![]() those marked simply ‘Chrono Master’ and ‘Chronometer’ are standard class chronometers (movements 0920/1870/5240/5440/0802), except for the 09 18K solid gold models which are marked ‘officially certified’. Catalogues, advertising and reference material indicate that this was the ‘Excellent’ grade.Īs to the Chrono Masters, the ‘basic’ models, i.e. We can see that the latter had its own special accuracy classification, whilst I have seen references to a ‘Highness Standard’ (typically mis-translated as the ‘Haynes’ standard). There are three models that are not marked as ‘Officially Certified’ but are in the Excellent Class, namely the 1962 Chronometer (movement 0400/0401), the Highness (movements 7230/7430/7730/7740) and the Glorious (movements 7750/7400). Variation of rate per 1 degree centigrade Greatest difference between mean daily rate and any individual rate Maximum variation of daily rate in the same position on two consecutive daysĭifference between horizontal and vertical positions The 1961 BO standards exactly match Citizen’s ‘Excellent’ class, which would suggest that watches marked by Citizen as ‘Officially Certified’ achieve or exceed this level of accuracy. These can be seen under Citizen’s Standard and Excellent classes, whilst Citizen made what was their ultimate high end piece, the Glorious, to a special level of accuracy. In 1955 the MDR standard applied by the Swiss BO was -3.0 ~ +12.0, and from 1961 to 1973 MDR was -1.0 ~ +10.0 seconds. Although chronometer standards cover a range of measurements (see below), the usual one line summary that is used is the ‘Mean Daily Rate’ (MDR). The following table shows the three standards used by Citizen for their mechanical and electro-mechanical watches, described as ‘Standard Class’, ‘Excellent Class’ and ‘Glorious Citizen Class’. Therefore, it seems logical that from that point onwards, ‘Officially Certified’ chronometers met the international standard. I have found reference to the JCII being admitted to the I nternational Chronometer Certification Committee (CICC) in September 1969. In 1973 revised standards were applied in Switzerland and Europe when the BO came under the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC), the official Swiss testing institute, but by then the JCII was in place. The BO standards from 1955 to 1961, then 1961 to 1973 appear to be reflected in Citizen’s own. ![]() However, it seems to me from my research that Citizen incorporated Swiss standards, at least in part, as applied by the Bureaux Officiels de Contrôle de la Marche des Montres (BO) in their own standards. I believe that Citizen used its own in-house standards for their chronometers at least prior to the creation in 1968 of the Japan Chronometer Inspection Institute (JCII). There were two other chronometers in the late 1960s / early 1970s line-up, which were 25 and 19 jewel versions of the X8 electro-mechanical watch, a short-lived hybrid design that was soon rendered obsolete by the rapid development of quartz technology. Although it had no such name on the dial, and featured unique logos on the dial and case back, it is described in Citizen’s catalogs and advertising as a Highness. I have previously referred to the ‘Leopard Chronometer’, but my research into this article has led to the conclusion that this was also known as a ‘Highness’. The latter is a very rare piece, and, again, is very expensive nowadays. The high-beat – i.e 36,000 beats per hour – models had two chronometer grade models, the ‘Highness’ and the ‘Glorious’. The Chrono Masters were themselves replaced by high-beat movements around 1970/71, although production overlapped. It is a very expensive piece these days – it was in production to around 1967/68 when the Chrono Master line was launched with both hand-winding and automatic models. It was a handwinding model with a unique 31 jewel movement, and Citizen’s desire to create a special watch left profitability a low priority. ![]() Citizen made their first true Chronometer in 1962.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |