Hypebeast Visits: Citizen Opens Flagship Store Featuring the 'LIGHT is TIME' Installation
Celebrating the brand’s 100th Anniversary with an immersive space featuring the Zenshin watch collection.
Citizen has opened doors to a new flagship store on 605 Fifth Avenue in New York City’s premier shopping district. More than three stories tall and 7,000sq ft., the Citizen Flagship Store New York is a grand embodiment of the watchmaker’s innovative and ingenious creative spirit, designed by acclaimed architect Ken Park and his award-winning New York-based firm Kenneth Park Architects. The store opening coincides with Citizen’s 100th Anniversary, as the Japanese watchmaker celebrates its everlasting footprint in fashion and culture with an immersive installation crafted in collaboration with Paris-based Japanese architect Tsuyoshi Tane (ATTA – Atelier Tsuyoshi Tane Architects).
In 1970, Citizen pioneered the use of titanium in watchmaking with the release of the X-8 Chronometer. Tsuyoshi Tane’s mesmerizing artwork incorporates thousands of glimmering Citizen watch baseplates meant to evoke the eternal passage of time, celebrating this foundational moment while also nodding to the brand’s sustainable, light-powered Eco-Drive technology. Watch aficionados can view the LIGHT is TIME installation in Citizen’s showroom while browsing the brand’s signature product lines.
The Zenshin Collection is among the store’s exciting displays, including the Zenshin Three-Hand and Zenshin Chrono, which both feature Citizen Eco-Drive technology, and the Zenshin Mechanical. Crafted from Super Titanium™, a scratch- and rust-resistant proprietary material, five times harder and forty percent lighter than stainless steel, the series delivers a full-bodied feel on the wrist that’s equally light and streamlined. This modern design language carries over to the series’ revamped integrated bracelets, featuring tapered, brushed Y links and a folding closure system. Powered by Eco-Drive, the Zenshin Three-Hand and Zenshin Chrono run on any light source with exceptional accuracy for up to nine months on a full charge. The collection emphasizes daily utility in a refined, elevated format.
A textured, luminescent finish on the dial accentuates the series’ metallic color stories, available in light blue, white and salmon for the Zenshin Chrono. Highlights of the Chrono include an outer tachymetric scale accompanied by three subdials. The Three-Hand, by contrast, houses date and day displays at 3 o’clock, offered in white, green or blue, while the Mechanical features a date window, positioned at 3 o’clock, and an off-center subdial indicating the running time, available in white, blue and light blue.
Check out the new retail space in the gallery and video above. Shop the Zenshin Collection online on Citizen’s website or in person at the brand’s flagship location on 605 Fifth Avenue. Watch lovers can learn more about the innovative Zenshin Integrated Titanium collection here.