In October, at the Windup Watch Fair in NYC, Mondaine and Citizen answered my questions about specific availability of their watches with the same answer: November. While Mondaine delivered, recent discoveries left me confused about Citizen's response...
For Mondaine, I asked "How many people have asked when the Stop2Go watch would return?" Mondaine's representative replied, "Many. And the answer is: early November." As promised, it did and found a place in the collection. It's a new version without a crown, but the signature stop2go movement lives on.
As a fan of Citizen, my question was, "When will The Citizen (aka Chronomaster) be available in the United States?" Again came the reply: "Early November." Really? Details, please! "It will be only one model and have limited availability. I believe it's an existing model, but I'm not sure which one." I should have pressed for more details (possible retailers, etc.), but I was pretty happy to hear this big news, and there were lots of people trying to interact with one person, so I moved on with the assumption that I'd be able to find an announcement and maybe even a YouTube video with details.
I guess that was a bad assumption... No announcements, no videos. Maybe the timing was off, and the announcement would come in late November, I thought. Oh well, let's wait and see. Imagine my surprise when I walked into a Citizen company store today and found a The Citizen available for sale. $3400 is a little less than twice what you'd pay online at a JDM store for a similar model, but this is a company store asking for the retail price. "It has a paper dial," the super nice salesperson explained, "and we only have 2. Most people don't ask about it." I didn't ask either, but perked up when the salesperson said they had a model with a paper dial.
I snapped the picture as proof that it was there. When I went to find the model number, I noticed this was slightly different than the models I could find online like the AQ4091-56A, which has the same logo above the 6 hour marker, but the markers, chapter ring and bracelet are different.
The indices and chapter ring match the AQ4020-54Y, but the Chronomaster text and bracelet are different.
And if you zoom in on the model, I found, you'll note the icon imprint in the paper dial that matches the logo above the 6 hour. Is this a new model?
But wait, there's more...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkGLxQ3iolo
In search of the model number, I checked the Citizen US website. What I found was even more confusing.
Apparently, this AQ4103-16E with its gold flakes in a black tosa washi dial might be limited edition model I heard about at Windup.
Does anyone else have clues to these mysteries? I'm not sure I want to brave going back to the Citizen store (even before Thanksgiving, the mall is a nightmare).
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Great eye. I try to keep track of all the paper Chronomaster models and it looks like you have spotted a never-before-seen combination... although switching the cursive "Chronomaster" for the Citizen eagle is a hilariously minor tweak.
I wanted a touch of gold so I bought a used AQ4024-53Y on Yahoo Auctions, with the intention of having it be my first and only watch over $1,000. After 6 months I am still greatly enjoying it and my urge to explain its superior functionality to random people is barely satisfied. Maybe the emergence of a U.S. model will finally get YouTubers to start heavily promoting the product line?
A few more silver-only Citizen's with Tosa Washi (or similar) paper that don't match...
AQ4100-65W (silver leaf foil in the Tosa Washi paper - aka Sunago-Maki Washi)
AQ4030-51A (older version ofAQ4091-56A with cursive Chronomaster text instead of the Citizen eagle?):
Mystery solved! I called the store to confirm the model number: AQ4060-50W, released in December, 2020. Currently available new on Chrono24 for half the store price...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9DuQle1CJo
So, the model for the US must be the AQ4103-16E with gold flakes in a black dial...
I was also waiting for the re-release of the Stop2Go. I am very frustrated with the new push button crown situation. Setting the time is a freaking science test...ugh. The older rocker style was much more user friendly and fairly intuitive. I appreciate the clean lines of the new version, but I feel like the price was not worth it.
https://youtu.be/J-7Yboh0c2c?si=Cqff2jE66WZfJO8X
I was also waiting for the re-release of the Stop2Go. I am very frustrated with the new push button crown situation. Setting the time is a freaking science test...ugh. The older rocker style was much more user friendly and fairly intuitive. I appreciate the clean lines of the new version, but I feel like the price was not worth it.
https://youtu.be/J-7Yboh0c2c?si=Cqff2jE66WZfJO8X
Absolutely agree. Setting the time strained my patience. And the stop happens after the 12 marker...