The company was established in 1924. The founding fathers selected the name Citizen so it would be "Close to the Hearts of People Everywhere", and soon after adopted the company's formal name, Citizen Watch Company. During the last seventy-five years, Citizenwatches has expanded its business throughout the world and has achieved recognition as a global brand.

The past 25 year period has coincided with the company's dramatic rise to its current position as the world's largest watchmaker, a distinction Citizen has held every year since 1986. Beyond sheer size, Citizen is also recognized as a worldwide leader in advanced technology.

From the world's slimmest LCD watch to the first voice recognition watch and the world's first professional dive watch with an electronic depth sensor, Citizen's record of "world firsts" is unmatched. More recently, Citizen has staked out a new position as the leader in Ecologically Friendly timekeeping with its Eco-Drive collection of light powered watches. Citizen Eco-Drive watches runs continuously in any kind of natural or artificial light for a lifetime use. Fueled by light, it never needs a battery.

Our History
Our beginnings go back to 1924, when Citizen's forerunner, the Shokosha Watch Research Watch Institute produced its first pocket watch the CITIZEN. The then Mayor of Tokyo, Mr Shimpei Goto, named the watch CITIZEN with the hope that the watch, a luxury item of those times, would become widely available to ordinary citizens and be sold throughout the world.Time and again Citizen has pioneered groundbreaking technologies and helped to make watches an indispensable part of modern life. Introduced in 1956, Parashock was the first shock resistant watch made by a Japanese manufacturer. And three years later, Parawater was hailed as the country's first water resistant watch.

One of the latest milestones is our Eco-Drive system. Bringing new thinking to the art of watchmaking, this is a light powered solution that eliminates the need to change batteries - a revolution that made it the first watch technology to receive the Japan Environment Association's Eco Mark for environmentally friendly products.And in 2003, Citizen continues to evolve and be ahead of its time with the launch of Stiletto. This is the World's thinnest light powered watch - a watch so revolutionary it combines eco-drive technology with a refined, sleek and sophisticated case and bracelet from 4.4mm thick.Citizen is, however more diverse then simply watches.

In fact watches only represent less than 40% of the company's business. Today we are drawing on a heritage of proven quality and technologies as we develop the market for watches, clocks, jewellery, eyeglass frames and health care products.The Citizen Watch Company, Ltd. was established in 1930 and Citizen Watches Australia (CWA) was established in May 1965. CWA operates across Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the South Pacific Islands.Citizen believes that delivering excellence is the key to building successful partnerships with retailers and consumers alike.

Excellence in product, marketing and service is paramount, and the resources required to achieve excellence are viewed as investments, not costs.Citizen looks forward to the challenges that the future will no doubt bring. Our guarantee is a commitment to continually strive and work towards an even more successful future for our retailers and consumers. Ready for further growth and progress, we are working harder than ever to explore new directions and contribute to changing lifestyles.