Sweephand's Vintage Citizen Watch Blog

Here’s a second example of a Leopard with an oval dial. This is the 4-720911 model, again with the 7230 movement running at 36,000 beats per hour (10 per second). This has a grey dial, with lumed hour markers and black, lumed, hour and minute hands:

This dial is marked 36000, but also has the leaping cat logo:

Here are scans from the 1971 catalog, showing this one and the 4-720903 model featured in Part 1 (although mine, from 2 years later, has no leaping cat). Note the slightly different case designs, with the grey model having a more cushioned shape, being wider at the lugs, and the mesh bracelets often used in the Leopard line. Both these models retailed at JPY26,000 – more expensive than a couple of Chrono Master models at that time:

The Leopard line is a favourite of mine, with its range of high beat watches beating at either 28,800 beats per hour (8 beats per second) or 36,000 beats per hour (10 beats per second). Launched in 1969 and produced into the mid-1970’s, there was a good number of models, mostly in traditional style, although some were also influenced by 1970’s style. The higher beat models are the more sought after, and are scarcer too.

One of my earliest Leopard purchases is a 36,000 bph model, in an oval case. It was described as running erratically, if at all:

The crystal was well worn, but was the original mineral glass. When I opened it up, I found a broken rotor, but fortunately the missing rivet was still in the case, so I was able to fix it, and, of course, solve the erratic running!:

The 28 jewel movement found in the 36,000 versions otherwise looked ok. You can see the fine adjuster on the balance and the hacking lever found on all Leopards, and note the movement number – 7230 in this one – stamped near the lower right edge of the movement :

Under the scratched glass, the dial was not in bad order, although the lume on the main hands is rather tired! The ‘tail-less’ second hand is a design found on a few of Citizen’s models. This dial is marked ‘36000’, some also have ‘Superbeat’ markings and a rather nice leaping cat logo:

The case back shows it was the 39th watch prodced in November 1973:

The chunky crown – a good size for hand winding which is a feature of all the Leopards – is signed. Date quick sets at first step, whilst day is set by winding back and forth between 12 and 9:

After a long time hand polishing the glass, it was significantly improved, reducing the yellowness of the dial as well as the scratches, and after the rotor repair, the watch runs well:

For more info on the Leopards, follow the Blogroll link on the right where you can find my reference article on these great timepieces.