While the story of Citizen technically starts in 1918 with the establishment of the Shokosha Watch Research Institute, the very first Citizen watch was created in 1924, and to celebrate 100 years of watchmaking history, the famous Japanese manufacturer recently hosted an immersive exhibition in the heart of New York City. Held at the Atrium event space from July 22 to July 25, 2024, Citizen’s “Essence of Time” exhibit featured 100 of the brand’s most defining timepieces on loan from its Tokyo museum, and during my recent visit, I also had the opportunity to sit down with Jeffrey Cohen (President of Citizen Watch America) and Yoshihia Yajima (Brand Manager for Citizen) to ask them some questions about the last century of Citizen’s history and the company’s plans for the future.

Citizen’s Toko-based museum has a collection that spans more than 6,000 watches, and the company selected 100 timepieces to borrow for its New York “Essence of Time” exhibition, with each one representing either a different part of Citizen’s history or an important milestone within the development of its watches. All the major pieces you would expect were present, such as the very first Citizen pocket watch from 1924 and its limited-edition modern equivalent launched earlier this year. However, there were also models from every corner of its impossibly vast archives, including some pieces that I didn’t even know existed.

Citizen has always pushed the boundaries of the modern wristwatch, and the company is a true manufacturer that even produces some of the machines that are used in the construction of its watches. Consequently, Citizen’s archives are packed with innovations and world-firsts, and past designs include everything from the usual suspects like classically styled mechanical dress models and chunky over-built divers to far lesser-known offerings such as watches with tactile displays for the visually impaired and quirky digital gadget watches that you would normally expect from an electronics-focused brand like Casio. Also featured at the exhibit was the recently released book “Citizen: The Essence of Time,” which was written by Jack Forster and published by Assouline.

Citizen has always been a watch brand for the people, and even the company’s name serves as a testament to this longstanding goal. Alongside premium models that can routinely sell for several thousand dollars, Citizen also produces watches that can be purchased for less than a couple hundred bucks from your local mall, and the Japanese company’s designs include virtually every possible style of timepiece. Citizen is fully aware that some of its designs will resonate with certain individuals more than others, and no one is expected to be a fan of every single model. As one of the world’s largest and most popular watch brands, Citizen intentionally produces timepieces for different demographics, and rather than aiming to create a catalog full of universally loved models, Citizen instead wants to create a watch for every type of person.

All 100 of the watches featured in Citizen’s “Essence of Time” exhibition were accompanied by note cards that told the story of the specific model, and Citizen also created schematic sketches for each timepiece to further illustrate the key aspects of its design. As a way to provide attendees with a more comprehensive understanding of the various relationships between the different models and collections, Citizen created a phylogeny graphic for its watches, which consisted of 100 models (one for each year of its history) connected by different colored lines to depict the evolution of its most important technologies. Following the lines from one model to the next reveals details such as the key developments in Citizen’s light-powered movements, along with the history of aesthetic codes that have existed within the brand’s catalog for more than half a century.

After walking through the exhibit and checking out all 100 of the featured watches, I then had the opportunity to sit down with Citizen Watch America President Jeffrey Cohen and Citizen Brand Manager Yoshihia Yajima, who were able to offer additional insight about Citizen’s rich history and its plans for the future.

*Interview responses have been edited for clarity and length.

Citizen has been producing timepieces for over a hundred years and it is easily one of the largest and most popular watch companies in the entire world. In your opinion, what is the single most defining characteristic of Citizen as a brand? 

Jeffrey Cohen: Innovation. It is innovation, along with determination and the use of materials and technologies that really separates us from the rest of the watchmaking community, and this ultimately comes from a place of inclusion. We want every demographic, regardless of their means or preferences, to be able to enjoy one of our timepieces, and this is a strategy that we have followed for a hundred years.

Yoshihia Yajima: The concept of “better starts now” informs all of our work, and this unchanging principle is what guides us to understand people’s lifestyles and values, with the ultimate goal of always producing increasingly better watches.

Looking back at over a century of watchmaking history, what has been Citizen’s single most important innovation?

JC: Eco-Drive is our baby, certainly in the North American market, although it is globally recognized as being the most dynamic quartz engine in watchmaking. We rarely talk about it, but along with its practicality, Eco-Drive also plays into global sustainability, and it truly serves as a core part of what Citizen represents as a brand. 2026 will mark 50 years of our light-powered technology, and while we have already come a long way, we really are just getting started.

YY: Citizen’s greatest innovation is our Eco-Drive technology, which first emerged in 1976 with our Crystron Solar Cell watch. From that point, we have continuously refined and improved the technology with the goal of creating timepieces that are both user-friendly and beautiful. However, this is just one part of Citizen, and we will continue to produce traditional mechanical watches alongside our various Eco-Drive products.

Citizen is one of the world’s largest watch brands, and it produces timepieces worn by everyone from collectors/enthusiasts to members of the greater population. How does Citizen balance catering to these two different demographics from a product and marketing perspective? 

JC: We are a consumer-first company, and we do a lot of research to make many data-driven decisions that create the right balance of features for our different types of customers. Most importantly we listen. We listen to both our customers and our research to design products that are built to engage these different communities. Whether it is through licensing deals to create thematic models like our Marvel and Disney watches, or incorporating premium features to cater to more enthusiast-driven communities through The Citizen and Series 8 collections, we are always designing watches for different types of individuals and doing our homework to make sure that we are providing them all with an excellent experience.

YY: One of Citizen’s objectives is to efficiently occupy many different price points and manufacture a wide variety of products, and a core concept of the brand is that we always aim to accommodate different types of people. Based on that fundamental goal, we are always trying to create increasingly better products that cater to different communities, and Citizen has always been a universal manufacturer of timepieces.

