This Classic Japanese Brand’s “Urban Military” Tool Watch Is Almost Too Affordable

This price honestly seems like a mistake.

a closeup of a citizen japanese tool watch

Published January 29, 2025

·

Every product is carefully selected by our editors. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more

Japanese watch brand Citizen has always offered great value, but the brand’s latest tool watch is such an absurd bargain that it almost feels like a mistake.

The brand has launched a new line of “Urban Military” tool watches, which isn’t the best turn of phrase as it makes me think of brutal guerilla warfare in the streets of a ravaged city. I believe what Citizen is going for with the branding is that these are military-inspired tool watches that are suited for everyday wear in an urban environment, in which case, the term makes sense.

In any case, the new NJ0190 series consists of three pilot-esque tool watches with agreeable styling and sizing, solid specs and, best of all, a price tag that’s well below $300.

a citizen tool watch superimposed over a sky with contrails — Could this be the next must-have affordable tool watch?

Bargain City

The NJ0190 is a 40mm tool watch that largely resembles a pilot’s watch. Its case and bracelet are made of stainless steel, and both have some interesting features.

On the case, I like the conical, onion-esque crown. It ups the pilot’s watch vibes of the piece while also adding some nice visual interest and attention to detail that I wouldn’t necessarily expect at this price.

The same goes for the bracelet. It looks like a three-link Oyster-style bracelet at first glance, but its links are actually singular with a unique triangular shape in the center, giving the bracelet more character.

a citizen tool watch seen from the side — The profile of the watch appears stout, but it’s actually fairly thin at 12mm.

The case is 12mm thick and looks pretty beefy from the side, but 12mm is hardly what I would call thick. Frankly, I like the rugged, toollish vibes it gives off. Inside is a Miyota Cal. 8210-C0A, an automatic with a slower beat rate of 3 Hz and a power reserve of 42 hours.

Citizen gives an accuracy rating of +/- 20 seconds per day, which is nothing to write home about but is equivalent to a Swiss-made Sellita SW200, which is commonly found in watches costing ten times as much. The movement also features a date complication.

The dial provides an additional dose of pilot’s watch vibes. There are applied lumed block indices with printed Arabic numerals inside of them. The numerals at 6, 9 and 12 appear larger, with the 12 being the most prominent of all as it’s applied. There’s a date window at 3 that’s framed and well-integrated into the overall design.

a citizen tool watch dial — The crown, dial and bezel take clear stylistic influence from classic pilot’s watches.

The outer edge of the dial features an angled rehaut with 5-minute markings that brings additional depth, and outside of that is a fixed internal bezel.

The bezel is, well, weird. It’s very busy and is clearly designed to resemble a slide rule, but it’s not terribly functional. It just marks off each individual minute and labels many of them, but since it’s fixed, and since the dial already has a minute track, it’s really just for style. It does look cool, I’ll give it that.

The watch has a water resistance rating of 100m, which is exactly what I want in a watch like this, and the crystal is mineral glass, which is exactly what I would expect at this price.

There is an open caseback, which I’d prefer not to see, given the rudimentary appearance of the movement. But considering that many people may buy this as their first-ever automatic watch, I can see how such nascent collectors would enjoy seeing the inner workings of the watch.

a citizen tool watch seen from the back — I don’t need to see the very basic-looking movement, but I bet someone buying this as their first automatic watch would.

Pricing and Availability

The NJ0190 “Urban Military” comes in three dial colors: black, white and green. Black is the most versatile, while the green and white options offer a bit more style as they have some red accents on the dial while the black version is monochrome.

Right now, like the watch is only available in certain European markets, where it is priced at a paltry €229 euros. That’s only around $239 in greenbacks, which is absurdly cheap for a watch with these kinds of specs from a brand like Citizen. For comparison, the cheapest Seiko 5 you can buy these days costs $295.

I reached out to Citizen, and a brand rep confirmed to me that the NJ0190 “Urban Military” will not be released to the American market. So if you’re looking to score one, you’ll have to do so through alternate means.