Recapping the Launch Event of the Citizen Premier Collections

On the evening of Thursday, February 27th, atop Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center in NYC—with a perfect view of Citizen’s US headquarters within the Empire State Building—Eric Horowitz, the brand’s Managing Director, announced the formation of a new division within Citizen. Dubbed Citizen Premier, this new endeavor represents what Citizen describes as “the pinnacle of watchmaking,” and highlights their ability to marry technological innovations with high-end Japanese craftsmanship in what will be a range of higher end, more refined products, all while maintaining the tried and true value-driven offerings we’ve come to appreciate more and more in recent years.

Citizen Premier is an entirely new category within the Citizen ecosystem that launches with two of their most popular brands: Series8 and Attesa. These collections push the boundaries of Citizen’s movement technology and materials expertise. Series8 incorporates bold, contemporary designs into modern sports watches housing automatic movements, while Attesa places a focus on Super Titanium, Eco-Drive technology, and avant-garde design.

It’s clear that Citizen views this announcement as a major milestone at a time when the brand is enjoying renewed strength in the enthusiast market. It’s no secret that Citizen has been on a run lately with watches targeted directly at the enthusiast community. Chances are you’ve spotted various Citizens on wrists at Windups and meetups more frequently now than a few years ago. That’s no accident: Citizen has made a concerted effort to fill a gap in this arena left open by many of their competitors who have gone upmarket.

What does this mean for the general watch consumer? It means a lot of bang for buck for a recognizable brand. What does it mean for the enthusiast? In this case, it translates to a brand that, thanks to its scale, is putting quite a bit of technological innovation into watches that remain relatively affordable, but also scratch that slightly under-the-radar itch.

The One World Observatory turned out to be a rather ideal place to make this kind of announcement. Much like Series8 and Attesa, this location wasn’t overly luxurious, however it still managed to to feel extremely special. And maybe that’s the word that best describes these Premium brands.

As the evening progressed, Reuel Vincent, the Executive Chef of ONE Dine at One World Observator, addressed the attendees with intricate descriptions of how each course’s ingredients mirror attributes of different Citizen Premier watches. Despite how stunning each course of the meal looked, the surprise of the evening is that dishes were in actuality simply elevated versions of fundamental meals that Chef Reuel grew up with. This was a very symbolic and purposeful gesture alluding to the ethos of Citizen in creating watches—both fundamental and elevated—for any and every citizen.