Our efforts to find new possibilities began in 1918. In 1918, the “Shoukousha Watch Research Institute” was founded, which later became the “CITIZEN Watch Co. In the 1920s, almost all the watches that existed in Japan were still imported from overseas. The first CITIZEN watch appeared on the Japanese market in 1924, six years after the company was founded. During these six years, the founder opened the watchmaking school to train his employees and make them experts in the manufacture of precision watches. The spirit of craftsmanship had already begun at that time. The price for this watch was about 20% of the monthly base salary of government staff. Considering that the imported watches were considered a luxury product, our watch was affordable for the public. We can say that CITIZEN has opened the door for more people to buy their watches in Japan.

Therefore, our first watch was called CITIZEN by the mayor of Tokyo.

Today, CITIZEN WATCH is a genuine watchmaker’s workshop with an extensive manufacturing process ranging from the development and manufacture of the individual components of a watch to its final assembly. The company operates in more than 100 countries around the world. Since its foundation in 1918, Citizen has had the belief in “Better Starts Now” – that is, whoever you are and whatever you do, it is always possible to do something better and now it’s time to start. We share this belief and have created watches, invented and improved technologies and explored the future of watches, such as our own Eco-Drive technology with light drive and the satellite-controlled Satellite Wave timing system.

The European Headquarters was founded in 1969 in Hamburg. Sales, marketing and service are located here.

CITIZEN is looking forward to the future with anticipation, but is also working on the continuous improvement of the latest innovations. All these activities are based on our conviction that “For each and every one of us Citizen employees the time has come to make this world a better place”. This is the vision of our company that underlies our “BETTER STARTS NOW” brand statement. By continuing to build on our achievements and breaking new ground, we enable our customers worldwide to wear watches of the highest quality.