The moon holds a special place in the watch world. It represents a certain sense of adventure, the furthest place man has ever visited outside of our world. The Omega Speedmaster and the Bulova Lunar Pilot may be the only watches that can claim to have actually visited the lunar surface, but countless other watches pay tribute to Earth’s only natural satellite. Citizen represents one of the few brands with lunar watches that also have some real space exploration cred to boot, and its new limited edition Attesa models continue the watchmaker’s partnership with Hakuto-R, a Japanese lunar exploration mission.
Citizen has released three new Attesa Hakuto-R models in anticipation of the program’s latest attempt at an unmanned mission, which will occur later this year. When the lunar lander touches down on the moon’s surface, it’ll be doing so with Citizen’s proprietary Super Titanium as one of the components. That same titanium was used to make the cases of the latest Attesa Hakuto-R watches.
With colorful dials that evoke the moon’s surface, the new Attesas are immediately eye-catching. Underneath the dials, the pieces are powered by the Citizen 4950 Eco-Drive movement, which gives the watches an impressive battery life thanks to their ability to charge from any natural or artificial light. The new models all also feature Eco-Drive Atomic Timekeeping, which uses radio transmitters to automatically update the time and date if any time is ever gained or lost.
One of the models, the CC4065-61Y, features GPS connectivity, allowing the watch to automatically update based on the time zone that you’re in. Citizen boasts the time piece needs as little as 3 seconds and a maximum of 30 seconds to update the time and date based on your location–provided you have open sky above you. The worldtimer bezel features 27 cities, allowing you to keep track of the time in other areas around the world as well. With this impressive bit of tech built into the watch—plus nice finishes like a lovely green mother-of-pearl dial and an assortment of extras like a chronograph, day and date tracking, and an alarm function—it’s no wonder the watch clocks in at 44.6mm and $2,995.
The CC4065-61Y is also the most limited of the models, with only 1,900 produced. The BY1008-67L and BY1009-64Y were produced in quantities of 2,400 and 2,100, respectively. At 41.5mm, the watches are noticeably smaller than the CC4065-61Y and don’t have all of its bells and whistles. The star of both of the smaller models is the moon phase function at the 6 o’clock on the dial. It makes use of Citizen’s new Luna Program, which uses radio transmitter signals to adjust the moon face subdial. Both models also feature day and date functions and a 24 hour subdial.
Their only real difference is color: the BY1008-67L features a striking blue dial, with silver hands and indices against a black case and bracelet, while the BY1009-64Y features a yellow-green dial, and a rose gold colored case with black bezel, pushers, crown, and bracelet. Both are priced at $1,475.00.
The limited edition Attesa Hakuto-R models will become available on March 1, 2024. Citizen
