramic. I’ve noticed that the blue dialed version, with it’s polished steel bezel, lacks this striking design element.

As is my tradition on GMT+9, I’ll refrain from picking a winner. I hope I’ve outlined that each watch has its advantages and shortcomings, and would fit in well with any collection of bullhead chronographs. Besides, I don’t want to create any daytime controversy with our readers by killing off a bull.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 13th, 2007 at 2:33 am and is filed under Seiko, Citizen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.