Citizen Cosmotron X8

Historical Context

Citizen commercialized electromechanical watches from 1966 to 1975, during a period of great expansion for the Japanese watch industry, both from a market and product line point of view. Nevertheless, the Japanese were far from being the market leader they would become 20 years later. In fact, in 1967, the Swiss watch industry was the largest in the world, followed by the Soviet Union, with the Japanese ranking third.

In order to gain a larger market share, Citizen implemented two strategies:

Diversification: in 1960, Citizen entered the jewelry market, whereas in the 70s, it began producing lathes and importing Christian Dior glasses).
Export market growth.

To this end, in 1967, Citizen opened its first subsidiary in a foreign country, Citizen de Mexico S.A. de C.V in Mexico. Initially, it was designated only to sell watches, but later on, it also started to produce watches, becoming the first Japanese watch factory to establish a joint venture for watch production and sales.

In 1970, Citizen founded another subsidiary in Hong Kong, the Sunciti Manufacturers Ltd, for watch case and dial production. In the same year, Citizen and Bulova signed an agreement to produce diapason watches in Japan, with the American firm holding a majority share in the new company. This represented the first time that the Japanese government allowed a foreign watch manufacturer to establish a presence in the territory.

The expansion continued in the following decade. In 1973, Citizen established the Citizen Latin America Corp., followed by the opening of Citizen Uhrenfabrik G.m.b.H. in West Germany the following year, for watch assembly. In turn, in 1975, Hanmi Citizen Precision Industry was founded in South Korea for watch case production.

Despite this, in an oligopolistic market dominated by two companies, Citizen was second to Hattori, with a production that accounted for only 30% of domestic watch production. This significant difference can be attributed to Seiko's direct presence in the U.S. market, unlike Citizen, which had only entered the U.S. market by selling watch parts to Bulova.

How does an electromechanical watch work?

Unlike in mechanical movements, in these kinds of watches, the energy distribution direction is completely opposite. The balance wheel, besides working as an oscillator, is also responsible for distributing energy to the train wheel.

In order to analyze how the impulses are provided to make the balance wheel oscillate, it is necessary to examine the electric circuit, which is made up of:

A transistor
A primary coil (COIL 1)
An induction coil (COIL 2)

The two coils are placed between the balance wheel, on which two magnets are attached. The transistor works as an On/Off switch. Every time the magnets pass over the primary coil, by induction, an electric current flowing to the transistor is generated, thus closing the circuit of the induction coil. Then the current flowing through the induction coil generates a magnetic field that pushes the balance wheel. As the balance wheel swings back, it generates a negative voltage in the primary coil, which opens the circuit of the induction coil, interrupting the magnetic field. This process repeats, maintaining the oscillation of the balance wheel.

The breakthrough was the adoption of transistor as a switch, instead of using a physical switch which was prone to wear out, like those used in the first electromechanical watches at the end of the 50s.

In order to provide energy to the train wheel, the escapement was designed slightly differently than in a mechanical watch. While the pallet stone is disengaging, it pushes the escapement wheel, transmitting the energy to the other wheels. It is quite obvious that the balance wheel doesn't generate as much force as that generated by a spring wound inside a barrel, meaning that the wheel axles wear out to a much lesser extent than in a mechanical watch.

Citizen Cosmotron X8

The development of these "transistored electric watches" started in 1964, but we had to wait until the following year (on September 4th) to have the first complete prototype. This early specimen was internally tested according to Citizen Chronometer's precision standards, achieving the same level of performance.

The first Cosmotron (0800)

We arrive at March 10, 1966, when the first Citizen X8 was released on the Japanese market. Positioned at the top market segment, it debuted as the first watch in its category that could work without interruption for one year.

Credits: web

The origin of the name "X8" is likely a combination of "X," symbolizing an unknown quantity, and "8," representing the infinity symbol (as seen on the modern Citizen Series 8 dials).

This model is fitted with the 0800 movement, which features technical solutions not present in subsequent movements. The electric circuit includes a variable resistor that regulates the current flux to the primary coil, thereby altering the balance wheel amplitude. Additionally, assembling the circuit required highly qualified personnel in the welding field, since every component was hand-welded individually.

Credits: web

The lugs are integrated into the watch case and were made by pressing, an extremely difficult processing technique that could result in damages and other problems.

Actually, the watch that I have just described wasn't the model that Citizen initially planned to release; it was going to be this one. The mark at 12 o'clock is a ruby with a stylized lightning logo, which will be recurrent in subsequent series.

Credits: 国産腕時計シリーズ 8．シチズン新本中三針トンボ出版

In March 1969, Citizen launched the X Chronomaster, followed soon after by the X8 Chronomaster Chronometer in 1970, with the latter being more accurate (the Chronomaster standard was inferior to the Chronometer standard). The Chronomaster version was selected as a "G mark item" for its good design by the International Trade and Industry Ministry in 1969.

Credits: web

Cosmotron X8 no date (0840)

The electronic watches imported from the US and Switzerland were becoming cheaper, so in October 1969, Citizen reacted by releasing watches at half the price of the previous ones (17,000 yen compared to 32,000 yen), initiating a popularization phase.

Credits: web

The 0840 movement has the same architecture as its predecessor but has fewer jewels (12 instead of 25) and uses glass epoxy resin (a ceramic) for the integrated circuit instead of thermosetting resin, which takes more time to produce.

Cosmotron chronometer officially certified (0821)

Featuring a grade 2 titanium case, this watch represents the first time that a material used in the space industry was also employed in the watch industry, thereby earning the nickname Apollo 1. Historical documents attest that this material was initially treated at 850 °C for 20 hours, followed by special processing to make the material suitable for watch case production.

It was released in 1970 and produced for a short period of time (about 2 years). It is said that fewer than 2000 watches were sold.

Like the other chronometer-officially certified models, the number of jewels is higher than the popular models, with exactly 19 in this case.

Credits: web

Cosmotron X8 date (4840)

The Cosmotron was evolving into the company's major product, so it was essential to widen the product lineup with models equipped with a date function. This resulted in the release of the 4840 movement in May 1970, which is essentially an 0840 with a date mechanism. Under the name of 12OTC, this movement was also sold to Bulova, which fitted it into electric Caravelle models.

The affordable price (20.000yen) and the innovative designs of this series makes it clear that they were oriented toward young people.

My watch perfectly represents the 4840 series.

From the case back, we can see the reference (4-480112Y) and serial number, from which I can gather that it was made in January 1970.

The dial has a light vertical brushing finish, the indexes are applied, and their surface is polished.

When I saw the case I couldn't help but buying the watch.

The front of the case is satin-finished, whereas the bevels and carreu are polished. The sinuosity of the tonneau case is interrupted at the tip of the lugs by three pointy surfaces, resulting in a wonderful contrast.

The watch came with a gorgeous rice grain link bracelet, which is very rare to find.