Revisiting the Potential of Quartz

One of the key topics at BASELWORLD 2018 was undoubtedly the "Cal.0100" announced by CITIZEN. It is an Eco-Drive movement that achieves a remarkable ±1 second annual accuracy, a world first.

Annual accuracy indicates the degree of error that occurs within one year. Considering that typical quartz movements have a monthly accuracy of ±15 seconds, its high precision is truly outstanding.

Since its founding, CITIZEN has consistently pursued accuracy in watchmaking.

In the realm of quartz, the company released its first watch with a monthly accuracy of ±10 seconds in 1973, followed by the "Chronomaster Mega" in 1975, the world's first with ±3 seconds annual accuracy. This legacy continues with this year's "Cal.0100."

In terms of accuracy alone, one can easily obtain the correct time by receiving signals from radio towers or satellites. CITIZEN has been a pioneer in such technological developments, proposing ways to achieve accurate timekeeping by utilizing external information.

However, these signals cannot always be received.

As a watch manufacturer, the goal is to create watches that "never stop, never lose time." In other words, achieving high accuracy within the watch itself became CITIZEN's mission as it approached its 100th anniversary.

To achieve this, they revisited the potential of quartz, specifically the "crystal oscillator" that governs accuracy. This was a return to the roots for a Japanese brand that had once revolutionized watchmaking with quartz.

The error in crystal oscillators is caused by external factors such as temperature and gravity. While such variations were acceptable in conventional quartz watches, they become critical when aiming for ±1.0 second annual accuracy. Therefore, instead of the traditional tuning-fork type crystal oscillator, they selected an "AT-cut crystal oscillator," which offers superior temperature stability and is less affected by positional changes (gravity).

However, AT-cut crystal oscillators had primarily been used in large precision machinery like computers. Their extremely high power consumption and size made miniaturization for wristwatches seem challenging. Yet, CITIZEN, as one of the world's leading manufactures capable of everything from parts production to assembly, possessed ample expertise in refining the "crystal oscillator," the heart of quartz movements.


The product is scheduled for release in 2019. We look forward to seeing what CITIZEN will offer in its 101st year and beyond.