Citizen Series 8 Welcomes New 880 GMT Collection

The Series 8 is Citizen’s take on the integrated bracelet sport watch genre that was introduced into the premium end of the brand’s catalog under the The Citizen banner, sporting the brand’s flagship movement developed in partnership with La Joux-Perret. It’s a watch we were quite fond of in our hands-on. This year, the Series 8 is taking a step in a new direction with the addition of this 880 GMT collection using the 9054 caliber, and some slightly familiar color schemes. This is a watch that ticks all meta boxes for the moment, and while it makes a lot of practical sense, has us wondering how it will fit into the broader Series 8 project in the long term. 

Integrated sports watches and so-called ‘flyer’ or ‘traveler’ GMT complications are certainly having their moment this year, which is great for consumers looking for more options at a wide range of price points. Combining the two seems only natural, however the landscape of integrated cases housing GMT movements is relatively sparse. Citizen brings the two together in this Series 8 880 GMT collection making use of the 9054 automatic caliber, which offers that ‘flyer’ functionality, and offers a higher magnetic resistance than the 9075 upon which it is based.

The movement offers plenty of practical features, though will be pushing the price ceiling of watches using other variants. But a watch is more than a movement. There’s a full steel case and integrated bracelet here, which should justify the ~$1,700 price tag. The case boasts a range of finishes that take advantage of the flat facets that comprise its shape. This is a very geometric design with not many soft corners in sight, though it’s relatively ergonomic thanks to the tapering bracelet design. The case itself measures a healthy 41mm in diameter, and 13.5mm thick, giving the watch plenty of presence on the wrist while remaining shy of “woah, that’s a big watch” territory. 

The Series 8 880 GMT is offered in three colorways upon introduction, which includes two regular production steel references, and a third limited edition that is also steel, but with gold plating. The steel models get bi-colored 24 hour bezels rendered in red and blue, as well as black and blue. No points for originality there. The gold LE gets a brown and cream colored bezel for the root beer look. Okay, so the colorways aren’t breaking any new ground, but the dials themselves do offer something a bit more interesting.

The dials of the regular production colorways were “inspired by the skyline of Tokyo at night with its countless skyscrapers and windows of different sizes” and create a horizontally stretched check pattern of sorts. It works well here and is easily the most original element brought to the table with these watches. The gold LE gets a flake texture that brings a soft glow to the warm tones at play. Looking at the existing Series 8 collection makes it clear that unique dials are a strong point of the collection, and while I find the existing Series 8 collection to be more unique than the GMTs, these new additions will undoubtedly bring more attention to the line as a whole, which is well deserved. 

The Citizen Series 8 880 GMT collection will be available this fall, with an estimated starting price of $1,695 for the regular production references, and $1,795 for the gold LE, will be limited to 1,300 units. Citizen.