Citizen’s flagship line of chronometers brings a new look to its exceedingly accurate high-end quartz watches with The Citizen Indigo Washi. Still accurate to five seconds a year or better, with a perpetual calendar and scratch-resistant titanium case to boot, this limited edition introduces an indigo-dyed washi dial made of paper produced and finished using traditional crafts dating back centuries – a very Japanese juxtaposition of ancient artisans and cutting edge tech.

Citizen’s The Citizen collection, which celebrated 30 years just last year, remains somewhat obscure even amongst watch enthusiasts. That’s unfortunate, as it has nothing to do with the quality of the watches, which are excellent and often handsome. Part of this lack of recognition is the Japan-only availability of many models, though that is slowly changing. And while the line now includes mechanical watches, high-end quartz is where The Citizen really shines.

Though frequently compared to Grand Seiko’s cal. 9F movement family, I would argue The Citizen’s A0 line of solar quartz movements are of a different breed, more comparable to Seiko’s cal. 3X Astron movements or even Casio’s high-end G-Shocks. These share solar charging, a perpetual calendar, and a power-save made that pauses the hands to save energy when the watch is not in use.

However, The Citizen’s aesthetic differs widely from those of the Astron and G-Shock, favouring the sharply reserved style that has defined chronometry-focused Japanese watchmaking for decades.

The other key difference is autonomy. Unlike Astrons and G-Shocks, which can vary by as much as 15 seconds per month without network synchronisation, The Citizen quartz watches offer class-leading performance.

The cal. A060 features active temperature compensation calibrated to each specific quartz oscillator, and is guaranteed accurate to within five seconds per year with a maximum deviation of two seconds per month during normal use. And with the demise of Longines’ V.H.P line, The Citizen’s exacting five seconds per year tolerance stands out more than ever.

The conical bezel and flat lug chamfers of the Eco-Drive model are lapped with a spinning tinplate to create a near distortion-free mirror finish. This technique is often called zaratsu polishing within the Japanese watch industry, after the Sallaz lapping machines that Hayashi Seiki Seizo imported from Europe many decades ago and still uses today.

Citizen intentionally avoids this term, which is still strongly associated Seiko watches, but the process is the same. As are the results, with Citizen’s case being as good as comparably priced Grand Seikos. A blindingly white Duratect “Platinum” treatment hides the high-intensity titanium’s natural warmth. The amorphous carbon topcoat of this treatment has a hardness of 1,000 Vickers, which is five times the hardness of stainless steel and not far from zirconia ceramic.

The recessed pusher in the case band enables communication with the Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) inside the watch while preserving water resistance. It is not especially intuitive, but with a stylus and the instructional manual the user can adjust the perpetual calendar, correct misaligned hands, and even factory reset the watch, if needed.

Diamond-cut dauphine hands are a familiar hallmark of Japanese luxury watchmaking, but here they come with an increasingly uncommon feature: luminous inserts — something you won’t find on any non-Sports model quartz Grand Seiko.

But while the hands and dial furniture might feel familiar, The Citizen has made washi paper dials its own signature. Beyond the obvious aesthetic appeal of this distinctly Japanese material, it hides the solar cells while letting plenty of light through.

The paper itself is made by Hidakawashi Co. in Kochi prefecture, a firm that also specialises in restoration of historical paper items, including Cultural Properties – buildings and objects defined by Japanese law as being so important to the country that they have to be preserved and never exported.

The paper is then treated to create the unique motif. For this, Citizen enlisted Watanabe’s, an indigo dyeing workshop based in Tokushima, a prefecture renowned for its traditional Awa indigo production.

First, the colour is obtained by fermenting dried indigo leaves to produce sukumo — a blue pigment produced as far back as the Heian period more than a millennium ago — which is used in turn to create the blue dye.

The pattern is then created with pole wrap tie-dying, or tsutsumaki shibori in Japanese. The process entails wrapping washi paper around a cylinder, then gently pushing up the paper to create wrinkles. These wrinkles block dye from reaching the paper underneath, resulting in a unique pattern when unfurled. A clear layer of polycarbonate or acrylic sits over the washi paper, on which the dial printing, indices, and golden eagle gloat. Each dial is thus unique, and some examples may even be distinguishable at a glance.

Citizen “The Citizen” Eco-Drive 50th Anniversary Edition
Ref. AQ4090-08A

Diameter: 40 mm
Height: 12.2 mm
Material: Super Titanium with Duratect coating
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 100 m

Movement: Caliber A060
Features: Hours, minutes, seconds, independently adjustable hour hand, and perpetual calendar
Frequency: 32,768 Hz
Power reserve: 18 months in power save mode

Strap: Matching Super Titanium bracelet

Limited edition: 200 pieces
Availability: At Citizen boutiques and retailers starting August 2026
Price: US$3,000 before taxes

For more, visit Citizenwatch-global.com.

Correction July 31, 2026: Amended the process of producing the washi dial, including the technique that is tsutsumaki shibori.

Back to top.