Citizen Release Washi Paper Dial Limited Edition with Platinum Leaf Decoration

When you think of Japanese brand Citizen, chances are you immediately think of hyper accessible timepieces like the Tsuyosa. However, that doesn’t mean they’re incapable of turning up the luxury every once in a while, as the Citizen Limited Edition Washi Paper Dial proves. It combines Citizen’s ultra-precise eco-drive movement with traditional Japanese crafts and a healthy dose of platinum leaf powder.

Kicking things off is the case, which is based on previous Super Titanium time and date models. It measures 38.3mm in diameter with a fairly sporty design featuring facetted lugs, a smooth sloping bezel and metal bracelet. The metal in question for both the case and bracelet is Citizen’s Super Titanium, which is what they call titanium treated with their Duratect surface hardening treatment to increase the lightweight material’s scratch resistance and durability. What makes the Washi Paper edition special is that they’ve used Duractect Platinum, giving the titanium a high lustre akin to the precious metal.

However, while the case is nice, the main focus of the piece is the dial. It’s made using Tosa washi paper, a material that’s often used in paper screens in traditional Japanese homes to diffuse light through a living space. It makes for an incredibly delicate texture of interweaving fibres.

On top of that, Citizen has used a traditional technique called Sunago-maki to apply a platinum leaf powder, whereby the powder is carefully sprinkled onto the surface using a bamboo tube. Each application of Sunago-maki is unique and no two of the 500 limited editions are the same.

It almost takes a bit of mental gymnastics to get over the juxtaposition of saying Citizen and platinum in the same sentence. Though compared to a watch like the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar in platinum the overall amount of the material present is dramatically lower. But there’s still enough that in combination with the washi dial and Super Titanium case it warrants the Citizen Limited Edition Washi Paper Dial having a price of £3,595.

​Oracle Time 

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