Vintage Citizen watches.
Citizen is one of Japan's great watchmaking names, founded in Tokyo in 1918 and known for making dependable, well-engineered watches accessible to everyone. Its vintage automatics and early quartz pieces offer the same honest value and reliability that made the brand a household name.
Frequently asked questions
Are vintage Citizen watches reliable?
Yes. Citizen built its name on dependable, well-engineered movements, and a well-kept vintage example runs happily as an everyday watch.
What is Eco-Drive?
Eco-Drive is Citizen's light-powered technology. The watch converts any light into energy and stores it, so it runs without a conventional battery.
Do your Citizen watches come with a warranty?
Every watch is inspected before listing and covered by our 14-day returns, so you can send it back for a full refund if it is not as described.
Do you sell second hand Citizen watches?
Yes. Every Citizen watch we sell is second hand, and we use "pre-owned" and "vintage" to mean the same thing: someone owned the watch before you. The words differ only in age. Pre-owned and second hand say nothing about when a watch was made, while vintage conventionally means roughly thirty years or older. Our Citizen stock spans both, and every listing states the year where we can confirm it from the caseback, papers or movement, and says so plainly where we cannot.
Are old Citizen watches worth buying?
An old Citizen in honest condition is usually better value than a new fashion watch at the same money, because the depreciation has already happened and you are buying a watch that has proved it lasts. What matters is the individual piece rather than the age: an original dial, a case that has not been over-polished, and a movement that has been serviced or is priced to allow for it. We inspect and test every Citizen watch in London and describe wear in plain English rather than cropping it out of the photographs.
What makes a Citizen watch a classic?
A classic watch is one whose design has stopped dating, and the test is simply time: a shape that looked right thirty years ago and still looks right now. In practice that means restraint, a legible dial, proportions that suit a wrist rather than a trend, and a case shape that was not chasing the fashion of its decade. The classic Citizen designs are the ones that keep reappearing in our stock precisely because people kept them and wore them, which is the most honest evidence a design has lasted.
What is the difference between a vintage and an antique Citizen watch?
Antique conventionally means a hundred years or older, and vintage roughly thirty years or older, so almost everything described as an antique wristwatch is really a vintage one. Wristwatches only became common after the First World War, which is why genuine antique examples are mostly pocket watches. Our Citizen collection is vintage and pre-owned rather than antique, and each listing gives the year or era we have been able to confirm.
