002 / Citizen automatic 7470 movement

 #002 Citizen Automatic

Movement            : 7470

Year                      : March '71

Condition              : Dial   8/10

                              : Case  8/10

                              : Movement 9/10 

Bracelet                 : Non-original

Crown                    :Original Citizen

Crystal                   : Original Citizen

Serial no.               : Case 10304548

                              : Movement - none

Today I'm wearing a Citizen automatic with a blue dial. I'm really a fan of Citizen (and also Seiko) watches and this example is a good example. I pulled it apart and after cleaning and oiling its s running well and loosing around 5 seconds a day. The movement is a Citizen 7470 and while some of the design shows its age, specifically the setting and winding works as well as the quickset, the timekeeping aspect is very good. In fact I prefer this model compared to the latter 82xx series of movements as it is easier to get running well due to its larger balance. 

For a watch that's 50 years old, I am pleasantly surprised that it has still managed to keep its original crown and crystal. The dial is also in remarkably good shape with no damage whatsoever. It is common to find some water damage or lifting lacquer on older watches but this watch has survived well.

Original CTZ marked crown

Citizen and Seiko both have serial numbers on the caseback and this allows us to date the watch fairly accurately. In this case, the watch has a serial that starts with 103xxx. Here the number 1 denotes the year of the appropriate decade. As this watch dates from the early 70s it would indicate the watch was made in 1971. The numbers '03' denote the month of manufacture. So this was was made in March 1971. For Citizen, the 2nd and 3rd digit will run from 01 to 12 to denote the month. On Seiko watches, only the second digit is used with Oct, Nov and December being indicated by 'O', 'N' and 'D' respectively.

Caseback

While not being a high value watch, it is very much a well designed and constructed bit of horology. The only issue I had with this watch was a slightly worn automatic weight bearing and some wear on the plastic date quickset gear. Both do not affect the operating of the watch but I will be looking out for a better automatic weight, so far the wear is minimal and the weight has not started to hit the mainplate but this watch deserves to have a good one! 

Some movement pictures from Ranfft's invaluable website where you can find more information on this and other movements.