THE DEVELOPMENT OF JAPANESE CHRONOMETERS FROM THE SIXTIES
The Grand Seiko ‘57GS’ Chronometer Self-Dater ref. 43999 and Citizen Chronomaster Date ref. HODS2901-
Some of the best friends in the world are at times the greatest rivals. That is the case with Seiko and Citizen, although they’re mostly rivals. Both were founded over 100 years ago and hold important positions in the watch market both as brands and part suppliers. And, as the two preeminent Japanese watch brands, their names are often mentioned in the same breath – although Seiko’s probably mentioned more.
Back in the 1960s, Seiko and Citizen were entrenched in competition to become Japan’s predominant watchmaker. Seiko was first to take advantage of the increasing popularity of chronometers in Japan and realized that designating a watch as a chronometer was highly valued by consumers. So, Seiko released the first Grand Seiko in 1960, to much adulation, forcing Citizen to respond in kind. The response came seven years later when Citizen created the Chronomaster line in 1967, to compete directly with Seiko’s Grand Seiko. Although, the truth is Citizen started making chronometers in 1962, that, unfortunately, were noticeably less successful than the Grand Seiko models. The Chronomasters did better, early mechanical versions were made to be low beat (18 000 bph) high accuracy watches, similar in size and shape to the Grand Seikos (and even in dial configuration in many cases).
This episode was repeated in the 1990s when the first high accuracy quartz Chronomaster was released in 1995 as a response to Seiko’s Caliber 9F83, released in 1993. The first quartz Chronomasters were powered by the Caliber A660 and blew the Seiko 9F quartz’s ±10 seconds per year out of the water with an accuracy of ±5 seconds per year.
Today, the Chronomasters are much less recognizable than Seiko’s high accuracy quartz watches (or Grand Seiko itself) but are right on par in terms of build and quality. The best Chronomasters, as with all of Citizen’s high-end watches, are hand made by ‘Meisters’ and ‘Super Meisters’ – Citizens in-house watchmakers.
By: Eric Mulder