The release of smartwatches marked the beginning of a new era for the watch industry. Yet, Citizen Watch Company believes its sophisticated satellite watches are even smarter.
The world’s first watch able to sync with satellites was released by the Japan-based company in 2011. The watch, called the Satellite Wave, is made for people who travel, and as soon as they step off a plane, it picks up the local time via satellite.
“We spend a tremendous amount of money on research & development. We are innovators of timepieces,” said Jeffrey Cohen, president of Citizen Watch Company of America, noting that they try to always bring the latest technology to customers.
In line with Cohen’s claim, Citizen introduced its second Satellite Wave watch in September, called World Time GPS. He claims its new satellite technology is “the next big thing” and a “game changer” in timekeeping.
Cohen believes Citizen is smarter than those brands going after smartwatches. “We see a lot of brands going off-brand and doing crazy things because they want to be in that game. We have been in that game too” said Cohen.
Citizen introduced Proximity in 2011, which is one of the first smartwatches that sync with the iPhone. Although Proximity watches have been selling well, Citizen is still “not interested in gadgets,” as he puts it.
“We are a timekeeper company that delivers excellence and quality in craftsmanship” said Cohen. “We are staying the course. We are not going right, we are not going left, we are going straight.”
The company is also not interested in outsourced, third party technologies. It focuses on its homegrown technology, which includes Eco-Drive, Atomic Timekeeping, GPS satellite technology, and super titanium.
Citizen is the U.S. industry leader in the mid-priced watch market. Timepieces accounted for more than half of the Citizen Group’s revenues of 328 billion yen ($2.74 billion) in 2014 according to Watch Time Magazine.
All watches have Eco-Drive feature. The basic ones are priced around $300. Atomic Timekeeping (A-T) watches are priced from $600 to $900 and Satellite Wave watches from $1,000 to $2,500.
