I have this thought regarding Citizen and I have to say their model releases over the last few years have been generally quite good. The Fugu and Tsuyosa are two I find quite well designed.
However as much as their models are nice, the name and branding just doesn’t have charm to me. Does anyone else feel this way? Perhaps the name Citizen itself just misses the mark in the western world. Rolex, Omega, Seiko all have names that look and read more aesthetic.
A thought I had was that they should have a subsidiary like Seiko does with Orient (Orient branding also another one that seems lacklustre) and here they can get their marketing right with the same great products and tech they currently produce.
Keen to hear everyone’s thoughts.
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Every time I mention citizen to people who know about them, they only have positive things to say. They are pretty much all about Ecodrive though. And a lot of times it’s guy is telling me that family members have bought them their “citizen eco drive” as a gift.
I think most people over state the relationship between Seiko and Orient… Orient is owned by Seiko-Epson which is many arms of the octopus away from Seiko watch, this isn’t a Seiko and Alba or Pulsar comparison.
Epson is one of the companies that makes Seiko watches. Spring Drive, Solar, Kinetic, and Astron watches are made by Epson.
I do get what you’re saying. And if you asked me a few months ago what I thought about a brand called “Citizen” I would probably have not thought much of it, to be honest.
But having learned about them through reviews and recommendations, and having just bought one myself, I actually kind of like it. It doesn’t feel forced or gimmicky. Kind of makes me respect them more that they don’t try to “sound fancy” but they just make good value watches and the quality-for-price value is their selling point.
That’s the thing their watches are cool, but I associate the name and brand with things like an old grandpa’s mall watch, or the generic name John Citizen. Seems stupid, but I am sure I’m not the only one!
Look into what they’re doing recently. Some of the most beautiful dials that rival if not better Grand Seikos - the washi dial and lacquer dial, and they don’t try and hide their Citizen name. They show it proudly. For me I’ve recently associated Citizen with beautiful dials. Their instagram and posts on here help with the image.
Amazing tech there for sure, would be interesting if they positioned their higher end stuff similar to Seiko with Grand Seiko and how they try to distance them under two seperate brands. I know Citizen has ‘The Citizen’ but to me that seems lazy marketing and missed potential as they are hardly different. I know you could say the same about Grand Seiko really but I feel they have done a much better job with the separation and thus brand perception.
They make great watches with great finishing at a price point that’s appropriate for the average consumer. There are plenty of more expensive brands that don’t deliver that kind of value.
“Price.” Unless you’re referring to, or plotting on an X/Y axis, spare the point. Do your part to stop the spread of this vocabular virus. Thank you, CVC.
