[MikeBanzai]

I love Citizen watches (I own 3, and number 4 is on the way…) and part of the reason is that I feel like they consistently hit above their weight class with the attention to detail on their designs.

My favorite example is my Stiletto dress watch. It is the simplest dial in my collection, but I love how the hour hand comes within a whisker of touching the hour indices, and how they detailed the “guilloche” dial with circumferential rings through the indices, breaking up the radiating pattern, and also how the minute hand touches just barely past the edge.

These little details, on a dial that is so dark almost no one will ever see them, is why I appreciate Citizen for what they do at their price point.

 

[jkpa]

Big Citizen fan as well and have owned dozens. I just have three right now but I love them.

 

[MikeBanzai]

I have far more expensive watches where it’s obvious that the manufacturer is using a common set of hands across the line, and they aren’t so gracefully positioned on every model, depending on variances in the indices.

 

[MikeBanzai]

Then there’s my chronograph. Despite its legibility problems, it’s a stunner. Slender hands so as to minimally block the chrono subdials, metallic indices that are clearly matched to the design of the hands, and the little pop of yellow against the black and gray on the incredibly slender chrono seconds.

 

[DC Lavman]

So much done so well at such a good price with this one…

 

[Raymond9010]

yep, love Citizen, a lot of watch for not a lot of money.

 

[Nokie]

I have more Citizens than I can count, and the dial design and details are one of the main reasons I keep adding more and more to my collection.

 

[Daruba]

I have more Citizens than I can count, and the dial design and details are one of the main reasons I keep adding more and more to my collection.

On the dot!

Citizen knows how to do busy dials. (and also not so busy dials)

 

[johnny action]

You assume that these “details “that you appreciate so much are intentional by Citizen. Most likely they’re just simply the end products of the robotic mass production process. You just happen to like the way it looks, but I don’t think anyone at Citizen was purposefully designing it that way. Ghost in the machine.


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[Daruba]

You assume that these “details “that you appreciate so much are intentional by Citizen. Most likely they’re just simply the end products of the robotic mass production process. You just happen to like the way it looks, but I don’t think anyone at Citizen was purposefully designing it that way. Ghost in the machine.


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Sound a bit negative?
I really don't know who or what designed the watches (or parts thereof) and I do not want to guess neither. One thing I do know is "If it works, it works".

 

[MikeBanzai]

You assume that these “details “that you appreciate so much are intentional by Citizen. Most likely they’re just simply the end products of the robotic mass production process. You just happen to like the way it looks, but I don’t think anyone at Citizen was purposefully designing it that way. Ghost in the machine.


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Maybe so. But if so their ghost in the machine is consistently good with getting all the little details right, and everything looking intentional. Like I said, I’ve had more expensive, Swiss Made, watches, where they did things like obviously just use the hands from another similar model to save costs.

So that ghost in the machine is giving me some really great detailed quality for honestly not a lot of money. Works for me!

 

[Watch19]

That's a great looking chrono, especially with that domed crystal. It's a detail thats hard to notice on the manufacturer's catalog photos.
Nice find!

 

[Terra Citizen]

I appreciate the stamped and machined details on the aluminum dial of the 2100:

 

[Terra Citizen]

I also appreciate the details on the NB105: polished rehaut, the brushed/polished indices, the framed date window, the brushed Citizen logo and the sunburst blue dial. I get that a lot of items are potentially machined made, but somebody had to make these design decisions:

 

[Robert Bays]

This thing still amazes me, beautiful raised indices, perfectly applied lume, bezel , chapter ring and dial all aligned . Not to mention duratect mrk + dlc coated titanium. After a few Seiko divers in the same price range, it was refreshing to not put up with some fault or another.

 

[BallBearings]

I like their new ad campaign

 

[CitizenPromaster]

I like their new ad campaign


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[bloody watches]

You assume that these “details “that you appreciate so much are intentional by Citizen. Most likely they’re just simply the end products of the robotic mass production process. You just happen to like the way it looks, but I don’t think anyone at Citizen was purposefully designing it that way. Ghost in the machine.



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m

Most dials a designed via a cad machine
No more ghosts involved and quality control now at all watch manufacturers is legendary if it's a new watch the dial is how it was designed

 

[johnny action]

For Patel, Rolex and Omega: sure. Doubtful, for Citizen.


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[Aldus Pagemaker]

Love this thread. Fully agree with the discussion starter.
I think that while computer-driven machines and CAD at the production stage help a lot with consistency and meeting tight tolerances – ultimately there are real persons behind it all at the initial stage of conception, design, and production.

And yes, I also very much appreciate Citizen’s attention to detail, especially at the price points of their watches. A case in point is my Promaster Tough – I read reviews in which the reviewers complained about the different lume colour of the minute hand, which is bluish instead of greeinish like all other lumed components on the dial. Evidently, not everyone is able to appreciate that having a different colour lume on the the minute hand makes for a much more positive reading in darkness. I, for one, can surely appreciate that.