Cc Bg 1920 1280
Miyota Caliber 8203

Miyota Caliber 8203

Brand Miyota (Citizen)
Caliber Number 8203, 8203A
Movement Type Automatic
Linges 11 1/2”’
Diameter
25.6mm
Height 5.67mm
Jewels 21
Vibrations Per Hour
21,600 bph
Lift Angle
49 degrees
Shock System Parashock
Power Reserve
~40 hours
Rotor Winding Direction
Counterclockwise (uni-directional)
Hacking? No
Hand-Windable? Yes
Plastic Parts?
Yes
Hand Winding Direction
Clockwise (forward)
Functions Central hours, central minutes, central seconds, bi-lingual day/date calendar at 3:00
Country of Manufacture Japan
Known Brands
Citizen ProMaster (Too many to list, add more in the comments below…)

The Miyota caliber 8203 is a 21 jewel automatic movement, first introduced in 1977 (other versions as early as 1974). This movement is from the Miyota 8200 family (aka 8 or 82 series) of movements. This 8203 has been discontinued by Miyota/Citizen and is no longer offered in their catalog of movements. It has evolved into the current Miyota caliber 8205.

Some of the topics covered in this caliber listing:

Miyota 8203 VS 8204:

There is a similar Miyota caliber 8204. These two movements are so similar that Citizen even combines them into one instruction manual. One main difference between the calibers is hacking (the second hand stops while setting the time, for precise time setting): The 8204 hacks, whereas the 8203 does not. Citizen officially refers to this as a second hand stop function.

Another difference is that the 8204 has a power reserve of 42 hours and the 8203 offers a power reserve of about 40 hours.

Accuracy of the 8203 is rated better than the 8204 at -10/+20 sec/day vs -20/+40 sec/day for the 8204.

Interesting observation: There are some Citizen watches (such as the NY0040/NY0045 divers) that are supposed to have non-hacking caliber 8203 movements inside, but some collectors are reporting that their watches are powered by the hacking 8204 despite the dial (and possibly caseback) referencing the 8203. Please comment below if you have come across a watch like this.

Time and Calendar Setting:

  • You can hand wind the movement while the crown is in position 0.
  • Pull the crown out one click to position 1 to set the calendar. Turn the crown clockwise to advance the day of the week. Rotate the crown counterclockwise to advance the date.
  • Pull the crown out again (position 2) to set the time.
  • Do not set the date while the time is between 9:00pm and 4:00am.

Note: Although the 8203 has a quickset date, this does not mean the date instantly flips over at midnight. In fact, the changeover is not instantaneous, so do not be alarmed if you see a partial date when the hands are before or after 12:00AM.

Replacement Prices:

The Miyota caliber 8203 has been discontinued, therefore replacement retail prices are not available. To find this movement, you will need to find a watch parts retailed with remaining new old stock, find a watch with this caliber inside, or possibly upgrade to a newer version.

Pros and Cons:

Pros:

  • Long history of being built on a dependable movement framework
  • Affordable even when replacing with the newer version

Cons:

  • Non-hacking
  • Some do not like the possible hesitating seconds
  • Discontinued so it’s not easy to find an exact 8203 replacement

Additional Resources:

This caliber listing is incomplete because of the lack of a high quality image. Do you have a Miyota 8203? Please donate a picture here.

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11 Comments
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Pippen
Pippen
2 years ago

I see it says plastic parts in this movement. Can anyone tell me what those parts are and if it is bad to have those parts plastic?

Antonio Hagen
Antonio Hagen
2 years ago
Reply to  Pippen

The only plastic I know of in these is the date and day jumpers. I don’t think plastic parts are bad but others will disagree.

Scott
Scott
2 years ago

I have a Citizen ProMaster Dive Watch with a Miyota Caliber 8204. Is it basically the same as the 8203? I do know my 8204 hacks, but is that the only difference?

Rares
Rares
1 year ago

I have the blue dial ny-0040 with 8203A caliber and it haks.

20220506_225135.jpg
John Shaw
John Shaw
1 year ago
Reply to  Rares

No. You have 8204 movement but dial still says 8203 on dial. Citizen had overun of dials that they used rather than destroy when movement upgraded in 2021. 8203 DOES NOT HACK.
You have the crossover watch dial :).

trackback
Miyota (Citizen) Caliber 8204 Watch Movement | Caliber Corner
1 year ago

[…] is a similar Miyota caliber 8203. These two movements are so similar that Citizen even combines them into one instruction manual. […]

Mico Dukic
Mico Dukic
1 year ago

Hi,
I have watch with No 867333
8203-824393
Y GN-4-S
Please, can anybody tell me more about it (i.e. production year, etc)?
Thanks!

Tacunae
Member
2 months ago

Hi! Does anyone know why the oscilating weight rotates in only one direction un this mechanism?

simon
simon
28 days ago

Hello, I’ve got a Fugu, with this mouvement and really happy for few years now.
But lately it happen that the watch start vibrating quite strongly for few seconds and then stop working.
Any idea what is happening?

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