So, I got my hands on this watch people call the “Citizen Godzilla”. Not sure if that’s official, but it fits. It’s one of those tough-looking Citizen divers, built like a tank. I figured, okay, let’s see what this beast is all about in daily life, really put it through its paces, you know?
First Impressions and the Plan
Right out of the box, it felt substantial. Heavy, solid. Looked like it could survive anything. My plan wasn’t anything crazy. I just wanted to wear it everywhere, see how it held up, track its timekeeping. Simple stuff. I wasn’t planning on modding it or taking it apart, not initially anyway. Just live with it. Be a true ‘citizen’ with this ‘godzilla’ on my wrist.
The Daily Grind
So, I started wearing it. Day in, day out. To the office (when I used to go to one, feels like ages ago), working in the yard, even wore it swimming once or twice. It took the bumps and scrapes pretty well, I’ll give it that. The bezel action was decent, clicked okay. The lume was alright, not a torch, but readable in the dark.
But then, the timekeeping started bugging me. It was running a bit fast. Not horribly fast, maybe 15-20 seconds a day, but enough to be annoying. You know how it is, you want your tools to be reliable. This thing felt like a tank but maybe needed a little tune-up inside.
Going Down the Rabbit Hole
This is where things got… interesting. I thought, “Okay, maybe I can regulate it myself.” How hard could it be? Watched a few videos (no links here, just general research, you know how it is), got myself a basic watch toolkit. Felt adventurous.
Getting the back off was the first battle. Seriously, it was screwed on TIGHT. Like, factory-sealed-for-armageddon tight. My cheap case back tool was slipping. I was worried I’d scratch the heck out of it. Put some tape on it, tried again. Finally, using more grunt than I probably should have, it popped open. Felt like I’d wrestled the actual Godzilla.
Inside, the movement looked clean. Finding the little lever to adjust the timing was okay. But nudging it? Oh boy. Tiny, tiny movements needed. Nudge it a bit, close it up (not fully tight yet), wait a day, check the time. Still fast. Open it again. Nudge it the other way. Wait another day. Now it’s slow. This went on for like, a week.
- Open case back (struggle).
- Find tiny lever.
- Nudge lever (guesswork).
- Close case back (partially).
- Wait 24 hours.
- Check time against phone/atomic clock.
- Repeat.
It reminded me of this one time years ago, trying to debug some weird system glitch at my old job. You change one little thing, everything else goes haywire. You fix that, something new breaks. It was supposed to be a simple fix, but it spirals. That’s what regulating this watch felt like. A simple task turned into this whole saga.
Was It Worth It?
After maybe five or six attempts, I got it running much better. Within like, 5 seconds a day. Good enough for me. Got the case back screwed on tight again (hopefully waterproof!).
Looking back, it was a frustrating process. Took way longer than I thought. Almost gave up and just decided to live with it being fast. But stubbornness won, I guess. Did I save money compared to taking it to a watchmaker? Probably not, if you count my time and frustration.
But, I learned something. I learned how fiddly these mechanical things are. Gained a bit more respect for the folks who do this properly. And yeah, wrestling with that case back and the tiny lever… it felt like dealing with a miniature Godzilla. You gotta be patient, persistent, and maybe use a bit more force than you’re comfortable with sometimes. The watch is still running, still feels like a tank. But now, it’s my tank, the one I managed to tame, just a little bit.
