Time from Outer Space

For 2011, CITIZEN introduces “Eco-Drive SATELLITE WAVE,” a limited edition watch with a totally new timekeeping system.

This next-generation timepiece searches for the closest of the navigation satellites that orbit the earth.

It captures the day, date and time signals the satellite emits from space, 20,000 kilometers above the earth.

Since the satellite signals are controlled by atomic clocks, this watch’s timekeeping is ultra precise.

Each of the navigation satellites orbits the earth once every twelve hours, so that this watch receives the signals from any open space, even in the boundless Western Pacific or atop the world’s highest peak.

The metal ring embedded in the glass bezel seems to float in outer space, like a satellite in planetary orbit. The round case, which appears to be independent of the lugs, suggests the image of the earth. These design elements resonate with the technological combination of light power and time/calendar data received from outer space to keep this watch on time, always.

The spiral parts visible from the sides of the glass bezel are both a design motif, suggesting the radio waves that link this watch with outer space, and visible symbols of the light waves that provide Eco-Drive an inexhaustible source of energy. The three-dimensional forms on the watch face evoke the futuristic image of spaceship engines.

2011 will, thus, be the year in which time signals link wrist and outer space in an unprecedented experience. Eco-Drive SATELLITE WAVE will bring ultra-precise timekeeping to whatever human beings do, wherever they are on the face of the earth.

It is purely powered by light.