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Citizen’s Shockingly Accurate Dress Watch Undercuts the Most Iconic Grand Seiko

Is this the Snowflake killer? Depends on your priorities.

Close-up of a luxury wristwatch featuring a textured white dial with silver hour markers and hands. The watch has a date window displaying the number 7, a polished stainless steel case, and a crown with an engraved logo. The strap is dark green leather with visible stitching. The background is a solid blue color.Citizen
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By Brad Lanphear

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When Citizen released The Citizen reference AQ4100-57B in late 2024, it inevitably drew comparisons to the iconic Grand Seiko SBGA211 Snowflake.

The intricately decorated dial, featuring metallic paint and “molding technology,” is said to evoke the motion of an eagle’s wing in flight. But the layered, gleaming etches over a white background are vaguely reminiscent of the Snowflake dial.

Citizen wristwatch with a textured white dial, silver hour markers, and hands. The watch features a date window at the 3 o'clock position and a black leather strap with visible stitching. The case is silver-toned with a polished finish.
The Citizen’s 30th Anniversary Collection continues with a new washi paper dial evoking dawn breaking over freshly fallen snow.
Citizen

A year later, Citizen is daring to one-up the most adored watch from its biggest rival by evoking the beauty of sunlight on pristine snow at half the cost.

Two new references join The Citizen’s 30th Anniversary Collection of nature-inspired washi paper dials. Both use precious metals in leaf form on the dial to recreate the effects of sunlight at specific points in nature.

Two Citizen wristwatches with leather straps are displayed on a light gray textured surface. The watch on the left has a gold-tone case, a dark brown leather strap, and a black dial with gold hour markers and hands, featuring a date window at 3 o'clock. The watch on the right has a silver-tone case, a black leather strap, and a textured white dial with silver hour markers and hands, also with a date window at 3 o'clock. Both watches have the Citizen logo below the 12 o'clock position.
The Citizen reference AQ4103-16W (left) and reference AQ4100-22A (right) are limited to 400 pieces each.
Citizen

Reference AQ4100-22A has a delicately crinkled, brilliant white washi paper dial decorated with platinum leaf flakes. The effect is more intense and icy than Grand Seiko’s ode to the powdery slopes of the Hotaka Mountains.

My watch so icy

Citizen explains in a press release that the reference AQ4100-22A captures, “the magical moment when dawn gently breaks in mid-winter and the rising sun gradually illuminates the freshly fallen snow covering the landscape.”

Silver Citizen wristwatch with a textured white dial, silver hour markers, and hands. The watch features a date window at the 3 o'clock position and a small sun emblem near the 7 o'clock position. It has a polished silver bezel and a dark green leather strap with visible stitching.
The Citizen reference AQ4100-22A has a titanium case coated with Duratect Platinum, creating a brilliant shine.
Citizen

While Grand Seiko creates depth and detail on the Snowflake’s dial plate with a “silver planting process,” Citizen’s method is more delicate. The brand explains that it is a “Tosa washi dial with platinum leaf applied by hand using a traditional Japanese decorative technique called Sunago-maki, where fine platinum leaf powder is sprinkled on the surface of the paper like snow.”

The rest of the dial matches The Citizen’s Eco-Drive blueprint with sharpened dauphine hands, beveled applied baton indices and a framed date window at three o’clock.

It is inspired by the same classical European sources as Grand Seiko, but The Citizen differentiates itself by its eagle emblem at six o’clock.

Close-up of a Citizen wristwatch with a textured white dial, silver hour markers, and silver hands. The watch features a date window at the 3 o'clock position displaying the number 7. The case is silver with a polished finish, and the dial includes the Citizen logo and a small emblem above the 6 o'clock marker. The watch has a black strap.
The Citizen’s eagle emblem is placed at six o’clock.
Citizen

Even though the case is made of Citizen’s proprietary Super Titanium, which has an extremely tough surface, it has a platinum-like glow thanks to a Duractect Platinum coating that creates a resilient shine.

The reference AQ4100-22A comes on a dark grey genuine crocodile leather strap with a titanium folding clasp.

A golden mountain glow

Launching alongside the snowy dial is The Citizen reference AQ4103-16W, a golden-hued dress watch inspired by the first rays of sunlight illuminating mountain peaks at dawn.

Gold-tone Citizen wristwatch with a black dial featuring gold hour markers and hands, a date window at 3 o'clock, and a brown leather strap with visible stitching. The watch crown has a detailed emblem.
The Citizen reference AQ4103-16W uses gold leaf flakes on the dial.
Citizen

Citizen explains that the “black washi paper dial features a kasure brushstroke effect created with gold leaf together with a brown gradient that is reminiscent of autumn colors.” It creates the impression of a broad landscape view.

The reference AQ4103-16W case is also made from Citizen’s Super titanium, but the golden color comes from a new version of the brand’s Duratect coating called Amber Yellow, which is appearing for the first time.

Gold-tone Citizen wristwatch with a textured black dial featuring gold hour markers and hands. The watch has a date window at the 3 o'clock position and a small gold emblem above the 6 o'clock marker. It is paired with a dark brown leather strap with visible stitching. The dial also includes the text "CITIZEN" and "MADE IN JAPAN.
The Citizen reference AQ4103-16W debuts the Duratect Amber Yellow coating, creating the case’s golden color.
Citizen

As with the rest of the washi dial The Citizen 30th Anniversary Collection references, both watches are powered by the in-house caliber A060 solar-quartz movement, which has an astounding accuracy of +/-5 seconds per year.

The icy reference AQ4100-22A has two advantages over the Grand Seiko Snowflake. The Snowflake uses Grand Seiko’s Spring Drive, the second most accurate mechanical movement ever created, but it still can’t compete with the quartz A060.

Citizen’s other edge is price, with The Citizen selling for just under half the price of a Grand Seiko reference SBGA211.

Plus, if you prefer smaller watches, the Citizen measures 38mm, compared to the Grand Seiko’s 41mm case.

Availability and price

Both additions to The Citizen 30th Anniversary Collection will be available from Citizen in October 2025. The snowy reference AQ4100-22A costs $3,200, and the golden reference AQ4103-16W costs $3,300.

Both watches come on genuine crocodile leather straps with Super Titanium folding clasps, and are limited editions of 400 pieces each.

Silver Citizen wristwatch with a textured white dial, silver hour markers, and hands. It features a date window at the 3 o'clock position and a black leather strap with visible stitching. The watch has a polished stainless steel case.Citizen

Citizen The Citizen 30th Anniversary Washi Paper Dial AQ4100-22A

Specs

Case Size 38mm
Movement Citizen caliver A060 solar-quartz
Water Resistance 100m
About the Author: Brad Lanphear is an associate editor at Gear Patrol covering watches and style. Before joining the publication, he previously wrote for Heddels and Men’s Health. Now, he’s on a never-ending quest to find the perfect pair of Japanese denim.

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