Did you know which brand made the first-ever titanium wristwatch? If we take a look at today’s offerings, we might readily affirm that the first to craft a titanium watch were the Swiss, but that is not the case.
The award goes to a Japanese brand, Citizen, which launched the Citizen X8 Titanium Chronometer in 1970. First, the Citizen X8 established a record as the first Japanese electronic watch; Citizen then created the first watch to adopt a solid case made entirely of titanium.
The alloy patented by Citizen, SuperTitanium™, is therefore the natural evolution of the brand’s pioneering spirit.
According to sources from Citizen, the Apollo missions project helped the brand discover the potential of titanium for commercial use.
The Japanese brand soon began applying titanium to watchmaking, given its unique properties: it is light, hypoallergenic, and rust-resistant despite being hard to work with and difficult to standardise (which is why the price of a titanium watch is usually higher than that of a steel watch).
The Citizen X8 Titanium Chronometer was also certified as a Chronometer by the Japanese chronometry organisation and powered by the second edition of Citizen’s electromechanical calibres, introduced with the X8 collection a few years earlier.
There is no confirmation about how many pieces Citizen ever produced; the Citizen X8 Titanium Chronometer is the first ever titanium wristwatch and, no doubt, a milestone in watchmaking.
It’s hard to find one today that is in good working order and highly sought after by collectors. Japanese brands set another record-breaking record among titanium-made watches, but the award goes to a different Japanese brand, Seiko.
Seiko introduced the first-ever professional diver’s watch in titanium: the Seiko Professional Diver’s 600m. As I claimed years ago in one of my early posts regarding Japanese watchmakers: long live Japan!
(Photo credit: Citizen watch for Horbiter®)
Gaetano C @Horbiter®
