Citizen launches a 37mm size for its fan-favourite Tsuyosa Automatic line
Zach Blass- Citizen introduces its popular Tsuyosa design in a unisex 37mm size.
- The automatic Tsuyosa has been a fan-favourite thanks to all the on-trend boxes it ticks at an affordable US$450 price.
- These include an integrated bracelet design and colourful, eye-catching dials.
The 1% is called the 1% for a reason. Most people do not have the spending power to indulge in high-end, luxury watches. Being a watch enthusiast is the ultimate tease: countless alluring novelties make their debuts each year, but most of them are out of reach for the majority. Watch collecting may still be niche compared to other hobbies, but as the number of people interested in mechanical watches grows and grows, it does not mean the growing pool of those becoming more watch-interested scales proportionally with there being more people with big bank accounts. Quite the opposite, actually.
The cruel irony is that many of the brands people are most familiar with before they become full-fledged watch geeks are often not particularly accessible. This is why Citizen, a Japanese brand long favoured for its value-driven offerings, has offered a ton of value to seasoned collectors and newbies just discovering its platform. The Tsuyosa, while not necessarily born with this intention, proved to be a massive awareness campaign for the brand as it delivers so many on-trend elements. It’s a steel, integrated bracelet watch associated with largely bold colourful dials – at a price below US$500. Its 40mm debut was by no means super large – in fact, 40mm is a very common size these days. However, the brand has wisely taken the collection a step further with the new, smaller Tsuyosa 37mm.
Knowing it had struck gold with a winning formula, the novelty in the Tsuyosa 37mm is pretty much limited to just that – its new 37mm size. While not incredibly inventive, it’s absolutely an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” moment. That said, any watch designer would tell you that scaling down a watch is not as straightforward as you might expect. The challenge is to reduce the size without sacrificing the elements that make it a strong offering in the first place. Far too often, a smaller variant of a larger model is given the shrink it and pink it, make-it-mother-of-pearl-and-quartz treatment, rubbing further salt in the wound with diamond-set indices and bezel. Not the Tsuyosa 37mm though, which is being marketed heavily as a watch for everyone.
The icy blue and rich green sunburst dials will look familiar, as they are both options in the current 40mm range. The pink sunburst dial, however, is a new colour debuting in this 37mm collection. You still have applied hour indices, a stick handset, and a cyclops-magnified black-on-white date disc at the 3 o’clock position. At 6, you will notice the “Automatic” dial text remains, so in its scale-down, we still have an in-house automatic offering. Even moving outward to the case and bracelet, the crown remains at the less conventional 4 o’clock position, and the profile of the case and bracelet is proportional to the 40mm version. Too often a reduction in size results in a weirdly proportioned bracelet, with vastly more dramatic taper. Once again, that’s not the case here. Lastly, this 37mm version is equally water-resistant, with a depth rating of 50 metres, and is .2mm thinner at 11.5mm thick.
Even the calibre inside remains the same, using the same in-house 42-hour 8120 automatic, which is also exhibited through the caseback. Admittedly, the regulation range of the 8120 is far from chronometer-certifiable – listed to be accurate within +40/-20 seconds per day. But keep in mind the price of the watch, and the fact that the 21,600vph movement does have hacking functionality which is not a given. Hacking seconds is appreciated by devout watch enthusiasts, and makes for a safer user experience for newbies who may not know you shouldn’t turn the hands counter-clockwise on a non-hacking watch (and really any mechanical watch, for that matter).
I think this was a no-brainer development from Citizen. We have seen such size diversification occur in collections like the Tissot PRX, which makes complete sense – an accessibly priced watch with a strong design should also be as accessibly sized as possible. Even the Rolex Datejust, which the Tsuyosa is often compared to visually despite being a mere fraction of the price, is a collection offered in 31mm, 36mm, and 41mm sizes. I would even suggest Citizen to take it a step further, and introduce a 28mm-30mm option with an Eco-Drive movement if technology allows for such a design. The macho watch enthusiasts may question what man would take a 37mm over the 40mm, to which I would politely and emphatically raise my hand. I suspect most people, regardless of their interest in adding a Tsuyosa to their collection, would give it a thumbs up. It ultimately means one of the most favoured sub-US$500 designs on the market is that much more wrist-accessible.
Citizen Tsuyosa 37mm pricing and availability
The Citizen Tsuyosa 37mm will be available soon in Spring 2025. Price: US$450
| Brand | Citizen |
| Model | Tsuyosa 37mm |
| Reference | NJ0200 |
| Case Dimensions | 37mm (D) x 11.5mm (T) |
| Case Material | Stainless steel |
| Water Resistance | 50 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Mineral crystal front and back |
| Dial | Blue, green, pink sunburst |
| Bracelet | Integrated three-link bracelet, folding clasp |
| Movement | Citizen 8210, automatic |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, seconds, date |
| Availability | Spring 2025 |
| Price | US$450 |