There was a lot of buzz on the watch forums when the Citizen Satellite Wave was announced last spring at the Swiss Basel Watch Fair.
Citizen themselves fueled the buzz (and created the Appleseed nickname) with some slick videos and a cross marketing campaign
featuring the watch in a Appleseed Japanese Anime short clip promotion. My curiousity was piqued and a long wait began.
While most of the buzz revolved around the watch’s satellite reception functionality, for me, this watch is all about the look.
After all, satellite reception in wristwatches is nothing new nor expensive to produce. I regularly use a $200.00 GPS Garmin Golf
watch with significantly more satellite receiving and processing technology in it than this Citizen Appleseed.
Don’t get me wrong, the technology is cool, but it’s not why I bought the watch. This one is really a fun exercise in design.
No question, this watch looks different. The design themes revolve around the future, space, and spacecraft. According to Citizen, the
roundness of the case evokes that of a planet, the ceramic materials represent resistance to the elements in space and the dial/handset
displays themes of both rocket propulsion systems and the continuous orbits of satellites in space. The green colors used throughout
the case, dial and strap mimic the light of an aurora.
Citizen even created a large visual gap between the lugs and case to produce the feeling of a planet suspended in space.
The case really does in a sense, float between the lugs.
Back to the technology; the main drawback to making a watch work with satellite reception technology is power consumption.
All watches I know that function with GPS technology have notoriously low power reserves and must be recharged frequently.
For this watch, Citizen has utilized a larger cell. As such, this watch takes a considerable amount of direct sunlight to charge.
While other eco-drive calibers charge to full in anywhere’s from 1 – 32 hours in direct sunlight, the Appleseed takes a
whopping 150 hours to reach full charge. This watch needs power. That said, Citizen says, if one syncs to the signal once every
other day, the watch will function for an impressive 2.5 years on a full reserve. There is not a power save shutdown feature.
Syncing is probably best done manually. Without the signal, timekeeping is specified at a very typical +-15 seconds per month.
While there is an auto sync function, the watch will only automatically search for a signal under a very specific set of
circumstances; namely:
-It hasn’t synced in over 72 hours.
-The time is between 6am and 6pm because...
-The watch must be directly exposed to sunlight
Since Citizen suggests that syncing is best done with the watch off the wrist and held out away from the body at
arms length, I’m guessing that users will probably have much greater success manually syncing every few days
rather than hoping for a successful automatic "circumstantial" sync.
A note on timekeeping: In the manual, Citizen states that "Even when this watch receives the time signal successfully, the accuracy
of the displayed time will be dependent on the reception environment and internal processing." Die hard accuracy freaks, be
aware; you may find better absolute timekeeping in a traditional RC design.
The watch is large and with it's huge sapphire crystal, it has a vibe very similar to what one gets with a Campanola. The white
lettering is on the inside of the crystal. The watch has an incredible amount of depth to it.
The watch case is a combination of DLC stainless steel and ceramics. Green inlays circle the ceramic portion.
There really isn't a dial on this watch. The solar cell is covered with a highly laquered lattice structure and the day and 24
hour discs are transparent. The green coils serve absolutely no purpose other than enforcing the overall theme of the watch.
If you look closely, you'll see the aggressive bend to the hour hand as it leaves it's center disc.
The caseback is numbered. The steel DLC clasp is a butterfly style. Unfortunately, the strap has to be cut to be fitted.
It's going to hurt me to cut this one.
Hands are big, green and bold. Amazingly, they are not lumed, nor is their any lume on the dial. As busy, sparkly and distracting
as this dial is, it's actually very legible.
The watch came in a huge box. The manual comes on a slick little micro disk. Watch set up is very straightforward.
If you've ever set up a Citizen RC or analog Casio RC model, you'll feel right at home.
Reportedly, the edition of 990 is rapidly selling out. I've heard reports from different sources stating that many stores in Japan
and the U.S. had pre sold their allotments before the watch was delivered. I'm actually surprised. This is not a normal looking
watch, nor is it cheap. Apparently the quirky design has appealed to many folks; me included.
Specifications
Model # - CC0005-06E
Caliber – H990
Numbered Edition of 990 Watches
Functions – Time, World Time, Day, Perpetual Calendar, 24Hr Indicator
Dimensions
Diameter 48.5mm w/o crown
Case thickness – 20.4mm
Lug Width - 22mm
Materials – Ceramics, DLC Stainless Steel, Sapphire Crystal
Online Manuals:
http://www.citizenwatch.com/download...90setting.htmlWebsite:
http://citizen.jp/topics/2011/20110615.html 
