As I?ve gotten more and more involved in the watch world over the years, something that?s become a great interest to me is accessible craft in watchmaking. We all know that you can spend five figures (or more) on a watch and get a movement with meticulously hand finished and polished bevels, for instance, but what I?m really drawn to is the brands that are able to do impressive things the old fashioned way at more accessible price points. Think of anOrdain?s enamel dials, for instance, or the handmade silver cases from James Lamb. We frequently look to smaller operations for this kind of work, but large brands are capable of surprising us with unusual craft techniques as well, and we were reminded of that a few weeks with the introduction of a pair of new watches by Citizen using their impressive Washi paper dials. 
These watches fall into The Citizen collection from Citizen, one of my favorite names for a collection, even as it drives my editor brain kind of insane. Yes, the watches are called ?The Citizen? in the same way the iconic diver made by Rolex is the ?Submariner.? I?ll be honest, I don?t know the origin of the use of the definite article in the collection?s name, or anything about the decision to name these watches after the brand itself. Frankly, I don?t want to know, because I like the story I?ve created in my head of Citizen creating a collection that they feel perfectly defines their brand to such a degree that you could call it The Citizen. It is the es...