Citizen is coming to the end of a year of spectacular celebrations, special events and even more special watches that have punctuated its 100th anniversary of watchmaking in 2024.
A touring exhibition, Citizen’s Essence of Time, touched down in Tokyo, New York and Paris and presented novelties in timekeeping from the past 100 years that collectively demonstrated how particular collections have advanced not only Citizen’s horological achievements, but also influenced the wider watchmaking world.
The exhibition displayed 100 watches out of around 6,000 references spanning 12 design categories from Citizen’s Tokyo Museum that demonstrate the evolution of design and engineering for the company over the past 100 years.
Citizen’s century-long journey has been defined by a relentless pursuit of innovation that began with the creation of a relatively modest pocket watch in 1924.
The company, at the time, was known as Shokosha Watch Research Institute, but its debut pocket watch created with the name Citizen on its dial as a nod to its aspiration to provide quality timepieces not just for the elite but for the general public.
Along with historic watches, Essence of Time also presented a brand new recreation of that pocket watch using thoroughly modern engineering, materials and artistry.
Citizen put the modern pocket watch up for auction in New York this month to raise money for 1% for the Planet, which encourages companies to contribute funds to environmental conservation causes.
It sold at Sotheby’s Important Watches sale for $24,400, smashing its pre-sale estimate of $10,000 to $15,000.
The winning bidder also received a copy of Citizen: The Essence of Time published by Assouline and written by Jack Forster about the first 100 years of the brand.
“We are delighted to continue our 100th anniversary celebration with Sotheby’s as we reach a global audience of collectors and enthusiasts who share our values of craftsmanship and environmental responsibility,” says Jeffrey Cohen President of Citizen Watch America.
“With proceeds benefiting 1% for the Planet—every tick towards sustainability matters as we honor our legacy of contributing towards a better future.”
Some of the most important pieces included in the Essence of Time exhibition show the giant leaps forward that Citizen watches delivered to the world.
For example, in 1976, the brand revolutionized the watch industry by introducing the world’s first light-powered analogue quartz watch, laying the groundwork for its flagship Eco-Drive technology.
Harnessing any light source to power timepieces indefinitely, Eco-Drive embodies Citizen’s commitment to sustainability—long before it became a global concern.
The 1993 release of the Promaster Aqualand cemented Citizen’s place in the professional dive watch arena, blending technical capability with durable design.
Meanwhile, the Super Titanium series showcased the brand’s mastery of materials science. Its proprietary Super Titanium is scratch resistant, 40% lighter and five-times harder than steel, gentle on the skin and corrosion resistant.
While Citizen is renowned for technological breakthroughs, its mission of crafting timepieces that are both innovative and accessible has been central to its ethos.
By offering high-quality watches at a variety of price points, Citizen has ensured its creations resonate with watch enthusiasts, professionals, and everyday wearers alike.
Six of the most important watches from Citizen’s first 100 years
The Citizen Essence of Time exhibition presented the giant leaps forward that Citizen has delivered, not just for its own watchmaking business, but for the wider world.
From advances in quartz and radio-controlled watches to the advent of solar-powered watches, the Japanese firm has been a leader in new technology married with ground-breaking design.
Here we present six of Citizen’s most important timepieces, and we hear from engineers and designers who describe their impact at the time and since.
Citizen Attesa
ENGINEER’S VIEW: Titanium: Not an Easy Metal
This model is the first-ever ATTESA, the brand symbolic of CITIZEN’s mastery of titanium-processing technology.
CITIZEN was first to see its potential as the perfect material for an entire new generation of watches. CITIZEN released the world’s first-ever watch with a titanium case, the X-8 Cosmotron Chronometer, in 1970.
Although titanium has many positive aspects as a watchmaking material, it is not without its downsides. First, there’s its viscosity. When stamped in a press, it is difficult to pull out in the shape of a case or of a bracelet, because its softness and stickiness make it hard to achieve a clean break.
Then there’s the fact that titanium is chemically active and quick to react with other substances. The surface can attrit, melt and stick to the die during processing, a phenomenon known as galling.
As well as developing our polishing technologies, CITIZEN also focused on material technology research and development, exploring the unique properties of titanium as a metal. After a further 17 years of work, CITIZEN finally released this model in 1987.
DESIGNER’S VIEW: Minimum Shape for Integration with the Wrist
Titanium is one of the most gentle metals for the human body. This inherent gentleness is elevated through a simple, smooth, moist, and pleasant-to-the-touch form that allows its warmth to be instantly felt.
