Citizen Impresses With Its New Calibre 0200 Made In Collaboration With La Joux-Perret

Over the past two decades, Citizen Watch Co. Ltd. (a.k.a. Citizen Group) has been steadily assembling a vast portfolio of watch brands and watch industry suppliers. Thanks to these strategic acquisitions, Citizen Group now controls Bulova, Accutron, Alpina, Arnold & Son, Frederique Constant, Miyota, and today’s topic, La Joux-Perret.

Since they acquired the Manufacture La Joux-Perret in 2012, Citizen has quietly integrated the famed watchmaker's know-how across its various business units. Meanwhile, Citizen has been hard at work to create an entirely new in-house movement, the Calibre 0200.

This new movement sports a wide range of finishings and ultra-precise accuracy thanks to its free-sprung balance wheel design. And due to a technical exchange between Citizen and La Joux-Perret, the Calibre 0200 is the first new Citizen movement in over a decade. Inspired by a pocket watch movement made by Citizen's predecessor, the Shokosha Watch Research Institute, the Calibre 0200 is the culmination of both manufactures’ histories of modern technological innovation.
 

This new automatic movement boasts an entirely re-designed gear train, including a new oscillating weight. Additionally, all of the Calibre 0200’s bridges feature satinage finishing, a series of microscopic hairline finishes that are more refined than your typical brushed finishes. Furthermore, the beveled edges of the movement are diamond-cut which adds to the aesthetic appeal of the Calibre 0200.

It's important to note that La Joux-Perret manufactures the oscillating weight, the mainplate, and the bridges, but the movement was designed, developed, and assembled by Citizen in Japan.
 

Thanks to Citizen's advanced watchmaking technologies, the new Calibre 0200 achieves an accuracy of -3 to +5 seconds per day. This achievement exceeds chronometric standards and positions Citizen well ahead of their competitors. 
 

For collectors, it wasn't widely known that Citizen Group owned La Joux-Perret. The Swiss manufacture’s movements have powered the watches of dozens of different watch brands. From Panerai to Louis Vuitton, La Joux-Perret is renowned for their manufacture chronographs, manufacture tourbillons, and manufacture movements. Now, the Calibre 0200 will join Citizen's impressive portfolio.
 

Today’s release is a big deal because it is a fusion of Japanese tradition and Swiss know-how. Citizen can now stand alongside their accomplished Japanese peers with a movement of its own design, produced by its own manufacture, and finished to the exacting standards expected of today’s Japanese watchmakers.

(Images © Citizen Watch)