Citizen The Citizen Watches

Prior to its current name, the Citizen Watch Company was known as Shokosha Watch Research Institute which was established in 1918 by Jeweler Kamekichi Yakamazi. With the desire to have affordable timepieces that every Citizen can afford, the watchmaker released its first pocket watch in 1924 under the name Citizen.

In 1930, the company was rebranded to the Citizen Watch Company and under the leadership of President Yosaburo Nakajima and Kamekichi Yamazaki as the director. For their first achievement, the duo facilitated the release of the brand’s first wristwatch which had a manually-wound movement. This was a remarkable breakthrough which enhanced the innovativeness of the brand with the desire to explore new possibilities and transform the watchmaking industry.

By the time the quartz movement was introduced to the wristwatches in the late 1960s, Citizen Watch Company had set several records in Japan. In the year 1952, the renowned watchmaker released the first Japan-Made wristwatch with a calendar complication.

Before the debut of the first quartz wristwatch by Seiko, Citizen has already introduced the concept of electronic movement in 1966 in the Japanese watches. The electric movement was installed on the Citizen X8 Cosmotron watch which was later reissued as Citizen X8 Chronomaster in 1969 and produced until 1972. The 1970s was the new wake of the oscillating quartz movements which truly changed the entire of the watchmaking industry. While some of the renowned watchmakers were reluctant to join in, the Citizen Company didn’t hesitate and released its first quartz watch in 1973.

With the incentive that it’s always possible to make something better, Citizen blended the new quartz movement with the concept of the light-powered watches. Essentially, the idea of the solar-powered watch was introduced in 1976 but didn’t succeed as expected and made Citizen continue with their research. Through their staunch dedication, the engineers were finally able to come up with a solution to their prolonged research, though after two whole decades.

Introduced in 1995, the new light-powered Eco-Drive technology allows the encompassed Citizen watches to harness power from a light source. Then that electrical energy is reserved in a secondary battery which ensures the watch can run for up to 180 days before recharging again. Still, in 1995 the Japanese watchmaker also re-launched the Chronomaster watch which has appeared first in 1969 with a mechanical movement. The new model came with a quartz movement, but to minimize the confusion between the two, the brand named it “The Citizen” watch. Added to the company’s line of men watches, the analog timepiece features a professional classic design and caliber 0350. This became the first series of Citizen The Citizen Watch and other versions of the watch were produced in the years that followed.

Actually, another version of the watch was introduced in 1998, although in quite a bizarre environment. The movement of the new model is still unclear even today, but since it was an update of the 1995 model, it definitely didn’t have caliber 0350.

In the year 2000, Citizen introduced a new series in The Citizen collection which is powered by Caliber A660 movement. This movement is the most common one in the current references like Citizen AB9000-52L and it’s powered by a battery with a 5-year lifespan. For the functionality, the wristwatch has an accuracy of ±5 seconds per year and multiple functions of center hour and a perpetual calendar.

In 2011, the Citizen Watch Company thought it was the time to distinguish The Citizen from the rest of men watches and enhance its performance. The brand introduced The Citizen Eco-Drive series which has three different versions, namely AQ1000-58A, AQ1000-58B, and AQ1000-58E. All the three models feature a solar quartz caliber A010 which is powered by the proprietary Eco-Drive technology.

Apart from the date window, the dial of the three contemporary Citizen watches also has a power reserve indicator next to the 9 o’clock indicator.

Recently, a new line of Eco-Drive watches has been introduced to the Citizen collections under the name Caliber 0100. The luxury watches manufacturer has pushed the technologies to the extreme this round with the new movement having a stunning accuracy of ±1 second per year.

Although it’s a limited edition, the Citizen Caliber 0100 watch is in three different versions which are differentiated by their distinct faces. There is the white gold model (AQ6010-06A), Super Titanium casing with metallic black dial (AQ6021-51E), and Super Titanium casing with mother of pearl dial (AQ6020-53X).

Apart from its commitment to serving the timeliness needs of its consumers, the Citizen Watch Company has a global support page to assist its consumers. Through The World Wide Service Center on the company’s website, one is able to locate the Citizen Watch repair services center that is nearby. Then you’re offered with the necessary guidance and support respective to your prevailing issue.