Titanium’s lightness is harnessed to achieve a minimal design, eliminating all superfluous elements. The band’s cross-sectional shape has no perceptible edge rising from the wrist.
This simple shape, devoid of unnecessary features, undergoes surface processing to eliminate any steps that would otherwise be felt, resulting in a dull lustre on all surfaces that only metal can achieve.
The ideal gap between the wrist and watch is carefully considered to ensure comfort and integration with the body.
Normally, simple shapes do not convey a sense of motion. However, when this watch’s band is worn on the wrist, there are areas where a gap is imperceptible and others where one is clearly felt, evoking the sensation of a living creature in constant motion (akin to the human body).
This watch exemplifies the thorough consideration of titanium as a new material to fully leverage its advantages for the wearer.
ChronoMaster
DESIGNER’S VIEW: Bold and Graceful
This model has a silhouette that does not assert itself greatly when viewed from the front. However, when the viewing angle changes, the large surface begins to alter its expression, as if to slice through the reflected scenery.
Every part is crafted with a clear surface like a mirror, from the case back and indices to the crown. Amidst the flashing lights, the case back slope and the dial subtly modify the speed of light. It might have ended up being a superficial model had everything been made linear.
This model has been crafted into a timepiece befitting a gentleman’s wrist, with minimal resistance felt within its youthful rhythm.
ENGINEER’S VIEW: A Sure Masterpiece
The CITIZEN Chronometer, which came out in 1962, is regarded as a masterpiece of engineering to this day. It was, however, manual winding and had no date display.
By the mid-1960s, demand for a modern and highly accurate watch which was automatic and had a date function was rising. A fine-tuned version of the Crystal Seven, a hit product for CITIZEN in 1965, this Chronomaster passed specially established and highly rigorous in-house accuracy tests. This Chronomaster was released in 1967. And it was in 1968 that the Japan Chronometer Inspection Institute was founded, with accuracy testing getting underway in 1969.
Chronomaster was on the Japan Chronometer Inspection Institute’s list of officially approved chronometers from the first year of testing. The watch is extremely comfortable and has a slim profile thanks to a day and date movement that is only 4.48mm thick.
Note also the gently domed shape of the beautiful crystal glass and the chamfered outer edge, new trends where CITIZEN occupied a leading position. The watch has an elevated level of airtightness and boasts some exquisite textures. More a masterpiece of art than just of engineering, the whole package seems to glow with quality.
Crystron Solar Cell
DESIGNER’S VIEW: A Design Drawing Out the Excellence of Its Components
This timepiece utilises solar cells as its power source and is an epoch-making product, yet the design remains understated and carefully restrained, rather than excessively embellished.
Due to the technological constraints at the time, the solar cell could not be hidden. However, the designers took an innovative approach and incorporated them into the dial’s design.
The boldly displayed solar cell add to the appeal of the timepiece. The bezel adds accents to the 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock positions, while the case is kept minimal to maintain a balanced connection with the band and the drop of the lugs, enhancing the dial’s allure.
Designers are, on occasion, likened to chefs, and this timepiece exemplifies skilfully bringing out the characteristics of challenging ingredients (reminiscent of Japanese cuisine’s elevation of simple ingredients used as they are).
ENGINEER’S VIEW: The Origins of Eco-Drive
This is the world’s first light-powered rechargeable analog quartz watch. The eight monocrystalline silicon solar cells on the dial charge a silver oxide battery, enabling the watch to run for five years continuously on a full charge, provided it is exposed to light.
These days, people everywhere are acutely aware of environmental issues. CITIZEN, however, was something of a frontrunner in this regard, bringing out this model, which used solar energy, one of the key forms of clean energy, all the way back in 1976.
Ever since then, CITIZEN has continued to develop technologies and products that eliminate the need for regular replacement of the batteries that power watches. The first step in CITIZEN’s ongoing Eco-Drive journey started right here.
Promaster Aqualand Depth Meter
DESIGNER’S VIEW: Legibility
In this divers’ watch, used in the sport of diving where life is at risk, water resistance and legibility are of paramount importance. In professional diving, a diving computer is used, but for leisure-level diving, many divers wear only a watch.
This model is the world’s first with a built-in electronic depth gauge function. In addition to the function to measure current depth and maximum depth, it includes an alarm function with a sound that easily reverberates through water.
However, the most important information is diving time. As depth increases, the brain’s judgement ability reduces, so legibility that enables the hands to be instantaneously read was pursued.
