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Citizen SkyHawk AT Review — JY0000-53E

Some watches just "have it." Let me try to explain. There are some watches that upon seeing, people are instantly drawn to. You don't have to tell them about it's cool functions, or how accurate the movement is, or anything of the sort. They just see it, and they say "Woah!"

The Citizen SkyHawk is definitely one of these. It's an eye-catcher, and a very classy looking piece, but it still has that "sporty" look and feel. Even considering the initial reaction most people have, you are inevitably bombarded with questions about what "Radio Controlled" means, or what all the buttons and dials do. The SkyHawk has plenty to look at, and yet maintains an easy readability, and doesn't feel as "crowded" or "busy" as you would initially anticipate

Case

The SkyHawk AT has a very cool two-tone look for it's solid and comfortable case. The height and weight of the case is substantial for everyday use, but very attractive and the finish is fantastic. Citizen truly put a fair amount of effort into making sure that these watches "popped" to even the most untrained eye.

The case, as I stated above, is large, and it does indeed wear as a big watch, but unlike some others, it doesn't seem to be as awkward or as "weighty" when worn. The case has a super fine brushed finish which looks great against the black bezel and face. The silver rivets that serve as an easy means with which to turn the slide rule bezel add another really cool finishing touch to the overall design.

The crown features the Promaster logo in black, and it looks great as a highlight to the action side of the case.

As with most Citizen's, unfortunately, the case back is very minimalist, almost as though it's laser engraved. While the case back does look very clean, compared to some other models from other manufacturers, you might look upon this one as being "cheap" as it were. However, the back is nicely finished and detailed, and contains all the usual particulars.

I can also tell you this much. I don't know how much Citizen factory techs get paid, but it must be alot. The internals for this watch must be absolutely frightening upon first glance. There is the customary message on the case back, similar to the 20th Anniv. Aqualand "Only to be opened by Citizen Watch Service Center." Fine by me, they can have at it.

Crystal

The SkyHawk AT has one of the more refined crystals that I have ever seen in a Citizen Watch. It is most certainly domed, but does not distort until very extreme angles. I wish I could get my camera to shoot the picture I wanted, but I tried and failed several times. If you look from the side of the watch, you can see the main stem that all the hands ride on, and it's very cool to see in action.

The SkyHawk in Japan has a sapphire option, which would be nice to have here, but I can honestly say it's not necessary. The stock crystal is very attractive and clear, and fits the overall design of the watch well.

Bracelet and Clasp

The SkyHawk AT has one of the coolest metal bracelets around as far as Citizen goes. The alternating finish and size pattern is very eye catching and attractive. The clasp is simple, and somewhat out of the ordinary for Citizen, but it works well and has a very comfortable profile.

Movement

Wow, where to begin. The SkyHawk AT has a literal novel for an instruction manual. Oh, and a CD also, haha! The crown does not screw down, but instead, at position 1, each button does something different in each setting phase / display phase. At position 2 and 3, the same. So fundamentally, each button on the watch including the crown has somewhere in the neighborhood of 17-21 functions depending on which mode the watch is in.

As you can see here, the watch is in CAL mode, or calendar mode, which displays a home time zone in the left LCD and the calendar info in the right. I will go through a display screen demo in the video review which will follow shortly.

The movement is controlled entirely by the crown, moving from position 1 to position 2, turning the crown results in what effectively performs as a "mode" button. From there you can set / adjust the watch accordingly. I will go through a much more thorough review of the movement in my video. Suffice to say it is exponentially intricate and customizable as well as functional.

Lume

Strangely, instead of Natulite, Citizen went with the green lume, which does perform well, but I was hoping for an all blue watch a la 20th Anni. Aqualand. The markers show green, and screens show orange. It's a cool effect, and the lume and LCD's light up well, it's just not what I expected. I have not tested the longevity of the Lume in the dark, but will be doing so in the coming week.

Conclusion

The SkyHawk AT is probably one of my all time favorite watches, instantly. It has such a phenomenal look about it, and draws a lot of attention. It has more features that you could possibly talk about in just a few pages. The slide rule bezel makes tip calculations a breeze, or even rate, time, distance, etc. It's also a fun way to amaze your friends. "Hey, tell me a multiplication problem and my watch will solve it!"

I would definitely recommend this watch to anyone, aficionado or otherwise.