Citizen Introduces the Hakuto-R GPS Chronograph
Having debuted the world’s first titanium wristwatch in 1970 – it was the X-8 Chronometer with a case of nearly pure titanium – Citizen now boasts some 50 years of experience with the lightweight metal. Now the brand has taken its materials expertise into outer space, literally. Citizen supplies its proprietary Super Titanium alloy to ispace, a Japanese company that specialises in robotic spacecraft technology for landers and rovers. Ispace utilises Super Titanium for the legs of the lunar lander slated to launch around the end of 2022. Known as Hakuto-R, the ispace lunar programme now as its own commemorative watch, the Citizen Hakuto-R Collaboration Satellite Wave GPS F950. Its case is naturally Super Titanium but some components are made of “Recrystallised Titanium”, a unique, textured alloy that evokes the Moon’s surface. Initial thoughts Like many high-end quartz watches, the Hakuto-R is an electronic grand complication – it features a perpetual calendar, world time, a 1/20th of a second chronograph, and then some. Though this isn’t the first Hakuto-R collaboration, it is the most appealing in terms of aesthetics. It looks the part for a high-end quartz watch – even without the GPS sync it will run within five seconds a month. It has busy, complex aesthetics entirely appropriate for a watch packed with various cutting-edge features. But like Citizen’s other high-end electronic watches, also excellent fit and finish on the external components suc...
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