Brand Philosophy

​​There are 365 days in a year.
​​For us, each individual second counts.

The fundamental mission of a watch is a straightforward one: to tell the accurate time. Ever since the founding of the brand, The CITIZEN has devoted itself wholeheartedly to the pursuit of accurate timekeeping. But we conceive of accuracy not within the time frame of day or a month, but of an entire year. The technology we created limits deviation to almost nothing over the course of 365 days. We think about every individual autonomous second, counting themselves off day by day and month by month. That is why The CITIZEN developed movements that use only the most rigorously selected crystal oscillators and are assembled from individual components of extraordinary precision. We have achieved the highest levels of annual accuracy: ±5 seconds and ±1 second. We were able to do this because we are manufacture, meaning that we make all our own components and conducting final assembly in-house.

We only use crystal oscillators
that have passed rigorous tests

For quartz watches, the quality of the crystal oscillator inside the movement is the key to accurate timekeeping. But The CITIZEN is not prepared to use even the highly accurate crystal oscillators suitable for normal quartz watches without first putting them through a battery of tests.

For models with annual accuracy of ±5 seconds, we set aside newly manufactured tuning fork-shaped crystal oscillators for a six-month observation period to check the stability of their frequency.

For models with annual accuracy of ±1 second, we use a different kind of crystal oscillator: the AT cut crystal oscillator. We ensure stability through repeated ageing. As part of that process, we also test their frequency, finally selecting only those crystal oscillators that exhibit minimum change over time. We continue to test the crystal oscillators even after they have been built into the watch’s movement, with only those that meet our rigorous standards being sent out to our customers. In the pursuit of accuracy, everything depends on how obsessive you are about the crystal oscillator.

Taking the temperature
1,440 times per day

Temperature is the factor that has the greatest impact on the accuracy of the crystal oscillator. From freezing mid-winter to baking-hot summer, we actually live with greater temperature differentials than we often think. A quartz watch which tells the correct time at 25 degrees Celsius, experiences a slowdown of 0.1 seconds per day for every 5 degrees Celsius that the temperature changes. For a watch that measures its accuracy on an annual basis like The CITIZEN, that constitutes a major deviation. Hence The CITIZEN being equipped with a temperature correction function. This function automatically monitors and adjusts for the watch’s internal temperature once per minute for a total of 1,440 measurements per day. Incessantly compensating for frequency changes caused by changes in temperature makes sure that accuracy is maintained.

Committed to accuracy
whatever the movement

We believe that accuracy is the essence of a watch. And accuracy is something that The CITIZEN is pursuing via both light-powered Eco-Drive and mechanical movements. In the quest for sustained accurate timekeeping, the new Caliber 0200/0210 mechanical movement uses a free-sprung balance wheel to achieve average daily accuracy of -3/+5 seconds, a level in excess of chronometer standard (ISO3159). Once the watch is fully assembled (but the wrist band not yet attached), it undergoes 17 days of in-house testing involving six positions and three temperature levels. The obsession with accuracy has been a feature of CITIZEN mechanical watches over the last century and it continues to this day.