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Old 8 February 2024, 02:07 AM   #2
arnage
"TRF" Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: NJ
Posts: 319
I have watches that utilize both movements; from the perspective of convenience and accuracy, it's difficult to come up with many (any?) reasons to forgo the Citizen.

I have two 9F based watches, the SBGV243 and the SBGP015 - both very nice watches, stylistically. But battery life was only 2.5 to 3 years, and that was even after I had begun pulling the crown out when not using the watch, to preserve some life. I also noticed that the second hand on the watch never gave the "staggered 2 seconds" indicator that the battery was on its way out. It's not hard to replace the battery at all, but if you're the type who would insist on only letting a GS service center do so, that's quite inconvenient.

I also have the Chronomaster aq4090-59e; limited edition with a really neat washi paper dial that has small specs of metallic flake in it. Watch has basically been in the "set it and forget it" mode since I've had it, with no issues. perpetual calendar, solar powered, very high accuracy. Case and dial index finishing at least on par with GS, in my opinion. But perhaps most significantly, the durability of the titanium finishing has proven very robust and quite exceptional. literally no hairlines / scratches. And you can't really say the same for the GSes.

GS still has a much more pronounced following in the US (and of course this wasn't always the case, if you remember threads from 10 years back). But Citizen is now setting up to sell their higher-end JDM stuff here too, so let's see how that evolves. For now, unless the design of the GS speaks to you much more than the Citizen's design, the pure merits of the watch should point you towards the Chronomaster.
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