Citizen's new limited-edition Promaster Tsuno Chrono Racer chronograph surfaces in first hands-on shots

The first hands-on images of Citizen's Eco-Drive 50th anniversary Tsuno Chrono have landed. Hodinkee Japan, which shot the AV0104-06W in its own studio, puts the case at 44.5 mm across and 15.3 mm thick. The Classic Tsuno Chrono currently in Citizen's catalog measures 38 mm and 11.7 mm.

That is a big rework, and not just any colorway. The photographs show why the proportions hold together anyway: a tall polished gold bezel caps a brushed steel mid-case with polished chamfers running down the flanks, and the two chronograph pushers flanking the crown at 12 o'clock are gold to match. A second crown sits lower on the right for the alarm.

Under the domed sapphire, the dial looks like as a layered instrument panel and not a flat disc. A power reserve arc marked Full and Charge occupies the left, a running seconds register sits at the bottom, chronograph counters take the top and right, and a small On and Off sector handles the alarm. A gold tachymeter ring circles the whole thing, and the green is dark enough to look near-black until light catches it.

Hodinkee also tells us what the movement actually does. Caliber E210 resets its chronograph the way a mechanical one does, with a hammer striking a heart cam, so the hands snap back to zero rather than sweeping around under electronic control. The publication adds that the caliber uses more than 200 components and has stayed structurally unchanged for over two decades.

Citizen told the outlet it chose Promaster as the home for a retro design because the caliber's reliability suits the line's function-first remit. The watch is limited to 5,000 pieces at ¥187,000, on sale in Japan from 10 September.