Well, as many of you already know, I’m a proud NEW Daddy and loving every minute of it! Being a new father has been is as sleep depriving as I expected and I’m afraid the adventure has just begun. Along for the adventure is my trusty Citizen Cyber Aqualand. During labor I used it to time my wife’s contractions and now I am using it to time feedings, sleep durations (however short they may be) and bottle sterilizing.



I had the opportunity to purchase this watch late last year from a great friend in the U.K. For unknown reasons, he did not like it anymore and thought I might. I’m glad to say he was right! Unfortunately, the watch came on a rubber strap. Not that rubber straps are bad, I just much prefer cold hard steel. After a few quick e-mails to Citizen Canada, I found out that the SS bracelet could be had for only $73.80 CANADIAN shipped to my door. I jumped all over it. After nearly 2 months of waiting (they had to order the bracelet from Japan), it arrived and now this watch is finally getting the wrist time it deserves.

Just thought you might enjoy a quick review of this very DIFFERENT watch, ENJOY!!!


(click on the picture to see a 3D spinning version)
This is by far the largest quartz watch I have ever owned. It measures 47.4mm in diameter, 51.2mm from lug to lug ( if you can call them lugs) and 16mm thick. Here is a quick diagram on how the measurements were taken:



It is entirely made of brushed SS, with the exception of the pushers, which are polished. It is water resistant to 200m and it feels like you can use it as a diving weight. On the rubber strap it weighs 130g and on the bracelet a whopping 220g! By far the heaviest watch I’ve ever owned! It feels very impressive and you always know it’s there. Some people do not like that, but I do.



Even though its immense girth, it feels quiet comfortable and seems to slide under any cuff with ease. Surprising, I know! I believe the crystal is mineral, though it might be sapphire. I have yet to find material that would claim otherwise and I know Citizen uses sapphire on lesser expensive watches, why not this one.



The case back is thick and very impressively finished. Thank God, it is written DON’T OPEN! I was just about to when I came across the writing. Who knows what could have happened? LOL… Is it really necessary to engrave that on the case back? Once or twice in the manual would have been enough, no? Speaking of manual, you should see the encyclopedia that comes with this thing! On the hand, Citizen has put together a very impressive FAQ page for anyone interested, CLICK HERE to visit!



Not only can you communicate with a PC do download all of your dive data, but you can communicate from one Cyber Aqualand to another via the infrared emitter on the dial. You can synchronize a dive plan, alarms and even the time!

There is a neat feature that allows you to change, edit and add new daily graphics for the display. Here are a few I have created:



HERE ARE THE REGULAR FEATURES:

Time

GMT/UTC - Multi Time Zones

Destination Timer

Alarm (16 different sounds)

Chronograph

Countdown Timer

Diagnostics Page

HERE ARE THE DIVE RELATED FEATURES:

Depth Measuring

Dive Time Measuring

Water Temperature Measuring

Scuba Diving Log

Skin Diving Log

Depth Alarm

Ascent Alarm

There are many other features that I haven’t quite figured out yet, but it sure is FUN!!!

I’m not a real diver, I consider myself a desktop diver really. I swim a lot, I snorkel once in a while, but I have yet to truly dive. I know what you’re saying; this is way too much watch for a “non-diver”. Well, I’m one of those people who just loves knowing my watch can do things I can only dream of. Besides, it’s COOL!





The bracelet is very similar in design to the one used on the SkyHawk, another multi-function Citizen watch I recently owned. Except this one has a slide button diver’s extension, which makes it very convenient for the user. You never have to take it off to size it. The finish is very nice, but the edges are a tad sharp. Nothing I have not already gotten used to. The integration of the bracelet to the case is seamless and it looks as if nothing else could possibly fit in its place. Go figure. The end links sit very high up on the watch and due to this fact it looks much smaller on my wrist the it really is. A quick side by side shot with my Seamaster reminds me of how large this thing actually is.



All in all, I love this watch and because I used it to time the birth of my son. I will NEVER trade it off. The only problem is that my Seamaster is getting jealous and my WIS instincts are being affected by not wearing a mechanical watch. Thanks to Michael Sandler, I do not have to worry about my Omega, it is sitting on its winder ticking away. Sooner or later, I will go back to my trusty Monster, but right now, I’m enjoying my new toy.

Thanks for reading!

Marc
Time2watch

p.s. Please kleep in mind I put this together between feedings and this may not be my best work, but I absolutely wanted to share my new watch with all of you.