Published on May 11th, 2013 | by neversa3
0The Limited Edition Citizen Eco-Drive EYES
The Citizen Eco-Drive EYES which was first unveiled at Basel World in 2010 has finally gone on sale. The EYES has been released as a limited edition timepiece which comes in two colours black and white. There are only 250 of each color available in the world. It is also the world’s first watch to feature a 3D ceramic dial.
The design of the watch is based on the idea of “Light and Shadow” using traditional Japanese aesthetics to utilise natural lighting and depth of shadow in order to emphasize the surface of the dial. Light doesn’t just play an important part ascetically but also practically as it features Citizen’s famous Eco-Drive technology powering the watch using any light source available. This helps to accentuate the watches theme of how natural light affects the way the human eye perceives light and dimensions.
The watch dial has been made from a high grade ceramic which is the ideal material for a watch focusing on the concept of light and shadows. Ceramic can be fragile but Citizen have created a state of the art precision processing technique which enables them to make ceramic dials like never before. The use of a dome shaped sapphire crystal in the watches construction is inspired by classical botanical architecture and undergoes a meticulous polishing process to help ensure the watch is able to absorb light from every angle. There are also 13 ceramic indexes which have been designed to extend the shadow they cast on the dial surface. This idea of casting shadows across the dial surface has been inspired by modern skyscrapers and iconic monuments like Stonehenge.
The watch strap has bee constructed from a soft liquid rubber which adheres to the contours of the wearer’s wrist. The design highlights the design features of the watch case. The strap on the white edition of the EYES has been coated with a special coating in order to make it highly resistant to dirt and marks.
The one downside of the watch is that it takes 80 times longer to make due to the processes required to make the ceramic parts of the timepiece. However it also meant that only the highest quality ceramic parts made it into the finished product as only those which passed stringent inspections were used during manufacture. The watch body and case were constructed individually with the fine details highly polished.
When the EYES was first unveiled at Basel World back in 2010 it attracted a lot of attention for its simplicity and the technical design required to make the watch a reality.
The EYES are limited to 250 pieces each worldwide and will retail at around £3000.
Sponsored Post by The Watch Hut, edited by Stephanie Potter
