[kramer5150]

I think they are both equally solid brands. I am partial to Citizen though. I have grown attached to the brand free diving with an Aqualand depth gage for 9 years. I have owned an Orca for about 2 years and its my most accurate non-atomic watch. More accurate than the fore-mentoined 9 year old Aqualand. The Orca has been in-stride with my atomic calibrated G-shocks over a ~2 month period. Its maybe +/- 1 second between manual date wheel changes. I set my G-shock to auto-calibrate every morning at 3:30 AM, so thats my most accurate watch overall.

I am getting my first Seiko automatic... 7s26 frankenmonster. If its as good as or better than my Invicta (SII-NH25A), it will be a winner. That seiko NH25A box-engine (in my Invictas) is tough as nails, I have high expectations for its higher end 7s26 incoming.

$ for $... hard to beat a Citizen quartz eco drive and hard to beat a Seiko Mechanical.

 

[mikeynd]

I prefer Citizen before Seiko,just because they have a MUCH BETTER choice of quartz watches than Seiko..It can't even compare to Citizen's Eco line,then with radio-control.Seiko does have a small line of these styles.

 

[A MattR of Time]

For automatic divers, I prefer Seiko[except for the AutoZilla]. But I really dig Citizen's blue lume material. It lasts all night.

 

[RainMeister]

I started off a long-time Seiko wearer until I discovered some titanium Eco-drives back in the mid-90s. Neat design, quality fit and finish, durable, reliable, light and comfortable. I was sold on Citizens.

I then discovered that the crappy "Seikos" we see at the local mall were "fake", and that all of their great watches were being kept in Japan. I then became an avid JDM Seiko mechanical fan.

I recently picked up an Orient mechanical because of all the raving on WUS; an Orient Retro Future Camera watch YFH02001B. What I once thought of as a cheap brand turned out to be very good in fit and finish, and easily more adventurous in design than both Seiko and Citizen. I am now an Orient fan.

I will be picking up in Japan this month the latest Attessa world time watch, so add another Citizen to the collection. I'll also take a close look at the Retro Future Bicycle watch, which is not available in the U.S.

If you like watches, each brand has something unique and interesting to whet the appetite. Trying to choose one brand over the other is like selecting a flavour of ice cream at the local Haagen Daazs; an exercise in futility. So you get them all!

 

[gaijin]

I am getting my first Seiko automatic... 7s26 frankenmonster. If its as good as or better than my Invicta (SII-NH25A), it will be a winner. That seiko NH25A box-engine is tough as nails, I have high expectations for its higher end 7s26 incoming.

$ for $... hard to beat a Citizen quartz eco drive and hard to beat a Seiko Mechanical.

FYI, the Frankenmonster is a 7S36 movement:-s

 

[kramer5150]

FYI, the Frankenmonster is a 7S36 movement:-s

I never said its not.

 

[CLEANS-HIGH]

I would have to give the nod to Seiko

 

[gaijin]

I never said its not.

In your post above you said, "7s26 Frankenmonster."

Please excuse my confusion :-s

 

[kramer5150]

oh geez... thanks for that correction.

 

[MikeyT]

I like both brands. When I want an automatic I'll probably go Seiko. If I want quartz or "quartz accuracy" I'll go Citizen as the Eco-drive doesn't need a battery replacement.

This. :-! I have several of each brand. My Seikos are mostly autos, and my quartz are mostly Eco-drives.

 

[CLEANS-HIGH]

I prefer Seiko designs but there are some Citizens I like, Citizen hardly ever uses sappire crystals on their watches even the more expensive ones, As far as Rolex-Seiko
if I had $6000 to lay down it would go for a Grand Seiko or Spring drive or high grade auto

 

[A MattR of Time]

Seiko does automatic divers really well.

Citizen, OTOH, has this market cornered:

 

[G Shock]

both very good japanese brands but for a few meters on the way the citizen is first for me.so citizen power still in our heart and wrist.

 

[baserock love]

I was going to chime in as I recently got my first seiko and my first citizen, purchased from a forum member here was to be delivered 2 days ago. Both are inexpensive watches in the 130 dollar range. However after an agonizing 10 day long wait the citizen was sent to the wrong address so i gotta wait 10 days for it to be sent all the way back, then 10 more days to be sent to the proper address which is only 5 minutes away from the address it was originally sent to.

God i hate waiting for the mail :|

 

[G-Junkie]

Between the two, Seiko for me. Citizen seems to have a problem with designing a watch with a clean and simple interface. Usually they push the ones with multiple dials and extra hands and bezels with a thousand or so hash marks. I'm sure citizen makes plenty of simpler watches out out there, but I either don't like the overall design, it has a left hander's crown, or it's too expensive for me to consider it worth the price.

 

[Monocrom]

Between the two, Seiko for me. Citizen seems to have a problem with designing a watch with a clean and simple interface. Usually they push the ones with multiple dials and extra hands and bezels with a thousand or so hash marks. I'm sure citizen makes plenty of simpler watches out out there, but I either don't like the overall design, it has a left hander's crown, or it's too expensive for me to consider it worth the price.

Not liking an overall design is one thing. But there are several Citizen models out there with clean dials, at very reasonable prices. There's the military Field Model BM8180. The very popular on WUS BM6400. High-class BM7080. And that's just three examples. Several diver's models in the Eco-Drive line without left-handed crowns.

 

[G-Junkie]

Not liking an overall design is one thing. But there are several Citizen models out there with clean dials, at very reasonable prices. There's the military Field Model BM8180. The very popular on WUS BM6400. High-class BM7080. And that's just three examples. Several diver's models in the Eco-Drive line without left-handed crowns.

I have the BM8180, it is my only Citizen in my collection. I used to have the 6400, love the interface more than the 8180... except that it was too damn uncomfortable to wear. also, it was 50mm lug-to-lug, which is one of the reasons why I hated wearing it, despite the case diameter being only 40mm. So I flipped it. I did also consider the 7080, but found out the lug-to-lug was too long as well, so I dropped that consideration and give the middle finger to Citizen for being biased against people with small wrists. If they had 8180 with the 6400's dial and screw down crown, I'd think much higher of Citizen, but no. I have around looked for Citizens... trust me on this. I found very little in their lineup that satisfies me.

 

[Monocrom]

That's unfortunate to hear. As for the BM7080, it's a perfect example of how measurements don't tell the whole story. I wear mine daily. Will admit that the watch wears bigger than it is. But lug-to-lug measurement isn't an issue, and I have rather thin wrists. Measurements can feel bigger or smaller. I hate ordering watches without first trying one on. First time I tried on the American version of the Seiko 007, I couldn't believe how tiny it felt on my small wrist. It was as though I was wearing a child's watch. Yet, the measurement would indicate otherwise.

I know it's subjective. Here's hoping you find another Citizen that's a good fit.

 

[G-Junkie]

thanks, I hope so as well.

 

[vfp16]

I only have one Seiko but the Citizen bracelets that everyone is so fond of pulls my wrist hair out (both skyhawk and nighthawk) while the Seiko doesn't.

My experiences have been as follows (for stainless steel/titanium watches):
1. Seiko - very good quality materials, hardlex is very good, excellent lume, watch appears as though it can take more abuse without getting damaged, cheap bracelets though.
2. Citizen - very good quality materials but poor coatings (except duratec so I've heard), bracelet clasps easily scratch, mineral crystal seems brittle (I wouldn't want to drop the watch at all), very good lume.
3. Casio - for the price, cannot be beat. user friendly (unlike complex Eco-drives and Kinetics unless we're comparing 5 motor edifice's and oceanus's which would be more fair), tough, however scratch easily.