The race for the most accurate watch may have just ended; Citizen pulled ahead of the competition by a tiny, yet significant margin.
Their new 0100 calibre has a rated accuracy of +/- 1 second each year.
Citizen achieved this with a simplistic approach; precisely manufactured parts for a precisely performing movement.
By putting exquisite care and determination into all the movement components, Citizen were able to vastly improve the accuracy potential.
This wasn’t a simple process and is an accomplishment that needed time to realise.
Citizen developed all parts of the movement from scratch with every one able to find new levels of perfection from a manufacturing technique relatively new to the world of watchmaking.
With LIGA fabrication, Citizen were able to design a movement with the near zero wasted space between the teeth of the gears.
Every gear passes torque to the next with minimal backlash and optimal efficiency.
This efficiency is what brings the consumption low enough to afford an incredible frequency in the quartz crystal’s oscillation.
The Citizen 0100 calibre has a special AT cut quartz crystal that has a frequency of 8,388,608Hz, 256 times higher than the standard cut quartz crystal.
It is from this that the intense accuracy was achieved.
Citizen demonstrated the benefits of higher frequency quartz oscillation back in 1975 but, even at half the frequency of the 0100, still resulted in the battery draining in mere months.
Now with the energy efficiency achieved by the perfectly constructed gear train and the recent improvements in capacitor technology, Citizen were able to make their dream commercially viable.
The Citizen 0100 is a solar powered movement perpetually charged by light entering through the watch face, and with a reserve of 6 months.