Brand Story

Since its foundation in 1930, CITIZEN has promoted a multi-cultural mindset that fosters excellence and creativity. The very name of the brand conveys a deep respect toward craftsmanship and considered as familiar by citizens the world-over. So as a “citizen” of the world, we bear the responsibility to help cultivate a culture of positive change and on-going evolution through our craft. We take that mission seriously and steadfastly welcome what the future may bring.



As a true manufacture d’horlogerie, CITIZEN integrates a comprehensive manufacturing process from creating individual components to a watch’s final assembly. It’s an artisan’s approach to watch making based on pushing forward the boundaries of technology and leveraging our experience toward exploring new possibilities.



One pivotal technological breakthrough was the development of a light-driven watch. CITIZEN pioneered this engineering innovation well ahead of other watch manufacturers as early as 1976, which led to the launch of the highly acclaimed Eco-Drive in 1995. Utilizing electrical power converted from virtually any light source, this extraordinary innovation changed forever the way watches could be powered. Eco-Drive eliminated the need to ever replace batteries, which made it especially beneficial to areas where such specialist batteries were not obtainable. This leveled the field for citizens of virtually every country to be able to experience unrestricted joy of wearing and using a CITIZEN watch.



The product development policy, “The Fusion of Technology and Beauty,” remains a constant motivation for us to merge cutting-edge technology with perfection of design beauty, which as a consequence inspires people to strive to be their best at any time.



CITIZEN launches a new campaign in collaboration with Wieden+Kennedy, Better Starts Now. This is the simple belief that no matter who you are or what you do, it is always possible to make something better — and now is the time to start doing it. We believe that better and now are both infinite, and that there is always a next ‘better’ and a new ‘now’ in which you can start pursuing it. It was clear from the onset of this project that we are dedicated to this ideal…not to the past but to the present, and all the way we can improve it. To help communicate this belief to the world we have created a new global CITIZEN brand movie, brand identity and brand website that represents out Better Starts Now philosophy.





The Citizen Story