Citizen Watch
| Citizen Watch Co., Ltd
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | Kabushiki-gaisha |
| founding | 1918 founded the Shokosha Watch Research Institute , 1930 founded the Citizen Watch Co., Ltd |
| Seat | Nishitōkyō , Tokyo Prefecture |
| Website | www.citizenwatch.com |
The company Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. ( jap. シ チ ズ ン 時 計 株式会社 , Shichizun Tokei Kabushiki-gaisha ), is a Japanese watch and clockwork manufacturer .
history
Beginnings
The company's forerunner, the Shōkōsha Tokei Kenkyūsho ( 尚 工 舎 時 計 研究所 ), was founded in Tokyo in 1918. The goods produced with Swiss machines have been sold as Citizen Watch since 1924 . As part of the restructuring of the company into Citizen Holdings in 1930, watch production was outsourced to Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. In 1936 the company started exporting pocket watches.
After 1945
After the Second World War, the company expanded rapidly. In 1958 Citizen brought out the first Japanese wristwatch with an alarm function, and in the same year the collaboration with the American watch manufacturer Bulova began . Until 1965 Citizen only manufactured hand-wound watches, but in order to remain competitive, the first automatic watches from its own production were offered in the same year. In 1966 Citizen launched the first Japanese wristwatch with an electromechanical movement. The first tuning fork wristwatch followed in 1970 and the first quartz watch with an LC display in 1972 .
After Favre-Leuba, Citizen Watch was one of the first watch manufacturers to develop wristwatches for diving enthusiasts with an integrated depth gauge . This function is also included in digital dive computers . The beginning of the 1990s was Citizen of the first volume manufacturer to watch case made of titanium produced.
Another step is the Citizen Eco-Drive model series with solar-powered quartz wristwatches, also as a radio-controlled version and dark power reserve.
today
Citizen Watch is now the world's largest watch and movement manufacturer . He is also one of the three Japanese manufacturers who also produce mechanical movements. The main competitors are Seiko and Casio . The mechanical self-winding movements are manufactured by the Japanese company Miyota, which is 65% part of the Citizen Watch Group and was founded in 1959, and bears the brand name MIYOTA . The most important movements from Miyota are the Caliber 8215 (manufactured since 1977, 21 jewels, 5.2 mm height, 21,600 oscillations / h, 42 hours power reserve) and 9015 (manufactured since 2009, 25 jewels, 3, 9 mm height, 28,800 oscillations / h, 42 hours power reserve).
With the "Citizen Chronomaster", which is only available in Japan, Citizen Watch is currently producing the most precise quartz watch for the consumer market worldwide with a promised maximum rate deviation of +/- 5 seconds per year. This is achieved through the use of a thermo-compensated quartz movement (caliber A660).
Citizen Watch is now a subsidiary of Citizen Holdings .
Q&Q
Q&Q is a manufacturer brand of Japan CBM Corporation in Tokyo, since 2002 a full subsidiary of the Citizen Watch Group . Here Q&Q stand for engl. Quality and Quantity or German Quality and Quantity.
In October 1976 Citizen began selling wristwatches under the name Q&Q Exclusive. In 1999 Q&Q reached 20 million watches sold worldwide. The range mainly includes analog quartz wristwatches.
Models
Eco-Drive
The Eco-Drive models are quartz wristwatches that draw electricity from a built-in solar cell, movement or heat and therefore do not require a battery change. The rarely found, and meanwhile no longer produced, Eco-Drive Duo obtained its energy from a combination of solar energy and movement. The Eco-Drive Thermo model uses the temperature difference between the wearer's body and the environment to generate energy. Although these technologies have all been and are used in Citizen watches, only the version that uses solar energy to produce electricity can be found on the company's website.
Radio controlled clocks
Citizen's radio-controlled clocks synchronize with radio-controlled clocks in Japan, North America and Europe. You choose the frequency required for synchronization based on your home time zone. These clocks keep track of both the home time zone and the current time zone. However, the synchronization always takes place with the home time. When traveling, these two time zones can be swapped in order to receive the correct radio signal for the local time. Other models of radio-controlled clocks synchronize, depending on the signal strength, with the atomic clocks in Colorado or Germany . These watches also work with Eco-Drive technology.
Independent and Collector
With the Independent line, Citizen is pursuing a more modern, contemporary design than the traditional Citizen brand. Depending on the market, these watches are sold under names like "Secret" or "Lighthouse". Citizen also offers numerous watch models for collectors.
Trivia
The company name Citizen, used since 1918, is intended to express that the brand's watches are affordable for every citizen. The first pocket watch made was ceremoniously presented to the Japanese emperor in 1918.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Company History. ( Memento of January 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) citizen watch, accessed November 25, 2014
- ↑ Corporate History. ( Memento of the original from November 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. citizen holdings, accessed November 25, 2014
- ↑ Watch Wiki: Miyota Watches , accessed March 5, 2019
- ↑ Glossary page from the supplier Herrenuhren24 , accessed on March 5, 2019
- ↑ What is Eco-Drive? ( Memento of the original from October 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. citizen watch, accessed November 25, 2014
- ↑ The absolutely perfect time. ( Memento of the original from December 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. citizen watch, accessed November 25, 2014
- ↑ Introduction to Independent. ( Memento of the original from May 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. independentwatch, accessed November 25, 2014
