Citizen’s new affordable Tsuno chronographs launch outside Japan in 4 colorways

Citizen has listed all four of its new Tsuno Chrono Quartz chronographs on its Canadian site at CA $350 each, on the same day the line reaches shops in Japan. When the watches were announced at the start of October, Citizen had not said which markets outside Japan would get them.

The four are separated only by dial color. The AN3714-50H is grey, the AN3714-68L blue, the AN3714-76W green and the AN3714-84Z red, and each dial carries a gradient that deepens toward the outer edge. All four sit on a steel bracelet with a sliding clasp. Japan prices them at ¥29,700, which strips to ¥27,000 once the 10 percent consumption tax comes off, or about $170. The Canadian figure converts to roughly $246 before provincial and federal tax is added, a gap of around 44 percent on the same watch.

There is quite little to argue about at this price. The case is 38 mm of stainless steel, water resistant to 50 metres, and the movement is Citizen’s Caliber 0510 quartz with a 12-hour chronograph and a date. Citizen Canada rates it at 15 seconds a month. The crystal is spherical mineral rather than sapphire, which is worth knowing because the domed profile is the part of the design people will likely notice first. On the bracelet the watch weighs 98 grams, and the hands and indices are lumed.

Citizen’s US store does not feature the line at all. All four references return a 404 there, so North American buyers are currently looking at the Canadian site or at grey-market sellers. 

The bullhead case (with its crown and pushers at the top rather than the side) revives a Citizen design from the early 1970s. Tsuno is the Japanese word for horn, and it refers to that specific profile.