We can all agree that Seiko is bigger than Citizen. The former having more of a cult following than the latter. Seiko is also credited for the quartz movement that almost destroyed the watch industry in the 70's - 1979 if I remember correctly.
Seikoholics will also readily defend Seiko for anything and everything negative you can say about the brand.
I don't hate Seiko. Seiko has had more wrist time in me than any other brand. Casio probably in 2nd place, followed by Citizen.
Why do I think Citizen is better than Seiko? It is because of a particular watch or rather watch lineup.
The Citizen Cosmotron.
This is a battery powered mechanical watch. Not a quartz watch. These were developed before the quartz watch became popular.
The Cosmotron is like the missing link in the watch evolution story. While Seiko went on to develop the quartz watch, Citizen went the other direction and created a battery powered watch, but is regulated by a balance wheel that mechanical watches also use.
Before everything becomes confusing, allow me to explain further.
Today, most if not all battery powered watches are quartz watches. It is not hard to imagine that people will think that any battery powered watch is a quartz watch. Most digital watches are quartz. What does this mean? It means that there is quartz crystal in the watch and this is used as a timing mechanism because quartz vibrates at a consistent rate when current passes through it.
The Citizen Cosmotron has no quartz as a timing mechanism. While it is battery powered, the timing is still handled by a balance wheel just like the good old mechanical watches that came before it. Sadly, I don't think Citizen makes the Cosmotron anymore. They have moved on to the Eco-Drive, a watch that is charged by light.
The Cosmotron is awesome though. This could have been the battery operated watches today if Seiko was not successful with the quartz movement. However, manufacturing the Cosmotron would be more expensive than any quartz movement.
The Cosmotron also comes in a wide variety of styles. While the styling is outdated, you can't deny that these look really cool. Applied indexes, day and date, all stainless steel case, solid link bracelets, some have faceted crystals, and some also have exotic materials like tungsten and titanium incorporated in the case construction.
With the sheer technology and engineering that went into the development of the Cosmotron, I can confidently say Citizen is better than Seiko.
You can argue that Seiko's Spring drive makes it the better brand, and I might agree, but that movement is for Grand Seiko. A totally different tier from the regular Seiko's that most people can afford. To me Grand Seiko is a totally different brand from Seiko. So that doesn't count. Besides, the Grand Seiko logo looks like a logo from a local snack manufacturer. I'm not saying they are bad, they are very cool, but not something the common man can necessarily afford.
You may not agree with me on this and that is fine. But Citizen was ahead of everyone on the Cosmotron.
Enjoy!
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