Citizen Watches

For many of us CITIZEN is an affordable and reliable Japanese watch brand. Indeed, it is the flagship brand of a global watch-making giant known as Citizen Group, which holds an immense expertise in several industries. A well established company with an impressive record, Citizen Watches proudly refer to itself as a true in-house integrated watch manufacture. It means the company is capable of handling all sectors in the production of timepieces - from manufacturing a watch’s individual components to its final assembly. Founded in 1918, the company enthusiastically celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2018. Presently, the iconic brand has its market presence in more than 130 countries across the world.

CITIZEN offers extensive range of timepieces including budget-friendly utilitarian watches, high-precision timepieces, smart-watches, extreme tool-watches and mechanical watches. The brand also offers an extensive range of daily-wear and trendy wristwatches for both men and women. The company is a pioneer in adopting most modern technologies in watch-making. The in-house developed Eco-Drive technology supplies unmatched power reserve to their wristwatches. The innovations like Satellite Wave GPS and Radio-Controlled ensure high precision time-keeping anytime and anywhere in the world. CITIZEN is typically known for its relentless passion to invent the next possibility of transforming their watches to be more reliable and extremely precise.

Tokyo's Shokosha Watch Research Institute is the birth location of what we now know as Citizen. In 1918, the Japanese watchmaking industry was not where it is today. Back then, the Shokosha Watch Research Institute was the workshop of watchmakers like Hattori and Tenshodo. Hattori later became what we now know as Seiko.

In 1924, the first Citizen watch came into being. A special model from the Shokosha Watch Research Institute was named Citizen. It was a small pocket watch that already bore signs of the mastery that went into it. In 1930, a Swiss businessman named Rodolphe Schmid came to Japan in a partnership with some Shokosha Watch Research Institute employees. He was thoroughly impressed by the design and architecture of the watch and decided to incorporate what we now call Citizen's Watch Company Limited. The name came from the original pocket watch released by the Shokosha Watch Research Institute. Over the next few decades, Citizen became Japan's largest watch manufacturer and began the glorious wave if Japanese watchmaking.

Citizen watches across the years

Citizen has released stunning timepieces for more than 100 years now. However, some models marked a definite moment of success for Citizen over the last century.

The X-8 Chronometer was launched in the 1970s and is one of the most important watches from Citizen. It was the first watch in the world to use titanium as the chief material. Super Titanium is a trademark of Citizen and it refers to the in-house titanium that the company develops for its watches. It is better than regular titanium in terms of look and feel. It is also lighter than regular titanium. Citizen also went on to create the first Japan-made shockproof and waterproof watches.

In 1976 came the citizen watches eco-drive technology. It was a revolutionary technology that was capable of turning any light energy into solar energy. As a result of this tech, the Citizen Solar Watch became a rage. People were no longer required to replace batteries and the watch sparked an eco-friendly drive in the watchmaking industry. Two decades after this innovation, Citizen received the acclaimed Eco Mark certification.

In 1993, Citizen released its next breakthrough technology. The multi-band analog radio-controlled watch released that year was the first of its kind and one, if not the, most accurate watch in its era. The multi-band analog radio-controlled watch detected signals from radio transmitters to display the most accurate time possible. Over time, they have fused the eco-drive and radio-controlled technologies together. Modern radio-controlled Citizen watches synchronize with atomic clocks that have an error rate of 1 second every 20 million years. These are by far the most accurate watches in the world.

The next big breakthrough for Citizen came in 2011. With the world's only light-powered, satellite synchronized watch, Citizen established its name as the leader in watch technology. The satellite wave technology received signals from a satellite GPS timekeeping system and needed no manual care. It was a revolutionary watch and is extremely popular among collectors and enthusiasts to this day.

Popular Citizen collections

While Citizen has created hundreds of watches, some have stood apart. Below we will discuss some of the best-known models and collections from Citizen.

Citizen Promaster

Citizen Promaster is a stunning collection of Citizen watches for men. There are three labels under the Citizen Promaster collection - sky, sea, and land. The Citizen Promaster collection is known for some of the best Citizen chronographs that are capable of handling extreme weather conditions. Citizen Promaster was essentially a collection of rugged and durable watches for outdoorsmen. For example, the diving watches from this collection are capable of enduring 1,000-meter saturation diving.

Citizen Exceed

If Citizen Promaster is a go-to outdoor watch for men, Citizen Exceed is the go-to fashion watch for both sexes. Watches from this collection use the finest Citizen elements like the eco-drive tech and Super Titanium material. These watches are synchronized with radio transmitters or satellites. Citizen Exceed incorporated all the breakthrough innovations into one watch to create the most magnificent dress watches for both men and women. The Citizen Atessa collection is closely connected to the Exceed collection and offers a more sporty style for men and women.

Citizen L Collection

The L collection is dedicated to the modern woman who wants a smart and sleek timepiece on her wrist. These are light and artistic timepieces that double up as a sophisticated accessory.

Apart from these, Citizen has also delved into the smartwatch space. The Citizen Connected is one of the best smartwatches in the world and showcases the true potential of Citizen.

Citizen watches have continuously achieved new milestones for more than 100 years now. Citizen caters to a wide customer base with watches for all styles, purposes, and budgets. The flagship brand of Citizens Group continues to impress watch lovers around the world with cutting-edge tech and innovative design.