Citizen
Citizen traces its origins to 1918, when the Shokosha Watch Research Institute was founded in Tokyo, and adopted the Citizen name in 1930. The company grew into one of Japan’s leading watchmakers, known for reliable mechanical movements, precision manufacturing, and later for pioneering quartz and light-powered technology. Citizen also played an important role in the development of watchmaking in India. From the early 1960s, it provided technical assistance and manufacturing know-how to HMT, helping establish large-scale domestic watch production, including automatic watches. Citizen-branded watches sold internationally were distributed through Citizen Trading Co., Ltd., until it established a joint venture with an Indian company in 1997. Citizen became known for pairing dependable engineering with innovation, from robust mechanical watches to quartz and its pioneering Eco-Drive light-powered technology. It later advanced radio-controlled and satellite-synchronised timekeeping, cementing its reputation for precision, durability and practical innovation.
Citizen cal. 8200A (c. 1975)
The Citizen Caliber 8200A belongs to the long-running Citizen/Miyota Caliber 82 family, introduced in 1975. The Citizen 8200A is based on the Miyota cal. 8200, with many parts shared with the Miyota cal. 8205. Miyota’s origins go back to 1959, when Citizen established a movement factory in the town of Miyota, Nagano; the Miyota brand itself was launched in 1980. The Caliber 82 family went on to become one of the world’s most widely used Japanese mechanical movement platforms. The 8200A is an automatic movement with day-date display complication.
Technical Information
Ligne/Size
11½'''
Jewels
21
Frequency
21,600
Movement Type
Automatic and Manual
Power Reserve
43 hours
Lift Angle
49°
Shock
Citizen Parashock
Mainspring
Made in
Japan
Restoration Notes
There are several videos on YouTube demonstrating how to disassemble and re-assemble and lubricate the 8200A movement. However, I found this service walkthrough (link) by "VWatchie" on Watch Repair Talk to be the most instructive resource by far.
Setting the day on a Citizen 8200A
The 8200A carries a bilingual day disc, most commonly English and Japanese, and on this example the day cannot be advanced with the crown. The only way to move it is through the time-setting position, which makes a language change more involved than it first appears.
The reason is that the day does not change in a single motion overnight. It advances in two separate stages, the first falling somewhere between nine in the evening and midnight, the second between roughly two and half past four in the morning. The first stage lands on the following day in the opposite language, and the second carries it one position further, returning to the language you began with. Across an uninterrupted night the disc therefore moves two positions and the language holds steady, which is exactly why the watch appears to stay in one language in ordinary wear.
That brief gap between the two stages is the only window in which the other language is on display, and it is the whole key to changing it.
To make the switch, pull the crown out and turn the hands slowly forward past nine in the evening while watching the day aperture. The moment the day changes and the language flips, stop. Advance the hands a few minutes further so the day finger disengages cleanly, then wind backwards to the correct time. Winding forward to reach the time will carry the movement through the second stage and undo the change.
Once set, the display holds. Normal running advances the disc two positions each night and the language will not drift, so the procedure only needs repeating if the watch runs down and happens to stop mid-change.
A note on handling. The calendar work is engaged and under load through this part of the cycle, so the hands should be moved gently rather than hurried, and a movement that has run down should be wound properly before any of this is attempted.
Cleaning and Polishing
I use a four-stage cleaning process. Stage 1 involves cleaning the parts in water with one or two drops of mild detergent. Mainplates and bridges are brushed by hand, while more delicate components are cleaned ultrasonically. I also often clean the jewels with pegwood at this stage. Stage 2 is a thorough rinse in plain water using the ultrasonic cleaner; this is also when I may polish mainspring-barrel bearings and other pivot holes. Stage 3 consists of an ultrasonic rinse in naphtha. Finally, Stage 4 is an ultrasonic rinse in 99.9% isopropyl alcohol to remove any remaining residue and moisture.
Reassembly and Lubrication
Moebius D5 on barrel, 2nd and 3rd wheel pivots; Moebius 9010 on 4th and 5th wheel pivots; Moebius 9010 on balance jewel; Klüber P125 for mainspring barrel wall; Fix-o-Drop Epilame on escape wheel and pallet jewels; Moebius 9415 on pallet exit stone; Moebius 9501 for cannon pinion and keyless works; Lubetta V105 on the "pawl winding wheel" (reverser).
Regulation
Timegrapher readings at full wind, across five positions - DU, DD, CU, CD, and CL:
Delta Rate: 12 sec/day
Mean Rate: -2.4 sec/day
Amplitude Range: 232° to 256°
Mean Amplitude: 240°
Beat Error Range: 0.2 to 0.7 ms
After one full wind, the watch worked for a total of 40 hours.
