Citizen Debuts The Eco-Drive Radio-Controlled World Time CB594 Series For Europe
How accurate do you want your watch to be? Try a margin of error of one second every 100,000 years. Citizen has just launched in Europe a new design for its Radio-Controlled watches touting such precise timekeeping. The CB594 trio features a perpetual calendar, world-time function, and auto-correction. On top of that, the sleek instruments boast the Japanese giant’s core patented technologies with a light-powered Eco-Drive movement and Super Titanium construction. The CB594 thus eliminates the need to replace watch batteries and offers remarkable build quality.
A European debut
The CB594 is the European mutant of the PCAT (Perpetual Calendar Atomic Timekeeping) series for the US market. The new model has a world-time function with 24 time zones and is packed full of Citizen’s proprietary innovations, which have advanced through the decades. As a pioneer of radio-controlled technology, the Japanese giant introduced the world’s first multi-band radio-controlled wristwatch in 1993. Fascinatingly, Tomas hunted down one of the originals two years ago and shared his “ugly” conquest here. I actually find this young-vintage gadget from 1993 super cool.
Radio-controlled technology
Over time, the coiled antenna responsible for receiving radio waves has gradually shrunk in size. Even better, it has become more receptive to signals, negating interference from metal parts. In 2003, Citizen was able to create the Eco-Drive Radio-Controlled model in a full-metal case. As the antenna has become significantly more discreet, the designs have also evolved to be thinner and more classically styled with more varied executions.
The latest generation of Citizen’s Radio-Controlled watches can capture a time signal from an atomic clock accurate to one second every 100,000 years. Atomic clocks are the most precise time source in existence. The CB594 can pick up atomic clock signals from transmitters in Europe, the United States, China, and Japan. The atomic timekeeping function is available in 24 global time zones.
Atomic timekeeping
The best part of all is that by synchronizing the watch once, it will always run at the correct time, accounting for Daylight Saving/Summer Time. Not to mention its inbuilt perpetual calendar, which will automatically adjust the date, even in leap years. This is because the CB594 automatically updates the time, day, and date based on the signal from the nearest radio tower. So, the watch does it all by itself as you travel through different time zones.
A sporty aesthetic
The CB594 displays 24 city abbreviations on the black bezel with their corresponding UTC offsets on the rehaut. This makes reading the time all over the world intuitive as long as you know what time zone you’re in. The two-layered dial oozes classic sportiness with three sub-registers. Sitting at 6 o’clock is the sub-dial for settings, at 2 o’clock is the one-second chronograph measuring up to 60 minutes, and at 10 o’clock is the 24-hour time. The contrasting color on the seconds hand echoes the accents on the dial and the crown to add a touch of boldness to the color palette. The chunky applied indices have a brushed finish to match the silver-toned titanium case.
The carefree offering
The case and the bracelet are kept simple to provide a sense of balance with the detailed dial. They are crafted in Citizen’s trademarked Super Titanium, which is five times harder in tensile strength and 40% lighter in weight than regular stainless steel. The brushed exterior is punctuated by the Oyster-style bracelet’s polished center links. The case measures 42.5mm in diameter and 12mm thick while offering water resistance to 100 meters.
Inside the CB594 is the Eco-Drive Radio-Controlled caliber E660. This analog quartz movement can run continuously and sustainably as long as it is exposed to light. It also provides 300 days of power reserve on a full charge while in power-saving mode in the absence of a light source.
The brand-new Eco-Drive Radio-Controlled CB594 series comes in three color variants — blue, green, and black. All three novelties are available in Europe for €599 including VAT.
For more information, visit Citizen’s official EU website.
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