Created by combining CITIZEN’s titanium-processing technologies with its surface-hardening technology Duratect, Super Titanium™ retains titanium’s original qualities of lightness and suitability for sensitive skin, but also looks beautiful and is more than five times as hard as stainless steel. Super Titanium™ is a CITIZEN proprietary material with all the qualities you could possibly want in a watch that sits directly up against your skin. It is widely used in the art world in the restoration of paintings, calligraphy scrolls and Buddhist statuary. Despite giving the impression of being handmade, it is in fact made by machines. Washi paper used for The CITIZEN watches is famous for its glorious whiteness and for its strength. (This gossamer quality accounts for the paper’s nickname of “mayfly wings.”) The We chose to use the washi paper, which weighs just 1.6 grammes per square metre and, at 0.02 millimetres, is so thin you can actually see through it. As well as making the product more robust, this two-layered structure enabled us to introduce a characterful sunray pattern for the whole dial, achieve excellent print quality and apply metal indexes. Washi paper, we devised a double-layered structure with a transparent top plate, printing on that rather than directly on the paper itself. At the same time as admitting the light needed to power Eco-Drive through the gaps between the fibres, the paper itself changes appearance depending on the angle at which it catches the light. We opted to use the washi paper noted for its long fibres and its combination of great thinness with great durability. Washi paper has been used as a light diffuser in paper sliding doors, floor lanterns and hanging lanterns. Our research finally led us to traditional Japanese washi paper.

Because all Eco-Drive watches are equipped with a solar cell that sits beneath the dial, CITIZEN has conducted extensive R&D into different materials for dials. An extraordinary fusionĮco-Drive is a CITIZEN proprietary technology that powers a watch using light the sole energy source. Traditional Japanese Paper Washi paper and the advanced technologies.Ī rare combination. We use all the latest technologies as a matter of course, but staying flexible and open to new ideas (such as adopting traditional Japanese washi paper for dials), enables us to keep on pursuing and crafting the next ideal. That is the philosophy that inspires The CITIZEN’s attitude to aesthetics and usability. A watch that aims to be an integral part of the user’s life should be an object that people are eager to use every day and never tire of looking at.

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