by Brent Robillard
The same, but different?
Like most watch enthusiasts, I am always chasing after the next best thing. But what if the next best thing has been out there under your nose for years already? Spend enough time looking at dive watches in the $1,000 range and sooner or later you are going to end up at Citizen and Seiko.
I certainly did. And do. Frequently.
I have owned the Seiko SPB147 and spent considerable time with the Citizen Promaster Diver Automatic NB6021-17E, better known as the Fujitsubo. Both draw heavily upon important dive watches from their respective back catalogues. Both are automatic, ISO-compliant divers with 200 metres of water resistance. Both use sapphire crystals. Both arrive on rubber straps. And both manage to look as though they could have been designed decades ago.
It seems, in fact, that both tool watches scratch the same itch. Yet, put them side by side and the similarities can melt just as quickly into what makes them different.
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Citizen Fujitsubo vs Seiko SPB147
The obvious place to start is history.
The SPB147 belongs to Seiko’s family of modern watches inspired by the 62MAS, the brand’s first dive watch from 1965. The Citizen traces its design to the Challenge Diver of 1977.
In 1983, a Challenge Diver was discovered on an Australian beach, covered in barnacles after apparently spending years underwater. Once cleaned up, remarkably, its movement still ran. That watch eventually inspired the Fujitsubo nickname—Japanese for barnacle—and gave Citizen the sort of origin story that watch companies usually have to manufacture.
The 62MAS has become one of the foundational designs in Japanese watchmaking. Its squared lugs, simple rectangular markers, and functional dial have influenced generations of Seiko divers and an almost incalculable number of watches produced by other brands.
The SPB147 and Fujitsubo are therefore doing essentially the same thing: taking a historically important Japanese dive watch and making it suitable for a modern wrist. But despite appearance, they just go about it very differently.
Steel vs Super Titanium
On paper, the two watches are surprisingly close. The Seiko measures 40.5mm across, 47.6mm lug to lug, and 13.2mm thick. The Citizen comes in at 41mm, 48.5mm lug to lug, and 12.3mm thick.
Half a millimetre here. Less than a millimetre there.
On the wrist, however, they feel like entirely different watches. Much of that comes down to Citizen’s use of Super Titanium. The material is approximately 40 percent lighter than stainless steel and is treated with the brand’s Duratect surface-hardening technology. On its rubber strap, the Fujitsubo weighs around 70 grams. Seventy grams!
That changes the character of the watch completely. The 41mm diameter becomes almost irrelevant because there is so little mass moving around on the wrist. Put it on a NATO and you could probably forget you were wearing it.
The SPB147 has more physical presence. Its stainless steel case feels reassuringly substantial, and its curved profile helps it sit remarkably well despite being slightly thicker than the Citizen.
Case ergonomics have long been one of Seiko’s strengths, and the SPB147 is a good example. Those skin diver squared lugs and gently curved case make it feel smaller than its dimensions suggest. There are drilled lugs, too. Thank you, Seiko.
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Two Takes on Vintage
Aesthetically, I think the Seiko has the advantage. There. I said it.
The SPB147 remains one of my favourite interpretations of the 62MAS design. Seiko officially described the dial as brown, which has always seemed rather unfair. Depending upon the light, it moves somewhere between auburn, blackened red, and smelted copper. Pair that with the chocolate-brown bezel, gilt accents, and aged-looking lume and the whole thing just works.
The Citizen is more conventional. Its black dial, blocky markers, Mercedes-style hour hand, sword minute hand, and lollipop seconds are extremely legible, but also familiar. The greenish Natulite gives it some vintage flavour without overwhelming the design.
There are wonderful details here, though. I particularly like the odd little date window at three, where the hour marker wraps around the aperture. The bevelled edge of the sapphire crystal also produces attractive distortions when viewed from an angle.
The Citizen feels like a vintage dive watch interpreted through modern materials. The Seiko feels older. And, in this particular comparison, I mean that as a compliment.
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Citizen 9051 vs Seiko 6R35
Turn to the movements and the advantage swings rather dramatically toward Citizen.
The Fujitsubo uses Citizen’s calibre 9051, operating at 28,800 vibrations per hour with a 42-hour power reserve. Citizen rates it to -10/+20 seconds per day, and its anti-magnetic hairspring provides resistance to magnetic fields up to 16,000 A/m.
The Seiko uses the familiar 6R35. Its headline number is considerably more impressive: a 70-hour power reserve. That makes the SPB147 easier to put down on Friday and pick up again on Monday without resetting it.
