Description
Citizen mechanical wristwatch
MADE IN JAPAN
The Citizen Legacy: A Pioneer of Precision
Founded in 1918, Citizen is now one of the largest watch and movement groups in the world. The Japanese brand is known for its highly accurate and reliable Eco-Drive solar-powered watches. The Citizen group owns Bulova, Alpina, Frederique Constant, and Arnold & Son, as well as movement manufacturers Miyota and La Joux-Perret.
About the Auto Dater Line
The Auto Dater was Citizen’s automatic-with-date line of the 1960s — the model that put self-winding convenience and a date complication on the wrist of the ordinary buyer. The name says exactly what it is: an automatic (“Auto”) with a date (“Dater”).
The Auto Dater belongs to the early-to-mid 1960s, when automatic winding and a quickset-era date were still genuine selling points. Home-market versions wore Citizen’s “Parawater” (waterproof) and “Parashock” (shockproof) badges — both born of Citizen’s famous 1950s durability campaigns, including the 1956 Parashock helicopter-drop demonstrations — while export models used the plain “Waterproof” and “Shockproof” equivalents.
For collectors, the Auto Dater is a clean, characterful example of Citizen’s mainstream 1960s automatics, and the later day-date versions — like this one, running the last generation of Citizen’s celebrated “Jet” movements — are among the most charming of the line.
About This Watch
This is a Citizen Jet Auto Dater Seven, one of the mainstream automatics that carried Citizen’s self-winding-plus-date convenience onto the wrist of the everyday buyer in the mid-1960s. It pairs a warm silver linen dial with a full day-and-date display — the day spelled out in English through a curved window beneath twelve o’clock, the date framed at three — and runs on Citizen’s 25-jewel automatic, the calibre 4102, from the 41-series, the last generation of the celebrated “Jet” movements before Citizen retired that distinctive design later in the decade.
The “Parawater” badge on the dial marks it as a genuine water-resistant Citizen, a lineage that began with Japan’s first waterproof watch in 1959. Applied faceted markers, a polished white-gold-plated case and a domed acrylic crystal give it the confident, lightly formal look of a mid-century Japanese dress automatic. The case-back carries Citizen’s “Jet Auto Dater” script, the “STAR”, “PARA WATER” and “W.G.P.” marks, the reference AD0Q 51309-F and the case number 50503885, which dates the watch to May 1965.
Technical Specifications
- Brand: Citizen
- Line: Jet Auto Dater Seven (the 7-in-shield dial emblem marks the day-and-date models)
- Reference Number: AD0Q 51309-F
- Movement: Automatic (self-winding, hand-winding capable), 25 jewels — Citizen calibre 4102, from the 41-series, the last generation of the “Jet” movements; 18,000 bph
- Case Number: 50503885, stamped on the case-back
- Production Date: May 1965, decoded from the case number 50503885
- Case Material: White gold plated, stamped W.G.P. on the case-back
- Case Diameter: approx. 37 mm (excluding crown)
- Dial: Silver linen texture with applied faceted markers; English day and date
- Crystal: Acrylic, domed
- Case-back: Engraved “Citizen Jet Auto Dater / STAR / PARA WATER / W.G.P.” with the reference AD0Q 51309-F; the 40 m Parawater rating is printed on the dial
- Country of Manufacture: Japan
Condition Report
The watch presents well for its age. The silver linen dial has aged unevenly, with light spotting and patchy discolouration across the lower half visible under close magnification, while the applied markers and hands are clean and intact. The case is polished and its white-gold plating still bright, carrying light scratches and small nicks around the bezel edge and lugs consistent with sixty years of wear, and the acrylic crystal is clear. The day and date advance crisply and the automatic movement runs strong after service. The watch is fitted with a new blue leather strap.
This watch has recently been serviced by a professional watchmaker and keeps good time.
Comes fitted with a new NATO COMMANDER v2.0 genuine leather strap!
*Please note: the strap is a quality aftermarket replacement, not the original factory bracelet.
This watch ships from 🇺🇦 Ukraine with tracking number
Why Collectors Want This Watch Today
The Auto Dater sits at a genuine sweet spot for vintage Citizen collectors: an honest, well-built automatic from Citizen’s strongest mechanical decade, here carrying the calibre 4102 — from the 41-series, the last generation of the “Jet” movements, a distinctive chapter in Citizen’s history that closed when the company moved to conventional rotor designs. A full English day-date, the Parawater heritage and a crisp silver dress dial make it as easy to wear today as it was in the 1960s, while remaining one of the more affordable ways into serious vintage Japanese collecting. Freshly serviced and keeping good time, it is ready to wear now.
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We guarantee the item you receive looks and works exactly as advertised — or your money back.
Citizen lug-width matched leather straps — 18 / 19 / 20 mm
About the watch factory
The Spirit of Innovation: The Citizen Legacy
Founded in 1918 with the mission of creating timepieces that are “Citizens” of the world, the Citizen Watch Company has spent over a century redefining the boundaries of horology. From its origins as the Shokosha Watch Research Institute, the brand has remained steadfast in its philosophy: “Better Starts Now.” This belief—that it is always possible to make something better—transformed a local Japanese workshop into a global powerhouse of precision and craft. By controlling the entire manufacturing process in-house, from the individual components to the final assembly, Citizen ensures an uncompromising standard of quality that few manufacturers on earth can match.
What truly sets Citizen apart is its relentless pursuit of pioneering technology paired with environmental consciousness. The brand made history by introducing the world’s first light-powered analogue watch — the Crystron Solar Cell of 1976, the technology Citizen later branded Eco-Drive, which eliminated the need for battery replacements and forever changed the industry’s approach to sustainability. Beyond its eco-friendly milestones, Citizen’s history is decorated with “world firsts,” including the first professional diving watch with an electronic depth sensor and the most accurate satellite-synchronized timekeeping systems. When you wear a Citizen, you aren’t just wearing a watch; you are wearing a piece of history engineered for the future.
Why Choose Citizen?
- In-House Manufacturing: Citizen designs and builds its own movements — its Miyota calibers are among the most widely used in the world.
- Built to Last: Citizen engineered its 1960s–70s calibers to be serviced rather than discarded, which is why so many are still keeping good time today.
- Heritage of Firsts: The first light-powered analogue watch (1976, the technology that became Eco-Drive), the first dive watch with an electronic depth sensor, and satellite-synchronised timekeeping.
