A thorough report on using the incredible quartz watch, The Citizen Caliber 0100!

In 2019, the Citizen Caliber 0100 was released, which is said to deviate by just one second per year. Chronos reader and watch collector Shiraichigo bought one and put it to the test. What impression did he have of the world's most accurate mass-produced wristwatch at the moment?

Citizen celebrates its 100th anniversary

　In 2018, Citizen announced the Cal. 0100 (Caliber Zero One Zero Zero), a movement with an annual accuracy of ±1 second. 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Shokosha Watch Laboratory (now Citizen Watch) by Kamekichi Yamazaki, a precious metals dealer and member of the House of Peers. While there are several manufacturers of quartz watches that boast annual accuracy, even high-precision versions are only capable of around ±5 seconds per year, so the ±1 second figure was met with great surprise.
　Because the movement that was announced was housed in a pocket watch, the Cal. 0100 was seen as a sort of advertising balloon celebrating the company's 100th anniversary, and some thought it would take some time for it to be mass-produced as an actual wristwatch. However, just one year later, in 2019, Citizen actually released it as a wristwatch.

　A famous anecdote about Citizen goes like this:

　During a conversation over coffee at an army banquet in Nagoya in 1927, a gentleman showed Emperor Showa his watch and said, "Your Majesty, this is a foreign-made watch, but it fits perfectly. Japanese-made watches are quite inaccurate and nowhere near as good as the foreign-made ones." Emperor Showa then casually took out a pocket watch from his right trouser pocket and happily said, "This watch I have is a Japanese-made watch that costs 12 yen 50 sen, but it fits perfectly." The watch was the first model that Shokosha had just released, the "CITIZEN (Model 16)." (Reference: Book in the Citizen Museum collection)

　Shokosha Watch Research Institute was established in 1918, but it wasn't until 1924 that the company actually shipped its first products. The brand name "Citizen" was chosen at the time, and is said to have been chosen by Goto Shinpei, who was the mayor of Tokyo at the time and was a close friend of founder Yamazaki, with the intention of "making the watch familiar to the citizens." Citizen's corporate motto remains "to be loved by and contribute to the citizens for a long time." The quartz movement 2035, which the company began producing in 1981, and its derivatives have been produced in the billions, setting the standard for analog quartz watches around the world.

World-standard quartz movement, Cal.2035
The quartz movement that symbolizes Made in Japan is the Cal. 2035 developed by Citizen (Miyota). Its design, specialized for mass production, has made it possible to achieve an incredibly low price. However, its accuracy is within ±20 seconds per month. It also has high shock resistance. It is the world standard for quartz movements.

Eco-Drive, born from the pursuit of precision and ease of use

　To me, there seem to be two concepts that Citizen watches have consistently pursued. One is high precision, and the other is the convenience of being able to use the watch without worrying about batteries. Citizen also took on the challenge of high precision during the era of mechanical wristwatches, producing the "Citizen Chronometer," which boasted a large balance wheel the same diameter as the famous Zenith 135 Chronometer, and the high-frequency "Glorious Citizen." Due to their close relationship with Bulova, they were also enthusiastic about producing tuning fork watches. Therefore, they began producing quartz watches in 1973, four years after their rivals, such as Seiko, but two years later in 1975, they produced the "Crystron Mega," which boasted the world's highest accuracy at the time, at ±3 seconds per year. They continued to produce cutting-edge watches in the field of high-precision quartz.

　Meanwhile, Citizen released a solar-powered watch in 1976 (although the Crystron Mega's battery life was extremely short at just one year due to its high vibration and high precision), demonstrating its desire to allow people to wear a watch on a daily basis without having to worry about the hassle of changing batteries. However, it wasn't until the arrival of Eco-Drive in 1995 that solar-powered watches became practical. With a view to improving everyday accuracy, Citizen began manufacturing radio-controlled watches in 1993. The combination of radio-controlled watches or GPS with Eco-Drive eliminated the need for time adjustment or maintenance, providing accurate timekeeping to everyone who used them.

The Citizen pursues ultimate accuracy

　Meanwhile, Citizen released The Citizen in 1995. This was not a radio-controlled watch, but rather a watch that boasted an annual accuracy of 5 seconds. With a simple exterior that suited the Japanese business scene, this model, along with the Grand Seiko, was a product aimed at understated individuals with a certain level of social status. Later models equipped with the improved A660 movement boasted an annual accuracy of ±5 seconds (a level guaranteed only by specially adjusted models from other companies), a long 5-year battery life, and a perpetual calendar, making it the ultimate in everyday usability. However, the design was sometimes a little too understated, and the watch's presence fell just short of that of its competitors' products.