In this feature, prominent watch journalists will be highlighting their "one watch that catches your eye" and "one watch that they highly recommend" among the new models released in 2025. This time, Yoko Koizumi, who has been attending a course in repairing and restoring old books in Nara City for six years, will be focusing on The Citizen "Iconic Nature Collection," which uses washi paper, an essential tool for repair and restoration. She will be recommending the 30th anniversary model.
Text & Photographs by Yoko Koizumi
[Article published on January 27, 2025]
Wristwatches made with washi paper, essential for repair and restoration to preserve knowledge
It's been six years since I started attending a monthly course in repairing and restoring old books in Nara City. The course is designed to teach me the specialized knowledge and skills required for repair and restoration, and it's quite difficult. As I master one thing, I discover another challenge. It feels like it will be several years before I'll be fully trained, but what I've always felt through the classes is that books are a treasure trove of knowledge and information. If I were to throw away my only copy, the "knowledge" it contains would disappear forever from history. By repairing and restoring books, I can preserve this knowledge and pass it on to the next generation.
The reason we started with this story is that Japanese paper is essential for repair and restoration. The best color and thickness of Japanese paper is selected from a variety of types depending on the condition of the damaged paper, and Tengujo paper is one of the most commonly used types because it is very thin yet strong.
When I heard that Tengujo paper was being used in watches, my interest was piqued. The Iconic Nature Collection was released to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Citizen's flagship line, The Citizen. The collection is made up of four limited edition models, each capturing a beautiful moment in each season on its dial. The winter model, AQ4100-22A, which was released on October 9th, particularly caught my eye.
Solar-powered Eco-Drive (Cal. A060). Accuracy of ±5 seconds per year. Runs for approximately 1.5 years on a full charge (power save mode). Super Titanium™ case (diameter 38.3mm, thickness 12.2mm). Water resistant to 10 bar. Limited to 400 pieces worldwide. Price: 451,000 yen (tax included).
The model uses "Tosa Tengujo paper," a type of Tengujo paper that developed after the Meiji period, and is produced by "Hidaka Washi" in Hidaka Village, Takaoka County, Kochi Prefecture.
The thinnest washi paper the company can produce is 0.02mm. At 1.6g per square meter, it's the thinnest paper in the world. Taking advantage of its thinness and durability, it's used in museums, art galleries, and libraries in over 30 countries around the world, including Japan, for the restoration of cultural properties and ancient documents. Needless to say, the AQ4100-22A is a class above the rest, simply because it uses the same Tengujo paper.
The cold and warmth of a snowy day
The Iconic Nature Collection captures the ever-changing beauty of nature and condenses it onto the dial. As a model celebrating The Citizen's 30th anniversary, the collection sincerely explores the unchanging aesthetic sense that lives at the heart of the Japanese people, and the theme it arrived at is the aesthetic sense of "Okashi."
"Okashi" is a word used in Heian period literature to indicate aesthetic sense, describing the sensation of observing an object and perceiving interest, pleasure, or beauty in it. Its meaning is diverse, encompassing a wide range of meanings including "tasteful," "beautiful," "magnificent," "funny," and "interesting." Sei Shonagon's "The Pillow Book" is considered the work that best embodies the beauty of "okashi," capturing nature, the seasons, and people's behavior with a keen eye and depicting them as pleasing emotions.
The motif of the "AQ4100-22A" is the early winter morning, the mysteriously shining snowscape illuminated by the morning sun, which Sei Shonagon loved to admire in her "The Pillow Book," and this moment has been captured in a small world.
The climax of this model is undoubtedly the depiction of snow.
To achieve this, a traditional technique called "sunagomaki" was used, in which finely crushed gold or silver foil is sprinkled on the surface. In this model, platinum foil is scattered like snow on Tosa Tengujo paper, creating an appearance reminiscent of snow and ice. The "bleeding" effect is achieved by layering a top plate with a pale gray gradient print at the 6 o'clock position.
The brilliance that changes depending on the angle, combined with the fluctuations caused by the uneven appearance of the washi paper, creates a sense of depth that is unique to this model. This is because it expresses not just a snowy landscape, but also the subtle warmth you feel on a snowy day. This is a very clever touch. I think it is quite dramatic.
When it comes to Japanese paper and sand sprinkling, one might think that this is a pursuit of traditional Japanese techniques, but this is not the case.
As you know, in the case of Eco-Drive, the transmittance of the dial has a significant impact on power generation. Until now, polycarbonate has been used to ensure transmittance, but after searching for a white that would transmit light but still have a different feel, they arrived at washi paper. Eco-Drive and washi paper are a win-win situation.
It's only natural for The Citizen
In 1995, to commemorate the 65th anniversary of Citizen's founding, the company launched "The Citizen," bearing its name. When this brand was launched, what was most surprising was that they had refined the accuracy of quartz movements, which were generally accurate to ±15 seconds per month, to ±5 seconds per year. In 2011, they achieved this with their light-powered Eco-Drive movement, and the Cal. A060 movement in the AQ4100-22A also boasts an annual accuracy of ±5 seconds.
While writing this article, I re-read the description of the movement on Citizen's official website, and it was amazing.
The accuracy of a quartz watch is determined by a quartz crystal oscillator, and the quartz crystal oscillators used in The Citizen watches are left to rest for six months to determine their frequency characteristics, and only those that meet the accuracy standards are used. Furthermore, to combat temperature, which has the greatest impact on accuracy, the watch is equipped with a "temperature compensation function" that automatically measures and corrects the temperature inside the watch in 0.1°C increments 1440 times a day, or once per minute. Inside this tiny movement, there is a world that is not affected by temperature.
In addition to the high accuracy of ±5 seconds per year, the Cal. A060 is equipped with functions designed for ease of everyday use, such as a perpetual calendar function, a calendar update function at midnight, a time difference setting function, and PerfEx (JIS Class 1 magnetic resistance, shock detection function, automatic hand correction function).
Finally, I'd like to mention that it's incredibly light. The case is made of Super Titanium™ and weighs just 56g. Watches are becoming increasingly light, so you might be wondering if it's really that impressive, but it's still surprising when you actually hold it.
Lately, I've often found my watch faces to be a bit too bold. Perhaps it's due to aging, but I'm not confident I can pull them off. But then, if you ask me if a super-standard watch that only focuses on legibility is good enough, that's also a bit sad. I still want a good watch. In those moments, the elegance of the AQ4100-22A is appealing. And I never tire of looking at it. Furthermore, the case surface is treated with Duratect Platinum, and it's water resistant to 10 bar, and has Class 1 magnetic resistance, so all the essential specs are spot on. It's truly well made, and nothing beats this high-quality standard.
There are only 400 bottles available worldwide, so if you're interested, be sure to get yours soon.