But the 6R35 runs at 21,600 vibrations per hour and is rated to +25/-15 seconds per day. The movement has also generated its share of discussion among enthusiasts over real-world accuracy and consistency.
Personally, I would sacrifice some of that power reserve for the Citizen’s 4Hz frequency, tighter stated accuracy, and additional magnetic resistance. For an everyday mechanical tool watch, the 9051 makes a very convincing argument.
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Bezel, Lume, and the Business of Being a Dive Watch
Both watches are rated to 200 metres and satisfy the basic brief of a proper dive watch very well. The Seiko has a 120-click unidirectional bezel. The Citizen uses a 60-click arrangement. Both are easy enough to operate, although I prefer the feel and the sound of the Seiko.
Then there is lume.
This is Seiko.
Blue LumiBrite on the SPB147 is superb: bright, legible, and wonderfully suited to the utilitarian character of the watch. The Citizen’s lume is also liberally applied and includes the bezel pip, but the Seiko remains difficult to beat once the lights go out.
There are small ergonomic differences elsewhere. The Seiko’s drilled lugs make strap changes ridiculously easy. The Citizen’s crown, meanwhile, has always struck me as a little too narrow and long for the proportions of the case.
Neither is a serious problem. They are the sorts of things you notice after living with watches rather than studying specification sheets.
Which One Would I Choose?
This is where comparisons usually demand a winner. But I don’t think there needs to be one.
The Citizen is the more technically compelling watch. Super Titanium is genuinely useful. The 9051 runs at a higher frequency than the Seiko 6R35, offers better stated accuracy, and adds substantial magnetic resistance. It is also extraordinarily light.
If you want a dive watch for travel, hiking, swimming, or simply wearing every day without thinking much about it, the Fujitsubo makes enormous sense.
The SPB147 appeals to me for different reasons. It has weight. It has texture. It has that wonderful copper-brown dial. The case feels like something designed to accumulate scratches rather than avoid them. Mine always struck me as a watch that would look better after ten years of use than it did when it left the box.
There is also something remarkably pure about the SPB147. Squared lugs. Big markers. Rotating bezel. Great lume. Rubber strap. Dive watch. Done.
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Final Thoughts
Perhaps the biggest difference between the Citizen Fujitsubo and Seiko SPB147 has nothing to do with specifications. The Citizen is the easier watch to recommend rationally. The Seiko is the easier watch to become attached to. At least, that has been my experience with them.
The Fujitsubo takes an excellent 1970s design and improves upon it with titanium, sapphire, better magnetic resistance, and a modern 4Hz movement. It is lighter, thinner, and technically more sophisticated than its vintage appearance suggests.
The SPB147 is less impressive on a spreadsheet. The 6R35 could be more accurate. The case is heavier. The movement runs more slowly. Yet, on the wrist, those criticisms become considerably less important.
I owned the SPB147 because I wanted it. I admired the Fujitsubo because of how well it worked.
And that may be the most useful distinction between them. If you want the lighter, more technically accomplished everyday diver, take the Citizen. If you want the tactile charm, wrist presence, and unmistakable DNA of the 62MAS, take the Seiko.
Or, given the habits of most watch enthusiasts I know, buy one and spend the next six months wondering whether you should have bought the other.
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About the author
Brent Robillard is a writer, educator, craftsman, and watch enthusiast. He is the author of four novels. You can follow him on Instagram.
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Great comparison. I own both…Well kinda, I have the spb143 and this citizen. Both have a place in my box and on my wrist. But yeah they are very similar.
Two great pieces, for sure. Cheers!
If the Seiko in the photos is accurate with the most current offering then it is my understanding it may be built to 200m of water resistance, but I question its ISO compliance. I believe the updated compliance requirements include a lumed 3 o’clock marker do they not? Therefore, my 2nd gen Seiko Monster SRP309 was compliant at the time of its introduction but would no longer be compliant by those updated requirements. Don’t get me wrong – love both these divers and I have two of the Citizen stainless automatics with the gradient dial and love the value of those pieces taking over where I believe the SKX used to dominate the entry level automatic 200m ISO compliant diver category. Both of these heritage looking divers in this write up are excellent and fill the role with the exception of accessibility on price. If you’re looking for a $1000 diver fine…if you’re looking for a tool watch then I think there are better options.
You make a great observation. I doubt very much that there is a grandfather clause applicable here. In fact, your comment made me do a deeper dive (pun intended) and it’s even possible that those new ISO regulations came into effect just before the launch of the SPB, despite the watch being widely advertised and sold as ISO compliant. I suppose, no matter the case, the argument here is that both were intended as actual divers–as opposed to desk divers. Thanks for the feedback!