The 9 Best Citizen Watches of 2023

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Did a search for the "best Citizen watches" lead you here? Well, you’ve come to the right place. As one of the largest watch companies in the industry, the Japanese brand makes a wide variety of watches,  But their “métier,” or specialty, is harnessing technology in watchmaking.

We gathered up the best Citizen watches, from entry level timepieces that cost a few hundred bucks to stunners that cost a few thousand dollars. And our best overall pick, the "Tsuyosa" Automatic, is sure get a few looks from strangers.

Is Citizen a Good Watch Brand?

Citizen has been an innovator over its entire 100-year history. Not only did the company change the quartz technology game, it also released the first Japanese-made water-resistant watch. In 1970, it released the X-8 Cosmotron Chronometer, which distinguished Citizen as the first brand anywhere to offer a piece made from titanium. Not long after, Citizen pioneered Eco-Drive: light-powered watch technology that it continues to perfect almost 50 years later.

Today, the brand makes battery-powered watches, as well as automatics and Eco-Drives, in assorted styles, all for a variety of purposes. To answer the question: Yes, Citizen absolutely makes great watches. The Japanese brand makes so many bangers, it’s hard to choose the best. But we decided that the nine below were our favorites.

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Why You Should Trust Me

I’ve been collecting watches for nearly as long as I’ve been able to tell time. Around 10 years old, I started disassembling pocket watches to see what makes them tick. Today, I feel naked if I accidentally leave the house without a watch on my wrist—so I’ll go back and get one. Currently, my cache includes a variety of vintage and contemporary pieces from micro brands to G-Shock. Most days I wear a Rolex Explorer II, but my grandmother’s Mickey Mouse watch will always be my favorite.

Best Overall Citizen Watch: Tsuyosa Collection

Clean and simple, the Tsuyosa is a classic automatic sports watch named for the Japanese word for strength—and it’s certainly a strong contender for a place in your collection. The watch comes on an integrated bracelet with polished center links that give off the Rolex “presidential” bracelet vibe. There’s a date window at three o’clock and, more interestingly, a four o'clock crown. The dial is available in black, green, yellow, and turquoise, but we’d roll with the deep blue for versatility that works with anything from a three-piece suit to your well-worn Japanese denim.

• CASE: Stainless steel

• MOVEMENT: Citizen (Miyota) Caliber 8210

• DIAL: Blue

• SIZE: 40mm

• STRAP: Stainless-steel bracelet

Best Citizen Dive Watch: Promaster Dive Automatic

This version of the Promaster Dive Automatic watch has a serrated bezel design inspired by fugu, the Japanese name for pufferfish—thus the watch’s nickname "The Fugu.” Even for those who aren’t PADI certified, this automatic diver would make a great daily beater or perfect vacation watch. Beyond its 200-meter dive capabilities, the piece furnishes a day-date calendar function, in case you’ve lost track sunning yourself on the beach or you’re just stuck in the mid-week doldrums at work.

• CASE: Stainless steel

• MOVEMENT: Citizen (Miyota) Caliber 8204

• DIAL: Black

• SIZE: 44mm

• STRAP: Polyurethane

Best Thin Citizen Watch: Eco-Drive One

Looking at its head on, you may wonder what makes the Eco-Drive One special, but a side view would instantly reveal why it’s so impressive. The piece measures less than three millimeters thick. That’s why the Eco-Drive movement found inside has to be assembled by hand. A full charge will keep this piece running for 12 whole months. It’s an elegant time-only watch with a sub seconds dial at six o’clock and comes on a black crocodile strap with a signed clasp. Some might say bigger is better, but in this case thinner is a winner.

• CASE: Stainless steel

• MOVEMENT: Citizen 8845 Eco-Drive

• DIAL: Black

• SIZE: 37mm

• STRAP: Crocodile leather

Best GMT Citizen Watch: Series 8 GMT

For time zone-hopping road warriors, a GMT watch like this Series 8 is an absolute travel essential. The complication gives the wearer an independently set second hour hand that moves around the dial on a 24-hour scale. So they can track a second time zone or even a third using the bi-directional rotating the bezel. The Series 8 GMT is powered by a mechanical automatic movement and features a dial color that draws inspiration from Tokyo’s evening sky and a checkered pattern that represents prosperity in Japan.

• CASE: Stainless steel

• MOVEMENT: Citizen (Miyota) Caliber 9054

• DIAL: Blue

• SIZE: 41mm

• STRAP: Stainless-steel bracelet

Best Sci-Fi Citizen Watch: Boba Fett

You don’t need to live in a galaxy far, far away to rock the analog-digital hybrid Boba Fett watch. The design evokes the Star Wars universe bounty hunter with a rendition of his iconic helmet in one sub-dial and an image of the “mythosaur”—a huge, ancient creature that’s skull is the symbol of the Mandalorians—in the other. With an alarm, the digital time, a 1/1000 second chronograph, perpetual calendar and the temperature, it offers nearly as many functions as Boba Fett’s wrist computer in the movies.

• CASE: Stainless steel

• MOVEMENT: Citizen 8989 Quartz

• DIAL: Green

• SIZE: 33mm

• STRAP: Stainless-steel bracelet

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