CITIZEN Watches

Citizen watch is recognized as a worldwide leader in advanced technology. From the world’s slimmest LCD watch, to the world’s first professional dive watch with an electronic depth sensor, to the first voice recognition watch, Citizen’s record of world’s first is unmatched. The motivation behind each of these “first” is the goal to make the watch experience better for each and every customer.

The company was founded in 1930 by Japanese and Swiss investors. It took over Shokosha Watch Research Institute (founded in 1918) and some facilities of the assembly plant opened in Yokohama in 1912 by the Swiss watchmaker Rodolphe Schmid.

The brand Citizen watch was first registered in Switzerland by Schmid in 1918 for watches he sold in Japan. The development of this brand was supported in the 1920s by Count Goto Shinpei with his hope that watches could become affordable to the general public.