Despite their prevalence in the enthusiast community, watch model nicknames are almost never formally recognized by the manufacturers themselves. It’s vanishingly rare for the typically fastidious, ultra-proper watch industry to refer to its watches by anything other than their full model names (and, in many cases, serial numbers as well), much less riff on a community moniker with an official release. Citizen goes against this grain for its latest diver release, creating an officially licensed nod to its beefy cult favorite “Ecozilla” diver that celebrates the 70th anniversary of the “Godzilla” film franchise. The new limited-edition Citizen Promaster Eco-Drive Professional Diver 300M Godzilla takes the brand’s robust dive watch in a darker, more aggressive visual direction, with impressively subtle Godzilla-inspired touches that may well make this the most stylish and wearable “Ecozilla” to date.
As one might expect from a watch celebrating the world’s most famous kaiju, the Citizen Promaster Eco-Drive Professional Diver 300M Godzilla is a behemoth on the wrist. Measuring in at 48.2mm wide and an immense 18.5mm thick, the matte blasted charcoal gray-coated lugless stainless steel case carries a commanding presence through both its dimensions and its massive weight. Like previous “Ecozilla” models, the main case body is a rounded, slightly flared stainless steel cylinder, with rugged knurled accenting along the upper case edge and comparatively diminutive squared-off crown guards at 9 o’clock. The upper case surface add a new visual spin to the collection, introducing a mottled camouflage pattern that helps to visually break up this element on the wrist while adding a tough, purposeful new stylistic edge. According to Citizen, this pattern (used as well for the dials) contains hidden images of Godzilla, but even during high-magnification photo editing I honestly have not been able to find them. This isn’t necessarily a downside however, as it keeps the theming on this collaboration pleasantly subtle. Around back, the Godzilla theming is more overtly referenced with a caseback etching of the monster’s footprint, but it’s worth noting this engraving is shallow and light even by Citizen’s standards. Although the case’s form and proportions may be unchanged from the rest of the “Ecozilla” family, this model offers a markedly more balanced wearing experience. Much of this comes down to the slimming power of dark colors, but there’s more at play here as well. Although it’s undoubtedly a wide case, its total lack of lugs means there’s very little risk of overhang on small wrists, and the similarly-colored tapering black strap makes the design more cohesive and wraps it around the wrist far better than its bare steel counterparts. This purposeful style isn’t just for show, however, as Citizen rates the watch for a dive-ready 300 meters of water resistance.
Citizen offers the Promaster Eco-Drive Professional Diver 300M Godzilla with a pair of camouflage-patterned dial options. Our hands-on sample was delivered in the bolder red colorway, which brings an aggressive, primal energy to this muscular diver layout. With a dark, mottled pattern ranging from black to brick red, this dial takes full advantage of Citizen’s transparent Eco-Drive dial layer to create a series of chaotic shifting highlights in direct light. The gumdrop-shaped printed dive indices and beefed-up black and orange Roman sword handset make this an extremely legible layout at a glance, and also evoke a gaping mouth rimmed with teeth when combined with the reddish backdrop. In short, it’s an ultra-functional diver layout, but one with a suitably monstrous visual flair.
At the heart of the Citizen Promaster Eco-Drive Professional Diver 300M Godzilla sits the in-house Eco-Drive Cal.B873 light-powered quartz movement. The Cal.B873 has been a staple in Citizen’s lineup for several years, and this heavy-duty variant of the Eco-Drive platform offers excellent performance overall. The brand claims an overall accuracy of +15/-15 seconds per month, along with six full months of power reserve on a full solar charge. To complete the design, Citizen fits the watch with a tapering black rubber accordion strap. Like the case, this is functionally identical to previous “Ecozilla” models, but the darker overall colorway gives the strap a more integrated feel than before.
While it rarely happens, it’s always satisfying to see a major watch brand relax its own formal, isolated stance and directly interact with the enthusiast community’s nicknames for its watches. The new limited edition Citizen Promaster Eco-Drive Professional Diver 300M Godzilla is a prime example of this sort of community nod done right, bringing a more cohesive, aggressive modern look to the fan-favorite “Ecozilla” while paying stylish tribute to Japan’s most famous monster. Only 3,000 examples of the red dial model will be made, with a further 2,500 examples of the black dial variant for a total production run of 5,500 units. The Citizen Promaster Eco-Drive Professional Diver 300M Godzilla (Ref. BJ8059-03Z) is available now through authorized dealers. MSRP for this watch stands at $900 USD as of press time. For more information, please visit the brand’s website.