The size, shape, and luminous area of the indices and hands were carefully considered. It is no exaggeration to refer to this as the “bible of divers’ watches,” and it was a pioneering model.
ENGINEER’S VIEW: Changing the Thinking Around Diver’s Watches
This model deserves to be remembered for the way it breathed new life into the diver’s watch market, which until that point had been focused exclusively on water-resistance performance.
The water depth sensor used a cutting-edge semiconductor pressure sensor of the kind used in aircraft and automobiles. As this was the first time that such an advanced sensor was going to be used in anything as small as a watch, CITIZEN teamed up with an auto-component manufacturer to develop a highly water-resistant miniaturised sensor especially for watches.
CITIZEN also developed its own low-power-consumption measuring system. The corrugated polyurethane strap is formed with a nylon mesh sandwiched inside. This is good news for divers because, even if the strap breaks during a dive, the nylon mesh will hold it together and the watch will not fall off.
The eccentric design, with the sensor block protruding on one side, was well received, making this model a hit product, particularly with the pro dive community.
Quartz E•F•A
DESIGNER’S VIEW: A Presence like a Power Stone
In August 1973, CITIZEN launched its first quartz timepiece, the Cal. 8810, which had been previously released with an accuracy of within ±10 seconds per month. A special version, adjusted to achieve accuracy within ±5 seconds per month, was released that October.
This model reflects the determination of the engineers and designers of the time, wanting to showcase their company’s technology in the best possible manner during an era when quartz technology was still relatively new.
The case boldly features the prevalent machining techniques of the time, while the dial material incorporates charoite. Cut rubies are placed on the indices in three locations.
The combination of gold hands floating on the glossy black dial and the ruby indices, along with the overall design of this model, introduced a sense of pride or confidence for those who owned this piece at the time.
It’s as if it imbued a unique sense of power or self-assurance; a subtle display of one’s identity.
ENGINEER’S VIEW: Pursuing Precision: Monthly Accuracy of +/- 5 Seconds
Released under the name E.F.A. in 1973, this is the first CITIZEN specially adjusted product in its quartz watch line. It achieved monthly accuracy of +/- 5 seconds, twice the level of the +/- 10 seconds per month of our standard products.
The balance (resonant) motor is powered by electric signals synchronised with the quartz. This structure was taken from the IC-12, an electronic watch which CITIZEN was manufacturing at the time.
Consequently, this model is distinguished by the 16Hz sweeping second hand. A 16kHz free-free bar-type crystal is used.
Since using a one-chip circuit for the IC was impossible, a hybrid IC was used instead. This resulted in some weaknesses, including hands that could easily be knocked out of position due to external shocks.
The problem of susceptibility to shocks, however, was quickly solved, and another circuit added to compensate for external disturbance to the movement of the balance motor, leading to increased reliability.
Radio-Controlled
DESIGNER’S VIEW: From Restriction to Individuality
The design features of the multi-band Radio-Controlled watch are the antenna arranged in the centre of the dial, the thick cut glass enveloping it, and the ceramic bezel.
There were restrictions from the Cal. 7400 reception antenna that was developed to be the world’s first for a watch, resulting in this unique form.
If there were no restrictions from the antenna, and the world’s first multi-band Radio-Controlled watch was freely designed, would this form have been created?
This form was created by a passion for producing a watch that keeps time more accurately and CITIZEN’s commitment to imagining and inventing ways to overcome numerous constraints. The design of this model is a symbolic example of materialising a “fusion of technology and beauty.”
The design method of taking advantage of the restrictions and producing an original and creative form was also evidenced by past models. It appears that the greater the restrictions, the more creative the models produced by CITIZEN.
ENGINEER’S VIEW: The First-Ever Multi-Band Radio-Controlled Watch
Development got underway with a view to creating a technology that could achieve accurate timekeeping, at a time when it was widely believed that improvements in timekeeping accuracy were the preserve of standalone watches.
That–coupled with an unconventional appearance, derived from the placement of the antenna slap-bang in the middle of the watch dial to guarantee signal reception–made this model into a bold and challenging watch which divided opinion inside CITIZEN.
Regardless, the superheterodyne system the brand developed for it went on to be used in subsequent Radio-Controlled models, and, after some improvements, culminated in the realisation of an all-metal Radio-Controlled watch, a technology many people had thought to be impossible. In 2018, this watch was selected by the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo for registration as “Future Technology Heritage.”
As an item that marks an important milestone in the history of the progress of science and technology, it is significant enough to be passed on to future generations.