Introducing: Citizen and Seconde/Seconde/ Cut Through The Noise, and the Dial, With Their New Tsuyosa Collaboration

What We Know

Citizen has teamed up with everyone’s favorite irreverent watch customizer, Romaric André, better known by his nom de blague, seconde/seconde. The creative mind behind collaborations with Furlan Marri, Timex, Christopher Ward, and others—the same one that might suggest your vintage Rolex could use a pixelated sword hand—now brings that perspective to Citizen. Instead of just swapping a hand, seconde/seconde has cut through the dial—or at least that’s how it looks.

The new collaboration is built on Citizen’s Tsuyosa, an integrated bracelet, stainless steel watch measuring 40mm by 11.7mm, with hours, minutes, seconds, and dates. The blue sunburst fumé dial has been diced by a pixelated katana, which replaces the standard minute hand. The slashing effect leaves cuts in the dial and cuts through all the indices, making the center section look like the entire dial has been cut up and rotated. Despite being trippy, one can still reference the luminous hands and the indices at the edge of the dial to know what time it is.

The transparent caseback is half-covered by a quote from seconde/seconde that reads “Being smaller has never stopped Minutes from slicing Hours into pieces.” Under that is the automatic Cal. 8210 movement. While neither the movement’s accuracy (-20/+40 seconds per day, as quoted by the brand) nor the power reserve (42 hours) are particularly impressive, this is a release from Citizen that stays within their very affordableprice range.

The new collaboration is a limited edition, but not super limited like some. In fact, it’s a sizable release—3,600 pieces—a number derived from the number of seconds in an hour (further playing off the idea of how the hands are cutting up the dial). For $495, it’s a fun, lighthearted option that saysyou don’t take things too seriously, and yet the fit and finish look just right for the price.

What We Think

I’ve really enjoyed seconde/seconde/ and his very fun and lighthearted take on watchmaking. I would say I generally fall more on the “don’t touch it” side of vintage watches, but his non-destructive take on modification (you can keep the old hands, after all) is quite fun. Releases like this one are where his work feels most at home. I think being cheeky with a $200,000 watch is… well, interesting. A sub-$500 release like this feels like the right place to have more fun. I like how they’ve achieved the effect on the dial, which would have been much easier with a matte dial than witha sunburst one. The brand hasn’t cheaped out, even though they made it affordable, so kudos to everyone here.

The Basics

Brand: Citizen x seconde/seconde/
Model: Tsuyosa
Reference Number: NJ0157-81L

Diameter: 40mm
Thickness: 11.7mm
Case Material: Stainless steel
Dial Color: Blue fumé sunburst with sword “cuts.”
Indexes: Applied and lumed, made to look like they were cut by a sword.
Lume: Hands and indices (unspecified)
Water Resistance: 50m
Strap/Bracelet: Stainless steel integrated bracelet

The Movement

Caliber: Cal. 8210
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Power Reserve: 42 hours
Winding: Automatic and manual
Chronometer Certified: No. Accuracy of average -20/+40 sec/day
Additional Details: Customized limited edition box

Pricing & Availability

Price: $495
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: Yes, 3,600 pieces

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