The History of Japan’s First Shock-Resistant Watch
Japan’s first shock-resistant wristwatch, the Parashock, was launched in 1956. / Credit: Monochrome Watches
The Citizen Promaster collection consists of watches used for practical applications. The three families of Promaster watches cover the major segments - land, sea, and air. These are dive watches, sports watches, pilot watches; the ‘tool’ watch collection.
The name Promaster wasn’t coined until its release in 1989. But there is a rich history of evolution before that. This collection started back in 1956 with the official release of the Citizen Parashock. It was then followed by the release of the Citizen Parawater in 1959. The Parashock was Citizen’s first shock-resistant watch, preceding Citizen’s first water-resistant watch, the Parawater.
Citizen’s Revival Under Yamada
Following World War II, Citizen looked to expand its sales outside of Japan under the leadership of Eiichi Yamada, who had to revive the brand after Japan’s watch industry was hit hard following WWII. Switzerland was in a relatively strong position at the time and Japan was struggling to compete. Swiss watches were in high demand as the Swiss remained neutral throughout the war, and as a result, were not forced to refocus their manufacturing facilities for the war effort. Their main competitors – Japan and United States – did have to do this.
Japan surrenders, September 2nd, 1945 / Credit: History
Eiichi Yamada became president of Citizen in 1946, quickly creating Citizen Trading Company in 1949, which would act as a separate sales and marketing subsidiary for overseas markets. Starting exports only years later, in 1955. Along with this, Eiichi Yamada asked his employees to create a new selection of watches to help boost sales.
Thus, by the early 1950s, Citizen was introducing new timepieces, including: Japan’s first calendar watch (1952), its first shock-resistant watch (1956), its first alarm wristwatch (1958), and its first water-resistant watch (1959). More importantly, however, these moves by Yamada are what lead to the launch of the Parashock in 1956! Japan’s first shock-resistant wristwatch!
During the summer of 1956, Citizen staged a series of demonstrations showing just how shockproof the watch was. The company arranged for a special public demonstration in 11 different cities in Japan, of watches equipped with the new Parashock system. The Parashock was dropped from a helicopter in Osaka, 30 meters above the ground in a large spectacle. Many Japanese citizens looked on proudly and were amazed to see the watch was not damaged upon impact. The same experiment was held countrywide.
By 1956, as a result of the successful helicopter marketing campaign, the brand was once again generating buzz.
Citizen’s helicopter demonstration / Credit: Crown Watch Blog
Citizen then staged similar events with the Parawater, placing 130 Parawaters on buoys that were thrown into the Pacific Ocean in 1963. The watches drifted all the way to North America over the span of about a year. When the they were finally retrieved, however, they were still working fine!
The stunts were marketing triumphs! The purpose of the Parashock system was to protect the most vulnerable part of a mechanical watch, the extremely delicate pivots of the balance wheel, whose oscillations give a mechanical watch its precision. Demonstrating the shock and water-resistance of their new timepieces was the perfect way to get the word out.
And thus, the Citizen Parashock was the first watch that would pave the way to Citizen’s Promaster watch collection in 1989. This collection is proof positive of the Japanese approach to technological innovation and continuous improvement ‘Kaizen’. The Parashock was also one of the technologies that really got the ball rolling for Citizen following the extremely tumultuous times for Japanese watchmaking post-WWII.
By: Eric Mulder
Read more:
“Corporate History.” Citizen, https://www.citizen.co.jp/global/aboutus/history.html.
T.J. “The Citizen Watch Story.” WatchTime, https://www.watchtime.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/WT_Spotlight_Citizen.pdf.
A vintage Citizen CQ Quartz in black PVD for sale on TVW.