Review: Citizen CB0190-84E

Read the full review here: https://wahawatches.com/review-citizen-cb0190-84e/

In 2020, Citizen celebrated half a century of their development of titanium watches. They’ve done this by releasing a variety of new models in their proprietary Super-Titanium alloy. They decided to work around the design of a tried and tested workhorse – the CB0010 World Perpetual. The result is the CB0190 – a watch with a similar silhouette, and the same movement but otherwise, it’s a fresh design.

The CB0190 comes with either a black or dark blue dial. As it is with Citizen, they’ve done an excellent job. The central portion features a motif of latitude and longitude grid, while the ring surrounding it has a pattern additionally decorated with a striated surface. That alone adds a fair amount of depth.

The lume could be better on this one. The hands are generously filled with it, although the lume plots integrated into the outer tips of the hour markers aren’t very bright.

The CB0190 isn’t a small watch. However, it’s unbelievably light.

The Super-Titanium does its job perfectly. The alloy is light, and the coating, 5 times harder than stainless steel, protects the scratch magnet that titanium usually is. The only downside I can see is that it’s a fingerprint magnet. Citizen can be proud of this titanium case – the finishing is excellent. 

The cal. H145 from Citizen is a decent design. Perpetual calendar, quick time zone setting, radio synchronization, Eco-Drive solar cell system. The one issue that I have with this movement is that the calendar settings are operated with tiny, recessed pushers, which you need a toothpick to use. Radio signal reception issues are the case with all Citizen Radio-Controlled movements.

Frankly, the bracelet isn’t a strength of this watch. The tolerances for the fit of the endlinks are tight, and that’s great, but not enough.

The clasp does its job well. At least it’s not a butterfly clasp – it’s a civilized fold-over one. 

The Citizen Elegant CB0190 is a really cool, reliable, and basically worry-free watch. It’s a grab-and-go piece. A few things could have been done better. Especially the bracelet. The lume by the hour markers too, but I don’t mind it all that much.