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I have a confession to make: I’m a bit of an integrated bracelet sports watch skeptic.
As the watch community went crazy for integrated, Gerald Genta inspired designs over the last few years, I largely observed from the bench. Watches like the Royal Oak, the Nautilus, and newer challengers like Moser’s Streamliner and Chopard’s reissued (and heavily redesigned) Alpine Eagle have always been curiosities at best, for me. I’ve never lusted after an integrated bracelet sports watch. It feels like that’s almost transgressive to say, or at least would have been at the height of Royal Oak mania a few years ago – but it’s just never been a real point of interest for me.
Now, part of the reason for that is certainly the prohibitive price point of many of the most sought after integrated bracelet sports watches. I don’t have thirty thousand dollars (or more) to spend on a watch, and quite frankly if I did, I think I could find other watches I’d prefer for the money.
But it’s not just the expense. I’ve never been a fan of the way these watches look on my wrist. Even if I admire the craftsmanship of a Royal Oak bracelet – because it’s honestly undeniable – something about the hard angles just didn’t do it for me.
Anyway, skeptic though I am, part of the deal when you work in the watch media world is that you just get to see and try on a lot of stuff. And so there I was at Windup Chicago earlier this year, checking out watches at the Citizen booth, and the Citizen Tsuyosa Small Seconds caught my eye. Here was an integrated bracelet sports watch that retails for about $600 that I was only somewhat familiar with, and after being caught off guard by the brilliant blue tone of the dial, I began to wonder if this might be an entry point into integrated bracelet sports watches I didn’t even know I was waiting for. The watch stayed at the front of my mind longer than I might have anticipated, usually a sign that I need to just bite the bullet and make a purchase. And that’s what I did about two months ago.
I’ve been living with the Tsuyosa for a while now, and while I’m not a full integrated bracelet convert, I have to say that my eyes are open and I probably wouldn’t dismiss the entire genre out of hand at this point. Being able to dip a toe in the waters of an unfamiliar style of watch by finding an affordable version is a great way to learn, even after you’ve spent years doing this type of thing for a living, and I’m happy to say that I think I have a new, hopefully healthier perspective on integrated bracelet sports watch madness.
One of the things I’ve learned in the last two months is that, at the end of the day, these watches kind of just wear like “normal” watches. The Tsuyosa might not be the most representative sample (it’s been designed so that proprietary straps can be swapped with the bracelet) but the “integrated-ness” of it wasn’t even something I thought about much a few days of wearing it. That said, it definitely has a cohesive, put together appearance that I think is a hallmark of the genre, and I grew to enjoy the visual impression whenever I checked the time.
At 40mm in diameter, it wears, in my opinion, quite a bit smaller because of a short lug to lug measurement brought on by the integrated design. This is counter to what we normally hear about integrated bracelet sports watches, which often wear bigger than their measurements would suggest. The shape of the case itself plays a role here too. It’s visually “pinched” at 12 and 6, with the case lines narrowing to meet the integrated lugs. It leaves the impression of a watch that’s smaller, taking up less wrist real estate.
The Tsuyosa, I think, is a harder wearing and “sportier” execution of the genre, and I’m basing that mainly on the bracelet itself, which is chunky and feels substantial. It’s very different in style from what you’d find on a Royal Oak or a Nautilus or a Laureato, all watches that have bracelets characterized by their thinness. That’s now how I’d describe the bracelet of the Tsuyosa, but the half-conical links do refine it just a bit.
But the thing I enjoy most about the Tsuyosa small seconds is something that would probably impress in any case/bracelet configuration, integrated or not. The dial just looks great. The tone of blue is bright and summery, and the stamped guilloche pattern is nicer than anyone has any right to expect from a watch under $1,000. Dial color is probably the most subjective measure by which we judge a watch – if you just don’t like blue, a totally reasonable opinion, this watch will be a nonstarter. For me though, it’s just the right shade.
The Tsuyosa is not without its faults. The crown is simply too small for adult hands – it’s a real challenge to “grip” and wind with it being recessed slightly into the case. And all things being equal, I think I’d have preferred a closed caseback here if it meant shaving a millimeter or so off the height of the watch. The Miyota movement powering the Tsuyosa is a perfectly fine caliber at this price point, but it’s not finished particularly well and I don’t need to see it.
The Tsuyosa is a lot of fun in a way that I imagine a much more valuable integrated bracelet sports watch can’t be. Any watch with a value as high as the most prized watches of this style from haute horlogerie brands is going to carry a certain amount of baggage – it’s unavoidable. I suppose I’m lucky in that I found that I can enjoy a watch like this for what it is, and that the bug didn’t fully bite me. In other words: I don’t have any Royal Oaks in my watch recon alerts. Citizen
