This article was originally published in the Design 2023 Issue of the WatchTime print magazine.

The Japanese brand?s archives contain a fascinating story about a lost (and found) dive watch: In 1983, a Citizen Challenge Diver was found on a beach in Australia. The watch was covered in barnacles after having been submerged in the Pacific Ocean, but the movement inside had remained protected from the seawater and was still ticking. The number of barnacles attached to the watch indicated that it had been in the ocean for a number of years.

For 2022, Citizen has brought back two new versions (the NB6021-68L with blue dial and bracelet, and the NB6021-17E with black dial and strap) of the ?Fujitsubo? nicknamed classic (meaning ?barnacle? in Japanese). They unmistakably take design cues from the original Challenge Diver design (like the embossed indices and the classic green lume), but their external features and the movement inside have been massively updated: The sapphire crystal has a flat cut top and a domed underside, and the sides are beveled to provide a thick, retro look. The new version comes with the same 41-mm diameter as the original model, the case, however, is made of lightweight, scratch-resistant Super Titanium, and is thinner than the original model to ensure a more comfortable fit on the wrist. The brand?s proprietary space-age material is 5 times more scratch resistant and 40 percent lighter than stainless steel. Citizen had introduced the world...