Series 8 880 Mechanical 100th Anniversary of the First Citizen Watch: an exclusive two-tone style for the limited edition celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first Citizen watch.
Citizen celebrates 100 years, not of history, but of watches. If the Japanese company was founded in 1918 as Shokosha Research Institute for Watches, indeed, However, it was in 1924 that the first watch, to which the name Citizen was given, saw the light of day. The Institute had been set up by Kamekichi Yamazaki, a jewellery and precious metals dealer with a penchant for manufacturing watches in Japan. These were the years when the government favoured the purchase of domestically produced goods and Importers of Swiss timepieces also did not disdain the idea of making components in the Japanese archipelago.
The first watch created by the Shokosha Research Institute is a hand-wound pocket watch equipped with Calibre 16, running at a frequency of 18,000 vibrations per hour and with a power reserve of 40 hours. Shinpei Goto, the then mayor of Tokyo, was asked to christen the timepiece. Thus Citizen was born, a name that expressed the wish that every citizen ("citizen'in English) could possess one.
This thinking merged with the company's philosophy of democratising quality watchmaking, and in 1930 the Shokosha Watch Research Institute became Citizen Watch Co. Ltd. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first watch, the company launched a limited edition of 2,200 pieces of the Series 8 880 Mechanical with GMT function.
Grey and blue are the colours of the Series 8 880 Mechanical 100th Anniversary of the First Citizen Watch
A mother-of-pearl dial with infinite shades of blue to celebrate 100 years of the first Citizen watch.
The two-tone IP steel, grey and blue, enhances the integrated and sporty design of the Series 8 880 with its two-part 41 mm case. The same colouring is alternated to define the day/night zone on the bi-directional rotating bezel with 24-hour scale. But also on the bracelet links.
Attracting attention is the mother-of-pearl dial rich in intense shades of blue, in a perfect match with the colours of the case and bracelet: beautiful, but also easy to read thanks to the bar indices and luminescent hands, including the arrowhead of the central GMT one. The Japanese house focuses on striking aesthetics without sacrificing the functional practicality of the collection.
Citizen equips its commemorative limited edition with an automatic movement with GMT function
The 9054 calibre boasts a magnetic resistance of 16,000 A/m.
As part of Citizen's 880 Mechanical series, it is equipped with an automatic movement non-magnetic, the 9054 calibre with a 50-hour power reserve, an accuracy of +20/-10 seconds per day and a frequency of 4 Hz. The sapphire glass back reveals the decorations.
The hour hand can be adjusted independently of the minute, seconds and GMT hands, moving forwards or backwards at one-hour intervals to show local time. Water resistance is 100 metres.
Price1,290 euro.
