In 2018, on Citizen’s 100th anniversary, they announced the groundbreaking, ultra-precision Eco-Driven Caliber 0100. Then, in 2019 Citizen introduced the Caliber 0100 wristwatch into the market, priced at $7000. It embodies Japanese minimalism and high-tech efficiency.   

The Citizen Caliber 0100 high-end, high-accuracy quartz watch is the most reliable in the world. It has a time variance of +/- 1 second annually. It’s powered by Eco-Drive technology, which converts light or solar power into electric energy. It has longevity and infinite runtime, even in the dark.

The critical difference between this Eco-Driven timepiece and previous watches is the shape of the quartz crystal. Citizen engineered the Caliber 0100 to operate with AT-cut quartz. Therefore, it oscillates 256 times faster than traditionally shaped tuning fork crystals.

The Citizen Caliber 0100- Outclassed Reliability

The Citizen Caliber innovation boasts the unprecedented accuracy of a quartz timepiece. Usually, a high-end quartz watch has a deviation of +/- 15 seconds per month. Additionally, the more high-accuracy quartzes (HAQ) register a minimum of +/- 10 seconds monthly. These regular quartz watch measurements reveal the superiority of the Citizen Caliber 0100.

The Citizen Caliber 0100 totals 31,536,000 seconds annually. Every aspect of this timepiece had to be re-engineered to accommodate the almost flawless precision of a yearly deviation of +/- one second. As Citizen is a manufacture d’horlogerie, they have a specialized team that fashions every piece from the beginning.

Instead of the usual pressing and machining to create unique mechanisms, like springs and gears, Citizen uses LIGA technology. This refined technology reduces unnecessary elements and ensures precision in all 100 Caliber elements. Additionally, Citizens employ the skills of superior artisans, who handcraft and refine the distinct aspects of the timepiece.

Why Quartz Watches Are Highly Accurate?

There are three main types of watches mechanical, automatic, and quartz. Mechanical watches are admired for their intricate mechanism and legacy of fine craftsmanship. Automatic watches are low maintenance with self-winding technology. Finally, quartz watches are the market’s most accurate and popular timepieces.

Quartz watches operate on electricity. An electric charge from a battery powers a quartz watch. The electric signal passes through a tiny quartz crystal, emitting a constant vibration. The vibration maintains time accuracy measured in Hertz. The crystal oscillator is described as the heart of the quartz watch.

Usually, a quartz timepiece has a tuning-fork-shaped quartz crystal. There are many advantages to this specific shape crystal. It vibrates at a high frequency of over 32 000 times a second. It barely loses any energy.

Unfortunately, although quartz watches are renowned for their accuracy and precision, the tuning-fork-shaped crystal provides too much space for temperature and gravity deviations. Time deviation is why Citizen modified the crystal with an AT-cut shape- discussed more thoroughly below.

Jewels are placed within the watch’s workings- these reduce friction, preserve the interior, and increase time accuracy. Watches with jewels are of higher quality than watches without gems. These watches are designed to last longer. However, they’re considerably more expensive.

Some of the main benefits of a quartz watch include longevity, affordability, reliability, and self-regulation. However, there are also a few drawbacks, including loud noise ticking and an early heritage originating from the 1960s. People prefer tradition. However, especially with the Eco-Drive technology of the Citizen Caliber, innovation trumps legacy.

Features of Citizen Caliber 0100

Typically, quartz watches are precise. However, temperature and gravity fluctuations cause tiny deviations in time precision. The Caliber comprises only 100 pieces and is made of grade-five titanium. A completely scratch-resistant surface covers the titanium foundation. Each case is individually and expertly polished by hand.

The main features of the Citizen Caliber 0100 are:

  • The most accurate watch in the world
  • Light-powered and Eco-Driven
  • The Caliber is available in three variations of the same minimalist design
  • water resistant for up to 50 meters
  • One full charge can last for six months
  • It accommodates temperature, gravity, and aging
  • They’re handcrafted by Super Meisters (elite veteran craftsmen)

Citizen Caliber 0100- AT-Cut Crystal Oscillator

Citizens chose an AT-cut crystal oscillator instead of the more regularly used tuning fork crystal oscillator. The AT-cut crystal is oblong-shaped. This specific cut functions at a frequency of 8.4 MHz- this is the speed of a primitive computer processor.

