Auction #001 Citizen 100th Anniversary Special Limited Edition Pocket Watch, Auctioned at Sotheby

This year, Citizen celebrates a monumental milestone, its 100th anniversary, and the iconic Japanese watchmaker has marked the occasion with an array of timepieces. Among the standout releases are the “Series 8 880 Mechanical Watch” and the “Caliber 0200 NC0210-11A”. However, one timepiece has truly captured the essence of Citizen’s rich history, a limited-edition pocket watch inspired by the brand’s original 1924 pocket watch, with only 100 pieces available.

What makes this release even more significant is that the very first piece, #001 of the Citizen 100th Anniversary Special Limited Edition Pocket Watch, will be auctioned at Sotheby’s at the upcoming New York auction. The watch’s proceeds will benefit “1% for the Planet”, a global initiative that encourages businesses and individuals to donate at least 1% of their annual revenue to environmental causes. 

In 1924, the Shokosha Watch Research Institute in Japan introduced its first pocket watch, aiming to create a Japanese-made alternative to the imported pocket watches that dominated the market at the time. The watch was an immediate success, but it still needed a name. Count Shinpei Goto, the Mayor of Tokyo and a close friend of the company's founder, Kamekichi Yamazaki, suggested the name Citizen. His vision was for the watch to be embraced by the people, by "citizens", and used for generations to come. By 1930, the company officially adopted the name Citizen Watch Company, with a clear mission, to craft timepieces that would become an essential part of their owners’ lives.

The case is made from durable titanium alloy and features a spherical sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating, while the sapphire crystal caseback offers a beautiful view of the movement inside. The case measures 43.5mm in diameter and 13.4mm in thickness. Paying homage to the original pocket watch, the timepiece is paired with a cord crafted exclusively by Domyo, a renowned Tokyo-based company that has been producing kumihimo braided cords since 1652. Handcrafted from pure Japanese silk and dyed a rich indigo color, this cord adds a traditional touch, further elevating the watch's overall elegance.

Drawing inspiration from the original 1924 CITIZEN pocket watch, the dial preserves the classic layout with Breguet numerals and a small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock, while also embracing a forward-thinking design. A striking new addition is the unique dial pattern, created through electroforming (uses electrodeposition to form, or grow, metal parts onto a model), clear coating, and polishing. The pattern evokes the serene accumulation of snow following a snowfall, symbolizing the passage of time.

The watch is powered by the in-house manually wound Caliber 0270, which echoes the design of the original movement while incorporating decorative techniques like diamond-beveled edges and Côtes de Genève finishing. With an accuracy range of -3 to +5 seconds per day, it exceeds chronometer standards. The movement operates at a frequency of 28,000 vph (4Hz) and provides a power reserve of 55 hours.

The timepiece is expected to sell for around $10,000 - $15,000, roughly AED 36,800 - 55,000 and will go under the hammer at Sotheby’s New York on December 6, 2024. As part of the lot, the lucky buyer will also receive a copy of “Citizen: The Essence of Time”, a book by Jack Forster, published by Assouline.

For more information, you can visit Citizen’s or Sotheby’s official websites.