Introducing 'The Citizen' With Washi Paper Dial

An opening move from Citizen in bringing its most exclusive line to the US market.

Citizen is well known for making some of the most technically up to date watches in modern watchmaking and overall, its watches overdeliver in value to an unusual and impressive degree. The company has the largest range of light-powered Eco-Drive watches by far of any major watch brand and there are dozens of models available for less than $1000 – sometimes a lot less. Its Promaster watches have been a staple of modern technical watchmaking for many years, with a number of iconic models including the Aqualand from 1985, which was the first multifunction quartz diver’s watch with a depth gauge (and a favorite of everyone’s favorite dive watch lover who actually dives, Jason Heaton).

As one of the Big Three Japanese watch brands, along with Casio and Seiko, Citizen has managed despite the enormous range of watches that it makes, to establish a clearly defined identity that sets it apart from its Japanese counterparts. However, its most exclusive range – the watches it calls “The Citizen” – have been primarily available only in Japan and if there is anything like a best-kept secret left in modern watchmaking, it’s been The Citizen. Today Citizen has just announced the launch, internationally, of the latest model: The Citizen Washi Paper Dial, ref. AQ4103-16E, which will be available in September in the US market at Citizenwatch.com.

The Citizen watches were first launched in 1995 and since then they have represented the upper end of Citizen’s product lineup in both precision and craftsmanship, with a more traditional approach to watch design than some of Citizen’s other higher end timepieces. This is not to say the The Citizen watches are always the most expensive timepieces the company produces. The Eco Drive Caliber 0100, for instance, which is the most precise watch made by anyone, ever, in the entire history of watchmaking, at one second’s maximum deviation in rate per year, is available in Super Titanium for $7400, and the ultra-thin Eco-Drive One in steel is currently $4750 (the demand for the caliber 0100 proved unexpectedly strong price notwithstanding – “most accurate watch ever made” turns out to have been, as they say, pretty strong marquee). However, for classical higher end watchmaking, The Citizen stands apart as a product line from anything else Citizen produces.

Ancient Art Meets Modern Technology

The Citizen Washi Dial has a very unusual dial – washi is traditional Japanese paper, which is a UNESCO registered cultural heritage craft, and making washi began in about the 7th century AD, when papermaking arrived in Japan from China. Washi is made from the fibers of several different plants although the most commonly used material is the inner bark of the paper mulberry bush. Like many traditional crafts, in Japan and elsewhere, production is seasonal and most often, washi papermaking takes place in the winter, since you need a lot of cold, clear running water. Washi-making relies heavily on hand-work and is time and labor intensive, but the result is a very durable paper capable, thanks to its purity, of lasting for centuries. Citizen has used washi paper dials before, for The Citizen watches – in 2022 the company launched the Iconic Nature collection, which, unusually for The Citizen, were available internationally.

Washi has another property that makes it suitable for the dial of a light-powered watch – it is translucent, which is why it’s used for traditional Japanese paper screens, and it acts as a natural diffuser. The washi dial for The Citizen model just introduced allows enough light through the dial to power the Eco-Drive caliber A060, which is rated to ±5 seconds maximum deviation in rate per year. The dial is made using a technique called sunago-maki, in which the paper maker sprinkles gold leaf onto the paper’s surface from a bamboo tube, and the effect is similar to maki-e Japanese lacquer ware, which is decorated using a similar technique.

The Citizen Washi’s case is in gold-colored Duratect Super Titanium – Super Titanium is about five times harder than conventional stainless steels; the case is 38.3mm x 12.2mm, right in the sweet spot if you prefer classical case dimensions, and water resistance is 100 meters.

The Brains Behind The Beauty

The movement, caliber A060, is a fairly new development, introduced in 2015, and in the still relatively small world of high-accuracy quartz watches, it stands out for several reasons – the classical appearance of the watches it powers, belies the sophistication of the tech under the hood. First of all, there is its precision; ±5 seconds maximum deviation rate per year is industry-leading, exceeded only by Citizen’s own Caliber 0100. The crystal oscillator is aged for six months prior to its installation, in order to allow it to settle in on its rate, and the IC is programed to measure ambient temperature changes once per minute and adjust the crystal frequency if necessary (technically, the movement has what is known as a TCXO – Temperature Compensated Quartz Oscillator). The movement has an hour hand which can be independently set, so that you don’t have to stop the watch to reset it when you change time zones, and the movement is also a perpetual calendar, so the date will automatically switch correctly at the end of each month. There is also a sort of stealth power reserve indicator, which is activated by a recessed pusher just above the crown – press it in, and the seconds hand will advance to 3:00 if the power reserve’s topped off.

You probably won’t have to worry much about running the movement down, though – once fully charged, the power reserve (in power saving mode) is 1.5 years.

Citizen has a long-standing commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainability, and this extends to the leather used in the strap for The Citizen Washi Dial – the crocodile leather is produced at a tannery certified for sustainable manufacturing processes by the international Leather Working Group, which Citizen joined this year.

The price at launch in September will be $3800 – which, given the technology and craftsmanship on display, feels like something of a bargain. The obvious point of comparison are Grand Seiko’s quartz 9F powered watches, which currently start at a significantly lower price point ($2200 for the 37mm SBGX259).

The Citizen caliber A060 offers better precision (the Grand Seiko 9F caliber is rated to ±10 seconds per year, which is still remarkable performance equaled or exceeded by only a small number of other quartz calibers) as well as all of the features enumerated above; the 9F caliber is designed for considerable longevity and represents, if you can put it this way, the high end of a more traditional approach to high accuracy quartz.

I think both represent obvious quality, care, and thought in design and construction (the 9F calibers use pre-aged crystals as well, for instance) although the battery-free Eco-Drive technology has tremendous appeal (it is worth mentioning that the rechargeable cell in the A060 will have to be replaced eventually – but of course, much less frequently than the battery in a conventional quartz movement).

The Citizen Washi Dial represents an approach to high accuracy quartz which is unique to Citizen and the washi paper dial would not have been possible without very advanced solar cell technology. The combination of ancient craftsmanship and up-to-the-minute technology makes this an extremely attractive option for the high end, high accuracy quartz watch enthusiast – heck, it’s an extremely attractive option for any enthusiast. You could call this a set it and forget it watch, sure, and given its precision it definitely deserves that title. But the number of features The Citizen Washi Dial watch has, make it one of the most unforgettable set it and forget it watches ever made.

The Citizen Washi Dial: Case, 38.3mm x 12.2mm gold-tone Super Titanium, water resistant to 100 meters; double domed sapphire crystal. Dial, washi paper decorated with sunago-maki gold leaf. Movement, Eco-Drive caliber A060, precision ±5 seconds per year maximum deviation in rate; perpetual calendar with on-demand power reserve. Price, $3800; available this September from Citizenwatch.com in the US market.