WE NEVER FORGET OUR
FOUNDATIONS, WHICH
MEANS IT MUST BE AN
ANALOG WATCH WITH A
BEAUTIFUL DIAL.
touch-screen Citizen for the wrist anytime soon.
“In 2006 we developed the world’s first Bluetooth watch,” Takeuchi
explains. “It could be synchronized with a mobile phone and it received call
notifications and email notifications. We pioneered that smart technology.”
He reminds us that in 2012 Citizen also debuted the Proximity, the world’s
first Bluetooth-synchronized light powered watch, which Citizen sold only
in the United States. On the ten-year anniversary of the premiere Bluetooth
watch, Citizen in 2016 launched a newer Proximity that could be synchro-
nized with both iPhone and Android.
“We added various smart functions to help the consumer,” says Takeuchi.
“This is the Citizen-style smart watch. As long as there is demand we will
invent new functions for this. But we never forget our foundations, which
means it must be an analog watch with a beautiful dial. Sometimes you’ll see
the opposite, where function comes before beauty – and everybody can make
a digital ‘Smartwatch.’
Citizen’s core focus on technology complements its desire to improve the
world, notes Takeuchi.
“Citizen is for people who have the will to change the world,” he says. “We
appreciate these people and we want them to buy our watches.” He identifies
Americans particularly as a group of citizens who have changed the world.
“Our philosophy is higher, further, deeper. And there are no limits. We plan
on doing this for the next 100 years, and even though the world is changing,
the value of a watch will be there, and we will be here to change with it.”
56 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | SPRING 2018
The Satellite Wave F900 is
a multi-functional GPS
satellite-synchronized
watch. (2015). At the top is
a 2013 version of the watch.