This Affordable Citizen Looks Like Rolex’s Most Notorious Watch Ever

Two years ago at Watches and Wonders in Geneva, Rolex debuted what is quite possibly its most surprising and controversial watch ever: the Day-Date “Puzzle Dial.”

Technically, there were three references of the 36mm Day-Date in white gold, yellow gold and Everose Gold, but all had a dial featuring a colorful pattern of puzzle pieces. The dial also swapped out the days on the watch’s titular complication with words like “peace” and “love,” while the numbers of the date wheel were replaced with a variety of emojis.

Rolex

The Day-Date “Puzzle Dial” has since been discontinued, but it’s far from forgotten. A celebrity favorite and an extremely rare model, the watches can be found on the secondary market today for around a quarter of a million dollars — a considerable jump from the watch’s original SRP of around $60,000.

If you’ve always unironically loved the Puzzle Dial but don’t also own a megayacht, then I have some good news for you: The best sub-$1,000 Rolex homage on the market is now available in Puzzle-Dial form.

Putting the pieces together

IFL Watches

The Citizen Tsuyosa “Puzzle Dial” comes not from Citizen itself but rather from IFL Watches, a watch modifier largely known for selling versions of popular, affordable sports watches like the Tsuyosa and Tissot PRX with custom, hand-painted dials.

IFL Watches’ latest effort is the Citizen Tsuyosa 40mm Puzzle, which makes no mention of Rolex in its product description but does reference its “legendary puzzle dial,” making it obvious where the company got its inspiration.

Like two of the three Rolex Puzzle Dial references, the Citizen features a turquoise dial as the backdrop for its multicolored barrage of puzzle pieces. The hand-painted puzzle pieces are arranged differently here than on the Rolex, however.

IFL Watches

They’re less uniform, with pieces covering the bottom half of the dial and otherwise sporadically falling across the edges of the rest of the dial like a game of Tetris run amok. IFLW stresses that because the dials are hand-painted, no two are alike.

IFLW did not go through the trouble of painting over the Tsuyosa’s date disc with emojis, so you’re getting a standard cyclops date here. What’s more, the Citizen Cal. 8210 automatic movement powering the watch has no day complication, so you’ll need to get your daily words of affirmation from somewhere else. Lastly, the watch has a smooth bezel instead of the Day-Date’s trademark fluted bezel.

Outside of the custom dial — which is clearly the main draw here — this is a standard Tsuyosa 40. It still features the popular watch’s familiar 40mm case and integrated bracelet in stainless steel, a sapphire crystal, a display caseback and 50m of water resistance.

IFL Watches

Pricing and availability

The IFL Watches Citizen Tsuyosa 40mm Puzzle is just a hair cheaper than the current going rate of the Rolex Day-Date Puzzle Dial. Well, ok, it’s about 250 times less expensive. IFLW is asking $890 for the watch, which is more than double the $380 SRP of the standard turquoise Tsuyosa 40, but you are getting a nice level of hand craftsmanship here, so your mileage may vary.

While this Puzzle Dial is much cheaper than Rolex’s, it isn’t much more common. In fact, it’s almost certainly rarer, as IFLW has limited the watch to just 200 pieces. Additionally, the customizer has also created a Tsuyosa Puzzle in the original size of the Day-Date Puzzle Dial, 36mm, but with a pink dial. It has the same price and identical availability as the 40mm version. You can also purchase both together as a set for $1,780.

IFL Watches

IFL Watches Citizen Tsuyosa 40mm Puzzle

Specs

Case Size	40mm
Movement	Citizen Cal. 8210 automatic
Water Resistance	50m

• $0 at IFL Watches

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