Citizen Asia Limited Parawater Kuroshio 64 Series: Malaysia Price And Review

Melissa Kong 27 March 2020

A Japanese icon reinspired.

Living in the time of a global pandemic has taught us many lessons, one of which is to return to the basics and keep things simple. While uncertainty lingers around us, we look for reliability and lean towards the tried and tested. That’s why we couldn’t be more thrilled with the Citizen Kuroshio ’64 from the brand’s Heritage collection.

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Named after the Kuroshio ‘Black Current’ which flows on the west of the North Pacific Ocean, the Parawater Kuroshio ’64 is an update of the original Parawater from 1959, which was the first water- and dust-resistant watch made by a Japanese watchmaker.

The original Parawater made use of high-tech rubber ‘O’ rings to keep the watch dust- and water-resistant—a feat that was put to the test in a promotional campaign when Citizen partnered the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. The two organisations were working on an ocean current survey and incorporated the Parawater watch in their survey.

The new Citizen Parawater Kuroshio 64 in a special presentation box paying tribute to the yellow buoys used in the research study in 1963 and 1964

A bright yellow buoy detailing the research aims would be dropped into the ocean with a Parawater watch suspended just below the water line. Inside the buoy was a message for anyone who found it to contact Citizen, with the bonus of getting to keep the watch. Throughout 1963, 140 buoys were released and all the watches found were checked to be in perfect working condition.

The Citizen Parawater Kuroshio 64 with silver white dial

The test was repeated the next year and christened ‘Kuroshio 64’. Forty-seven buoys were released in this test and, as expected, all the watches were found to function perfectly even after being dropped in the ocean for an extended period of time.

With the new Citizen Heritage collection, the Parawater is given sleek design updates but still retains much of the original aesthetics. The watch now features a more contemporary 41mm case size, along with a crown that has extra grooves to it’s more easily manipulated. Lumed dots are also placed at each hour marker for greater visibility in low light conditions. The watch is powered by Citizen’s Calibre 8310 with a 60-hour power reserve and hacking seconds.

The Citizen Parawater Kuroshio 64 with beige dial and leather strap

Of note is the beautiful textured dial, which draws reference to wave patterns in the ocean. Like the original, the dial is kept simple and fuss-free, but is now available in five colours—blue (limited to 1,959 pieces), silver white, black, beige and green—hues that the ocean appears in. Of course, it’s also water-resistant to 50m for all your swimming needs.

What we really like about the Parawater Kuroshio 64 is how resilient it is, but also how dressy it is, perfect for strapping on in the office or on weekends. And with the models only available in six Asian countries (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan), this makes the collection even more desirable.

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