MATERIALS

Responsible Minerals Sourcing

There are several kinds of minerals among the materials needed to manufacture watches.* Minerals, however, come with their own risks. At some point during the mining, smelting and refining process, they could be financing armed groups or making use of child labour. We audit our mineral suppliers annually to ensure they have third-party certification confirming their refineries and smelters as human-rights-abuse free. We are committed to sourcing only minerals untainted by any link to human suffering.
*Tin, tantalum, gold, tungsten and cobalt

Lab-grown Diamonds

With a brilliance and hardness identical to natural diamonds, these diamonds are created in laboratories rather than mined from the earth. Because they are made with the utmost care for environmental, safety and labour standards, lab-grown diamonds are also ethical diamonds. CITIZEN accentuates their inherent beauty by using only Round Brilliant Cut diamonds. Applicable products come with a certificate guaranteeing that only environment-friendly lab-grown diamonds have been used.

Sapphire Glass

An artifical glass as hard as natural sapphire with 0% impurities. It is widely used for watch crystals because of its high level of transparency and hardness. We choose this material not just because it makes the dial more legible, but because it looks good for the long term, contributing to a watch that can be cherished forever.

Mother of Pearl

Pearl oysters are cultivated for over 1,800 days in the calm, warm waters of the southern hemisphere. Their shells, which are discarded after the pearls are harvested, are used for the dials of watches. The shells' natural lustre, which resembles that of a pearl, imparts a refined, translucent and subtly flamboyant elegance to a watch.

Piñatex®

Piñatex® is a natural material made from the pineapple leaf fibres that pineapple farmers throw away in large quantities. Once the fibres have been removed, the leaves can be used as a nutrient-rich natural fertiliser and biofuel, so there is no waste whatsoever in the production process. Piñatex® is an innovative material with the softness and texture of leather. We use Piñatex®, a brand from Ananas Anam Ltd, for the bands of our watches.

Natural Piñatex® fibre has passed the ISO fibre testing standard.

ECOPET®

Used plastic bottles are collected and melted down to create recycled polyester fibre. We use ECOPET®, a brand from Teijin Frontier Co., Ltd., for the bands of our watches. This enables us to cut down on CO2 emissions in comparison with plastic products made from petroleum.

UpDRIFT™

The strap was created under the auspices of UpDRIFT™. A joint initiative of JEPLAN, INC. and Toyoshima & Co., Ltd., UpDRIFT™ aims to tackle the problem of marine plastic by turning recycled plastic bottles from beach and river clean ups into raw materials and sustainable products. Soft and comfortable on the skin, the strap is as durable as any normal synthetic leather strap.

Knitted Bands

ECOPET® is used for the material, which is created from recycled plastic bottles. Furthermore, it is also made using WHOLEGARMENT®, a seamless knitting technique that eliminates cutloss. With the material also being washable, it is designed to last and stay beautiful. They are all part of our care for the planet.
* WHOLEGARMENT is a proprietary technology developed by SHIMA SEIKI that allows the production of seam-free knitwear using their world-first WHOLEGARMENT knitting machine.

Apple Leather

Apple leather is a sustainable alternative to traditional leather made from apple peels and other byproducts in apple processing. Known for its smooth texture, this vegan leather reduces waste and the use of petroleum-based plastic content to lessen the environmental impact.