Between the arrival of quartz timekeeping, a resurgence of interest in mechanical movements, and the advent of the smartwatch, the industry has experienced a number of major shifts during the last century. What has allowed Citizen to adapt throughout the years and maintain relevance in people’s lives?

JC: We have always offered a lot of diversity within our catalog, and being vertically integrated allows us to be nimble in our operations and pivot whenever needed. We are constantly conducting research on a global level to diagnose future needs, and we will always be creating timepieces designed for modern lifestyles. However, just because something is trendy doesn’t mean we will incorporate it into our catalog, and everything we do must always make sense for Citizen on a brand level.

YY: It is a fact that fewer people are wearing traditional wristwatches out of necessity these days; however, the tradition of wearing a watch still very much exists, and according to our data, younger generations are more interested in watches now than in the past. We are always asking ourselves what type of watches we should be producing and how Citizen can better accommodate people’s needs, all with the goal of creating a meaningful place within our modern lives.

Citizen’s Promaster collection celebrates its 35th anniversary this year, and the concept of a purpose-built sport/tool watch has evolved significantly during this time. How does Citizen plan on pushing the boundaries within this category of timepieces, while still staying true to its core DNA?

JC: The Citizen Promaster collection consists of professional tools that are specifically designed for maximum functionality. With our Promaster series, we are not trying to create watches that directly compete with all of the functionality offered by a smartwatch. Instead, our goal with the Promaster collection is to offer professional timekeeping tools that occupy a practical role in serious real-world scenarios. You will frequently spot Citizen Promaster watches on the wrists of professional divers and pilots, although many other people simply appreciate these models due to their functional capabilities, and the collection is extremely popular with a wide demographic because it represents the real deal for professional tool watches.

YY: We define our Promaster collection as sports watches that can be used for professional applications. In that sense, we pride ourselves on offering high levels of functionality and durability with watches specifically designed for certain demanding environments. Outside of the individuals who require such capabilities from their timepieces, these types of models are also incredibly popular among collectors and enthusiasts, and we will continue to develop our Promaster collection because we believe that it will always be appreciated for its functional approach to watchmaking.

Looking forward to the next hundred years, what technologies or innovations will be most important to watchmaking?

JC: Outside of game-changing technological breakthroughs, Citizen plans to further enhance everything that we are already doing. We intend to continue to push the envelope when it comes to the resilience of materials and the efficiency of our Eco-Drive movements, but we also have other cutting-edge developments in the works that will help take the brand to the next level. At its core, Citizen is a development company, and we will always strive to bring the very best technology to the watchmaking industry.

YY: While it is impossible to know exactly what the future will hold, our mantra of “better starts now” means that we will always strive to produce increasingly better watches. We will continue to develop both our traditional mechanical movements and our light-powered, Eco-Drive calibers, but regardless of the advancements that may occur within the industry, Citizen will always be committed to using the latest technologies to realize our goal of always creating better and more functional watches.

Lastly, what are your personal all-time favorite Citizen watches, and what is it about them that appeals to you the most?

JC: I personally like anything that uses our Super Titanium alloy because it is lightweight and highly resistant to damage. Everything from the shape of the components to how we finish them is pushing boundaries within the industry, and our watches made from Super Titanium can stand up to years of daily wear, without accumulating the usual marks and scratches. Today, I am wearing one of our Eco-Drive One models, and my general taste in watches largely gravitates towards anything that offers a super low profile, while also being highly durable, ultra-lightweight, and extremely accurate.

YY: I have many Citizen watches, including both Eco-Drive and mechanical models, but this one that I am wearing today is one of my all-time favorites. It is the mechanical Caliber 0210 model from The Citizen collection, and in addition to having a beautiful outward design, this watch uses a premium automatic movement that we developed with our Swiss movement manufacturing company La Joux-Perret.

For many brands, a collection of 100 different watches would be more than enough to paint a complete picture of their history. However, I struggle to think of another watch manufacturer that offers a larger and more diverse catalog, and Citizen’s “Essence of Time” exhibition was merely a small window into a full century of its watchmaking legacy. Looking at the impossibly diverse assortment of Citizen models that have been produced throughout the last 100 years, it is immediately apparent that innovation has always been at the heart of Citizen’s watches, and the brand has never been afraid of stepping outside the box to push the boundaries of the wristwatch.

While Citizen’s New York “Essence of Time” exhibition was only open for a handful of days, the brand has plans to continue sharing its history and archive pieces with the public. Last year, Citizen opened a new flagship store in New York City, which also includes dedicated spaces for its sibling brands, such as Bulova, Accutron, Frederique Constant, and Alpina. Citizen recognizes that it has a tremendous amount of history that it can share with the community, and the brand intends to convert the top floor of its flagship New York building into an exhibition space that will allow collectors and enthusiasts to experience some of the 6,000+ archive watches that normally reside within the brand’s museum in Tokyo, Japan.

A big part of why I am such a big fan of Citizen is that the Japanese manufacturer is one of the few brands that truly pushes the functional boundaries of the modern analog wristwatch. While complex mechanical solutions to age-old problems are undeniably impressive and will always spark horological interest among enthusiasts, it is debatable whether they actually move the needle from a functionality standpoint. Conversely, the vast majority of Citizen’s innovations are intended to promote greater levels of practicality, and everything from the brand’s Super Titanium alloy to its light-powered, Eco-Drive movements and radio-controlled timekeeping technologies all have a tangible impact on the greater ownership — both for bona fide watch nerds and the average person who simply needs a reliable and practical wristwatch. For more information on Citizen watches, please visit the brand’s website.