The Citizen Hakuto R lunar-landing project and the limited edition watches

The Citizen Hakuto-R mission will land on the Moon later this year. It ranks among 2022‘s major events since the first privately-owned company will land a lunar module on our satellite. Also, it is not a one-off endeavour but a long-term (100% Japanese) project involving several partners. Interestingly, this piece of news didn’t surface so far; let’s expect to rise among the headline news pretty soon. Citizen watches are among the mission’s main technological partners.

The Japanese brand, which developed titanium technology since it launched the first-ever titanium timepiece, the X-8, more than fifty years ago, has ever since invested resources like no other watchmaker to overcome the main flaws connected to titanium, equally hardening the metal and increasing its scratch-proof properties. As a result, Citizen holds by far the first place in everything titanium-based – and to such an extent – that the Japanese space industry will adopt the brand’s Super Titanium technologies.

Either the Hakuto-R‘s lunar lander and rover (which prides itself on being the lightest rover ever made) will extensively adopt Citizen‘s proprietary technologies throughout, and the brand has begun celebrating this achievement by introducing two limited editions models later last year. Each model features different types of Duratect coating that we have recently covered in a dedicated post. Both timepieces are Eco-Drive powered while adopting satellite wave GPS and radio-control to receive a time signal, respectively.

The Hakuto-R project

Hakuto-R is iSpace start-up’s ambitious project and aims to become the first privately held company to explore the lunar soil, and grow a long-term business there, too. According to the official master plan, they’ll land a lunar module in 2022 and explore in 2023. Their goal is to search for the Moon’s water resources to support sustainable development on planet earth. Is this the dawn of the Moon’s colonization? We won’t know, but the company claims it will soon become a favourite yet unique travel destination.

The timeline pictured above proves how challenging the medium to the long-term project carried out by CEO Takeshi Hamakada‘s company is.

Starting with mission number 3, iSpace plans to make a journey to the Moon as easy as it gets. It might look bizarre how science fiction is rapidly turning to reality.

The Hakuto R Citizen models

The Citizen CC4016-75E Eco-Drive GPS Satellite Wave F950 Double Direct Flight Limited edition.

The first and most refined model comes as a classic looking three-counter timepiece, even more so by top-end Citizen watches standards. It showcases a Citizen Attesa signature style – the Attesa is a premium spin-off brand sold exclusively across Japan and in selected US stores – and houses the state-of-the-art F950 series GPS movement offering plenty of features.

From the materials standpoint, the watch comes topped with Duratect MRK and DLC; the first one is the toughest coating, capable of ensuring a 2200 to 2500 Vickers hardness, while the DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) looks more ubiquitous in the benchmark.

The case measures 44.3 mm across and is 15.4 mm thick, with the entire watch weighing just 113 grams. It covers 39 time zones, it’s a perpetual calendar and is accurate by (+/-) 5 seconds per month (as standard, hence far from activating the signal reception). It complies with the Perfex specifications (it can withstand class JIS 1 magnetic fields) and comes with a 1/20 second chronograph as standard. As a cherry on the cake, it is waterproof to up to 100 meters.

In brief, here you have a luxury satellite for the most demanding tech addict and watch fan, offering plenty of features and in a limited series of 1200 pieces. It retails for € 2,190. Last but not least, I love the Hakuto-R lunar lander’s digital picture on the case back.

The Citizen AT8185-71E Eco-Drive Radio-controlled Direct Flight Limited edition.

Built-in Duratect DLC treated Super-Titanium, the AT8185-71E is less exclusive and technically equipped than the Satellite Wave GPS while offering less techy and more “romantic” details, at least by looking at the dial, where the black lunar surface is laser etched. Its dark look pays tribute to the moon surface’s extreme darkness.

The base specs are as follows: the watch is 42 mm large and 10.8 mm thick, housing the latest gen H800 calibre, whose accuracy totals (+/-) 15 seconds per month under standard conditions. While you can’t operate any chronograph function, the watch is loaded with equally plenty of options like a 26-time zone coverage, a JIS 1 class magnetic resistance and a 100-meter water resistance. Produced in 1600 pieces, it costs 1,390 euros.

Final thoughts

Kudos to Citizen for extending its brand name and technologies outside the realm of watchmaking. As one of Hakuto-R‘s main technical partners, I’m sure the brand will take this chance to bring its knowledge to the next level and hopefully turn it into new and exciting products. I genuinely hope we will see more limited series models moving forward. As far as the launch editions are concerned, Citizen has taken the most out of its current technological portfolio.

However, I perceive both models as too conservative from a design perspective, especially when comparing the CC4016-75E with the 50th Anniversary Super-Titanium, housing the same F950 calibre. The same goes with the new H800 Sport series, which looks more futuristic than the Citizen AT8185-71E, like for like. If I had to pick one, I’d take the Satellite Wave GPS since it outperforms the Citizen AT8185-71E in style and Duractect coatings too.

Gaetano C @Horbiter®

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