Citizen Promaster Land: Tools to take chances on the Terra Firma

Perhaps the most diverse among Citizen’s lineups, the Promaster never ceases to surprise!

Promaster Land: A brief intro

Ask anyone bit savvy about outdoor gears to recommend a correspondingly wide range of watches that support hardcore professional athletic activities, mountaineering and exploring the wilderness for adventures; you’ll probably hear them praising the G-Shock, the Garmin, the Seiko Prospex and maybe also the Tissot T-Touch. What most people will overlook out of ignorance is an entire range of fascinating, professional wrist-top tools – the Citizen Promaster Land, widening the range of possible activities for which, they prove both appropriate and ENORMOUS! Starting from 1989 with the Promaster Altichron (with a high-accuracy altimeter), they are still around, getting only better through the years.  

^{The Promaster: Mastered the Elements}

Citizen Promaster Land: Things that WOW! Despite three distinct divisions introduced by the manufacturing brand, the Promaster – being watches designed primarily for professional use – overlaps the realms of their functional territories; sharing characteristics from each other (Sea and Air) and offer flexible features of which, toughness and water resistance are foremost. But then again, the Promaster Land family is more capable than the other two in terms of withstanding physical impacts; the kind that might originate from insanely high speeds and towering heights.

^{It’s not just G-Shock that can boast about a history of toughness}

Citizen: The quest for anti-shock measures Looking back at Citizen’s history, we see them as innovators in developing more-than-normal tolerances for their watches and shock resistance is just one of them. Their own proprietary anti-shock mechanism – the Parashock – was for mechanical watches; it’s a system that protects the most vulnerable parts of a mechanical movement i.e. the delicate pivots of the balance wheel; which going off, bring serious issues to the precision of a mechanical watch. Even, from a fall from a height as little as 6 inches. Parashock proved to be effective against even 30-meter falls; as Citizen’s public demonstration in 1956 proved it. Even astonishing is the fact that a forerunner of the PROMASTER series, which stayed submerged in the Long Reef Beach of Australia for six long years at a stretch (1983 – 1989). Despite the watch being covered all in barnacles and algae, its self-winding mechanism functioned perfectly and appeared as good as new. The Citizen Promaster Land Series watches, undoubtedly, being modern-age marvels, have taken that toughness several flights higher than previous; now, we are to look into the mechanisms that have put them into a whole new league of their own.

^{The altimeter sensor uses barometric pressure to gauge the depths}

The Altichron USP

• Analog altimeter allows measurements from 1,000 feet to 32,000 feet.
• Three scales – Hundreds, thousands and ten thousands of feet
• Electronic compass bezel, for taking accurate bearings during daylight hours.
• Measures altitude for the initial five minutes at a stretch, followed by automatic readings every three minutes, for the next 12 hours

The Altimeter and the Compass Inspired by the mechanical depth gauges, the development of microelectronics and sufficiently compact sensors allowed extremely precise altimeters to be built into a watch. These sensors can detect air pressure and its fluctuations; the 14.70 lbs/sq. inch pressure at the sea level lessens with ascension to greater heights, with the air turning gradually thinner with elevation. However, you may use the altimeter also to track barometric pressure changes besides altitude readings. The Altichron’s compass bezel allows users to take a basic bearing from the Sun and is a very helpful feature for mountaineers, trekkers and even them into off-road motoring and mountain-rallying. The Altichron has been developed to allow quick detection of critical information, which in turn, establishes safety margins without delay. However, there’s a lot of difference between the 1989 Promaster Altichron and that of the present times; now they showcase one of the most significant advances in wristwatch sensor technology. Gone are its resemblance to the Aqualand; the prominent bulge on the left and the LCD for displaying the info.

^{Promaster Land: The way the new ones started}

Not just the fluctuations in atmospheric pressure, the Altichron also provides warnings of an impending foul weather and lets you estimate the time you’ll need to return to the safety of a bivouac or the base camp. Drop a reply to let us know your opinions about the AltiChrono. For further reading, go here.