Japanese watchmaker Citizen is a brand with many facets — many, many facets. That’s true of the modern company itself, but a look at its output over the last hundred years shows even more diversity, range, technology and concepts than you might imagine. When Citizen brought a hundred models from its museum to New York to celebrate a century of watchmaking, it provided a more nuanced picture of the horological juggernaut than even a lot of watch enthusiasts might have.

In fact, the hundred models were only a carefully curated fraction of the brand’s full portfolio and museum pieces. They were on display at a space in Greenwich Village as part of celebrating the 100th anniversary of Citizen’s first watch in 1924, the brand having been founded six years prior. It also coincided with the launch of the book Citizen: The Essence of Time written by Jack Forster which also explores the brand’s history and milestones.

This was in mid-July 2024. Just a few days earlier, I’d pressed “save” on a certain Instagram post. I rarely do that. But this was something I’d never seen before: an elegant triple calendar from the 1950s with “Citizen Calendar Watch” on its dial. It was gorgeous. Seemingly serendipitously, I found myself standing in front of an example of said Calendar Watch from 1952, on display at the Citizen exhibition. According to Citizen’s placard, it was the first triple calendar watch from Japan.

Some of the hundred watches lined up there, such as the Calendar, didn’t feel much like they belonged to the Citizen of today — though make no mistake that they represent important links within its history. Many others were readily identifiable as having been reissued as modern watches or were even still part of the current lineup. There were original examples of now familiar watches like the Promaster 200m Diver, the Promaster Tough, the “Tsuno” Chronograph, various versions of the iconic Aqualand dive watches, ana-digi watches like the Temp, and many more.

Even the Citizen pocket watch from 1924 was reinterpreted this year, and both the original and the remake were on display. Other models remain historical curiosities and products of the evolving tech or tastes of their times. The first ever multi-band radio controlled watch from 1993, for example, looks absolutely wild with its antenna vertically bisecting the dial.

In addition to reflecting the changing times through which Citizen has lived, the exhibition also showed that Citizen has always been willing to try new things. Some of the cool, yet untapped vintage models alongside those which had been reissued naturally made me think of what else might be resurrected in the future. A little obsessed with the Calendar, I couldn’t help but imagine how it might translate into a modern watch.

In, say, a modern 37mm (rather than the smaller vintage sizing), keeping it nice and thin, and using a mechanical movement based on something like the Miyota 9120… Would that be cool, or what? I, for one, love triple calendar watches from that era, and am surprised that they’ve more or less vanished from the modern scene (save for some rare exceptions such as in Zenith’s Chronomaster Original collection). For Citizen to do it at a reasonable price point would surely draw new attention to the brand and delight collectors.

This is pure fancy. But what more could Citizen hope to achieve with its hundred years and hundred watches than for watch fans like me to get excited about its past and giddy for what comes next? In that, the brand most certainly succeeded.

Learn more at citizenwatch.com