Citizen (Miyota) Caliber 8204

The Miyota caliber 8204 (8204A) 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 8204 has either been discontinued by Miyota, and is no longer offered in their catalog of movements – or it is a Citizen-only movement not available for wholesale to parts sellers or watch brands. For an update, see the “Replacement Prices” section below.

The movement pictured above was submitted by Kyle, found in a Citizen Promaster ref: NY0140-80E. Although it is a Miyota caliber (Miyota is owned by Citizen), it is signed Citizen Watch Co. Although Miyota is owned by Citizen, typically the two brands will use slightly different caliber numbers to distinguish between Citizen branded watches and movements sold by Miyota to other watch brands. As we can see with the Promaster, both Citizen and Miyota are using the same caliber number designation for the 8204A.

A similar movement would be the current Miyota caliber 8205.

Miyota 8204 VS 8203:

There is a similar Miyota caliber 8203. 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 8203 does not hack, whereas the 8204 does. Citizen officially refers to this as a second hand stop function.

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

Accuracy of the 8203 is slightly 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 8204 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.

Accuracy Rating:

As mentioned above, according to Citizen, the claimed accuracy rating of the caliber 8204 has an average daily difference of -20 to +40 seconds/day.

Replacement Prices:

Timepieces powered by the Miyota caliber 8204 are still found in the current Citizen catalog and the cal. 8204 not been discontinued by Miyota as previously thought, however, it is a Citizen-only movement and is not available for use in non-Citizen watches. 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 compatible version.

Pros and Cons:

Pros:

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

Cons:

• Some do not like the possible hesitating seconds
• Only available in Citizen branded watches

Additional Images:

The example shown below is of a cal. 8204A found in this Citizen Promaster Fugu black and blue diver.

Additional Resources:

• Official instruction manual
• Miyota Caliber 8205
• Miyota caliber 8215