The Citizen 100th Anniversary Limited Edition Pocket Watch is a remarkable tribute to a century of watchmaking. This exquisite timepiece is a modern reinterpretation of Citizen’s first pocket watch from 1924, limited to just 100 pieces.
Press release with commentary in italics.
New: Citizen 100th anniversary limited edition Pocket Watch
Commentary
Citizen 100th anniversary limited edition Pocket Watch is a tribute to the 1924 model but with a modern interpretation and finish. Crafted with a titanium alloy case for a lightweight feel, it features a white dial with a unique pattern reminiscent of snowfall, achieved through a meticulous process of electroforming, clear coating, and polishing. The watch is powered by the hand-wound Caliber 0270 movement, boasting an accuracy of -3/+5 seconds per day, and is complemented by a braided cord made from pure Japanese silk dyed in a special indigo charcoal color. The design evokes the vintage aesthetic of railway pocket watches, while incorporating modern materials and manufacturing techniques. Most attractive is its quality finishing of the movement, with diamond cut beveled edge bridges and plates adorned with circular perlage decoration. This special edition pocket watch, priced at $9,000, is a beautiful collectible for fans of Citizen.
Press release
One hundred years have passed since 1924 when we made our first product, a pocket watch with the name CITIZEN. Now we have given new form to the concept of a watch ‘widely used and loved’ implicit in the CITIZEN name. Rather than just replicate the past, we have reinvented it, taking the ‘now’ of 2024 as our starting point and making an even better watch. A dedication to the essence of the watch passed down through generations has culminated in this highly evolved pocket watch.
Aesthetics
The same devotion to excellence that inspired the original 1924 CITIZEN pocket watch lives on today. We honour the original layout by keeping the Arabic numerals and the small seconds at 6 o’clock, but also add some truly gorgeous new touches. Electroforming, clear coating and polishing are used to create the unique dial pattern, an evocation of the build-up of snow during a snowfall that suggests the accumulation of time gone by.
Take a peek through the see-through case back. Like the 1924 model, the bridges are decorated with sensuous parallel lines of equal width composed of 45-degree arc-grained bars, a so-called Côtes de Genève finish. Whether the base plate with its overlapping circular pattern perlage (pearl-pattern) finish or the diamond-cut bevels of the bridges, every detail in the movement testifies to our pursuit of a heightened aesthetic.
Accuracy
Throughout our history, our commitment to accurate timekeeping has been unwavering. Increasing the precision with which individual components are crafted necessarily increases the timekeeping precision of the overall watch. We have invested this model with the component-making mastery CITIZEN has accumulated and refined over the past century.
The movement uses a free-sprung balance wheel, a component that demands a high level of machining precision. The escapement is made using the LIGA microfabrication process. Meticulous manufacturing results in daily accuracy of -3 to +5 seconds, a level exceeding the ISO 3159 standard for wrist-chronometers with spring balance oscillator.
Once the watch is fully assembled, it undergoes 17 days of in-house testing in six different positions and at three different temperature levels. Only if all these tests are passed does the watch receive its official in-house Caliber 02 Standard Certification.
A cherished part of your life
The idea of making a timepiece that people will love and use for a long time infuses this model. We sincerely want users to develop a profound and comfortable rapport with their watch. That explains the delightful snugness with which the round-edged case, with its beautiful mirror finish, fits in the palm. That explains the basic water resistance that enables worry-free use of the watch in all sorts of everyday situations. That explains why the bow (the metal ring to which the strap is attached) pivots so smoothly and has a unique maintenance-friendly structure.
The braided cord watch chain is made by Domyo, a Tokyo company that has been producing kumihimo braided cord since the mid-seventeenth century. Pure Japanese silk, it has been dyed a ravishing indigo especially for this limited edition.
