Citizen: The Essence of Time

In 1924, the Shokosha Watch Research Institute assembled the first-ever timepiece marked with the Citizen name. The institute was a nation-backed effort to build Japanese watches for the Japanese market. The name, however, came from one: Tokyo's mayor at the time, who, though watches were very much a luxury at the time, hoped Citizen watches could be available to all citizens. That value proposition has driven the brand for the last 100 years, and a new Assouline coffee table book called Citizen: The Essence of Time celebrates this anniversary. In it, over 250 images and illustrations detail the massive brand's rich visual history, including striking wrist and pocket watches, incredible dials, fine metal detailing, internal technical innovations, and other advancements, often at affordable prices.