The AT-cut crystal oscillator operates at a 100% higher frequency than the tuning fork. The high frequency furthers timekeeping precision in three ways: its resistance to temperature, gravity, and aging.

In addition, Citizen modified oscillator constancy is maintained through recurrent aging processes during manufacturing. Citizen’s artificial aging process involves a temperature test that assesses the number of testing procedures twice. It claims that the test method enhanced the quartz precision tenfold.

AT-cut oscillators expend substantially more energy than their tuning fork counterparts. This is due to the high frequency with which they operate. The elliptical shape quartz oscillators have been used in computers since the 1980s. Typically, the energy needed to run makes the AT-cut crystal unfeasible for a wristwatch.

However, Citizen has optimized the individual components and secured power-wise electronics to ensure the watches are efficient and practical. As a result, guaranteeing this high-tech timepiece is accurate at an exceptional standard.

The Circuit Design of Citizen’s Caliber 0100

The integrated inner circuit is the brain of all quartz watches. Citizen’s proprietary technology monitors the ambient temperature and immediately corrects it if there are any fluctuations. The Caliber’s temperature realignment function illustrates its evolving knowledge and commitment to precision.

Essentially, the Caliber’s oscillation amends temperature fluctuation, if required. It does this every minute. This timepiece functions optimally in temperatures ranging from 5°C to 40°C. Citizen conducts thermal tests on every individual crystal oscillator. Essentially, they’ve improved the testing process for future generations of quartz watches.

The Citizen Caliber 0100 Stability

It can readjust and correct if the watch is subjected to a severe impact or shock. Called a shock counteraction function, the watch’s canon pinions of the hands lock into place if dislodged and automatically release and return the hands instantly. A monitor system within the watch’s workings also checks and maintains stability.  

The Caliber stability is further promoted by an automatic hand correction function, which routinely ensures the watch hand position and recalibrates them if there’s divergence. Finally, this timepiece has an antimagnetic function, which resists magnetic fields of 4,800 A/m. All of these stability measures guarantee absolute precision.

The Citizen Caliber 0100 Motor and Dial Hand Movements

The Caliber is fitted with an effective high-holding-torque motor matched with a brass second hand. The high-torque feature details that this watch has the strength to operate heavier hand movements.

The Citizen Caliber 0100 LIGA Technology and Mechanics

Citizen re-engineered the different watch components to accommodate the AT-cut quartz crystal better. Therefore, to support the electronic system, there’s a reinvented, evolved circuit design with increased shock resistance. The spring, gears, and wheels are also manufactured using an electroplating and molding technique called LIGA.

LIGA is a German acronym for Lithographie, Galvanoformung, Abformung– lithography, electroplating, and molding. Lithography uses light to etch mico-thin materials for intricate circuit manufacturing. Electroplating coats metal via a direct electric current. Molding forms liquid and malleable raw material into a solid matrix.

LIGA is a micromanufacturing technology incorporating these three aspects to produce high-aspect-ratio microstructures. This high-tech micro-fashioning consists of two primary methods X-Ray LIGA and UV-LIGA. 

LIGA etching techniques created nickel-phosphorous springs and wheels in the Caliber 0100. This sophisticated method guarantees the correct geometric forms, temperature tolerance, and no friction. Additionally, Citizen developed and installed a unique gear design via LIGA.

This gear guarantees the purest representation of the secondhand movement on the clock face. The spear LIGA-produced watch gear works against the rotation direction of the second hand to prevent the typical backlash seen on quartz watches. The result is a perfectly aligned secondhand with the tracks.

Editorial credit: Tobias A Dahlberg / Shutterstock.com

Japan’s Citizen Master Craftsmen

The Caliber 0100 is manufactured in an establishment in Nagano, Japan. It’s here that nationally recognized master artisans assemble Citizen’s finest pieces. The Japanese government has officially honored these professionals as Super Meisters.

The watchmaking Meisters build each timepiece by hand. This occupancy is only afforded to veteran watchmakers who have decades of experience. They comprise less than 1% of the accumulated task force. They boast unparalleled skill in watchmaking, including lining up the secondhand perfectly with each of the 60 graduated markings around the dial face.

This disciplined adherence to detail and uncompromised perfection guarantees incomparable precision. Numerous Meisters are responsible for one watch. This has many advantages, including ensuring the other artisans uphold the superior standard of the next.

