Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In the early 1970s, the Quartz Crisis changed watchmaking forever—but early quartz movements had a massive flaw. They were incredibly inefficient, burning through single-use batteries and creating a nightmare of waste and cost for consumers.
Then, Citizen stepped in.In 1976, Citizen engineers launched the world’s first light-powered watch: the Crystron Solar Cell. This was the birth of Eco-Drive, a revolutionary technology that has since prevented over 100+ million single-use batteries from ending up in landfills. If you stacked those batteries up, the pile would reach outer space.
But Citizen didn't stop there. Under their company ethos of "Better Starts Now," they’ve quietly become the largest movement manufacturer in the world, pushing out over 100 million movements a year.
In the early 1970s, the Quartz Crisis changed watchmaking forever—but early quartz movements had a massive flaw. They were incredibly inefficient, burning through single-use batteries and creating a nightmare of waste and cost for consumers.
Then, Citizen stepped in.In 1976, Citizen engineers launched the world’s first light-powered watch: the Crystron Solar Cell. This was the birth of Eco-Drive, a revolutionary technology that has since prevented over 100+ million single-use batteries from ending up in landfills. If you stacked those batteries up, the pile would reach outer space.
But Citizen didn't stop there. Under their company ethos of "Better Starts Now," they’ve quietly become the largest movement manufacturer in the world, pushing out over 100 million movements a year.
