¥1,998 Citizen-co-developed FamilyMart watch gets second release after near sell-out in 10 days

FamilyMart has brought back an unusual ¥1,998 wristwatch co-developed with Citizen Watch after the first release almost sold out in around 10 days.

The watch originally launched on April 17 as the first wristwatch in FamilyMart's Convenience Wear range. It is offered with either a white or black dial and incorporates FamilyMart's blue and green branding in details including the second hand and strap holes.

FamilyMart lists 10-bar water resistance and says the watch can be worn while swimming. It is available in one size and costs ¥1,817 before tax, or ¥1,998 including tax.

The more notable figure concerns the response to the original release. According to FamilyMart, the watch was almost sold out around 10 days after its April launch. FamilyMart subsequently received requests for another release, and ASCII.jp's English edition reported that the company had announced plans for an autumn return by May.

The second release began on September 18. FamilyMart said its wider autumn/winter Convenience Wear collection would roll out sequentially across approximately 16,500 stores nationwide, while the watch would be sold at FamilyMart stores across Japan.

For the watch, FamilyMart also offered a separate online lottery. Applications were accepted from September 18 until September 28, with each applicant limited to either one white or one black watch. Successful applicants are scheduled to collect their watches between October 9 and October 22.

Recent individual buyer reports suggest availability can vary by location. In an October 2 discussion on r/JapaneseWatches, one visitor reported checking numerous FamilyMart stores during a trip two weeks earlier without finding the watch. Another said they found stock at the Azabudai Hills flagship in Tokyo after checking several other stores, while a third reported finding one on October 2.

A separate October 2 post on r/CoffeeWatch provides a useful counterpoint: its author reported buying one from a neighbourhood FamilyMart in Osaka. These accounts are anecdotal and cannot establish overall stock levels, but they illustrate that individual buyers are continuing to look for and find the watch following the September re-release.

FamilyMart has not published production numbers or identified the movement in its official specifications. Accordingly, the scale of demand cannot be quantified beyond FamilyMart's statement that the original release was almost sold out after around 10 days.

The re-released watch remains officially priced at ¥1,998 including tax in both white and black.