The Meisters work on a production line and focus on their contribution to the timepiece. As each watch aspect is worked on individually, waste is substantially minimized. The productivity of divided work is increased.

Citizen Super Meisters’ Tools and Tool Kit

This elite watchmaking team uses four principal tools when constructing the Caliber 0100, including hand watch retainers, screwdrivers, tweezers, and probes. Each Meister possesses their toolkit. After work, every day, the Meisters polish and wipe the surface of their tools, cleaning them and keeping them rust-free.

This daily ritual only serves to refine the tools, improving their use on individual watch pieces. Years of experience have afforded each Meister an extensive and refined tool collection.

Citizen’s Eco-Drive Technology

Eco-Drive is powered by a solar panel incorporated into the watch dial. Any light source, a lamp, candle, phone screen, or sun, is sufficient to power the watch. The more potent the light source, the faster the charge. The energy is stored in a cell or capacitor. In the absence of light, power is accessed from the energy cell.

In 1976, Citizen debuted the Crystron Solar Cell, history’s first solar-run watch. Its inventiveness is groundbreaking even today. The Caliber 0100 is forty years of innovation, development, reimagined, reworked high-tech.

Furthermore, Eco-Drive technology is a crucial component of the superb machinations of the Caliber 0100. In 1996 Eco-Drive revolutionized timekeeping. It’s this precedent from which Citizen Caliber 0100 operates.

The Eco-Drive design converts solar power or artificial light into energy. That is, any light source is sufficient to fuel an Eco-Driven timepiece. The Caliber 0100 can operate in complete darkness for six months after one full charge.

Additionally, it stores surplus energy in a lithium-ion rechargeable power cell. This entails that the watch is continuously charged with infinite runtime.  

There are many benefits to an Eco-driven wristwatch, including running in dark/dim lighting and no winding, batteries, or maintenance required. With an Eco-Drive watch, batteries aren’t necessary, and it runs continually on renewable energy. Citizen has prevented the dumping of 10 million batteries in the US alone.

Japan recognized the earth-preserving power of Citizen’s Eco-Drive green tech in 1996 with a nomination for the Eco Mark award. It’s the first timepiece to win this accolade. Again, in 2014 the Japan Environmental Association afforded Citizen the Eco Mark Gold Award. 

Eco-Drive Technology- Converting Light into Energy

The Citizen design comprises solar conversion panels and energy cells- the main features responsible for the watch’s power. Beneath the watch dial is the silicon disk, which houses the fine (measured in microns) solar panel.

The solar panel converts the sun’s energy via a process called photovoltaic- electrical power results from absorbing energy through the watch crystal. The latent energy is stored in the energy cell.

The Difference Between a Quartz Battery and Energy Cell

The Eco-Drive energy cell differs from a standard watch battery following several factors. Firstly, the energy cell doesn’t have an average battery’s lifecycle of charge and discharge. Secondly, unlike regular batteries, the energy cell is chemical-free, making it environmentally friendly. Thirdly, if it’s properly looked after, the energy cell never needs to be replaced.  

Eco-Drive Energy-Saving Features

Eco-Drive watches are equipped with two energy-saving options- the power-saving option and light-level power indicators.

The power-saving option details that when there’s no light, the watch automatically reacts and stops moving. The timepiece regains the correct time when the light hits the dial.

The light-level power indicator is a highlight indicating the amount the watch charges.

General Guidelines for Charging an Eco-Drive Watch

The following are various amounts of light required to charge an Eco-Drive watch.

  • Lux is a unit of light. Usually, an Eco-Drive watch requires about 3000 lux from a light source eight inches away when indoors. After 40 minutes of exposure, the timepiece will run sufficiently for a day. After 130 hours, the watch will be fully charged.
  • On a shady day with exposure of 10 000 lux, Eco-Drive will store 24-hour use in 12 minutes. Fully charged requires 40 minutes.
  • Outside on a bright day at 100 000 lux with direct sunlight, one day of use requires two minutes. Fully charged requires eleven hours.
  • Eco-Drive watches operate for six months in the absence of light.   

Conclusion

Citizen Caliber 0100 is the most reliable watch in the world. This Eco-Driven AT-cut quartz watch has an annual deviation of +/- one second. This deviation is unprecedented and resulted from the superior high-tech, numerous testing procedures, and the professional application of Super Meisters. The Caliber has many qualities, including environmentally safe and sustained longevity.

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