We have so many details that we love when we look at our watches. Some of them are in the dial, some of them hidden underneath the case back and others are nothing more than these small round parts that we use to interact with them, the famous and indispensable winding crowns.

Citizen made a huge variety of watch models, had a lot of watch lines and of course… so many crowns, in different colors, materials, shapes, sizes, engraved or not. In this article I will write about ten interesting facts about Vintage Citizen Watches crowns.

Top 10:

1. They can be made of different materials such as, but not limited to:  aluminum alloy, stainless steel, gold, titanium…
2. Not all the times the crown material matches the watch case material.
3. They can be coated (black, green, gold, gold plated, silver plated…) or made of solid material
4. They have a huge variety of shapes and sizes
5. Some of them are unmarked, some are engraved “C”, or “CTZ” or for special models “CH” – Citizen Highness, “GC” – Glorious Citizen
6. The non – branded ones were first, then came the “C” and the last ones were “CTZ”. These types overlap.
7. Some are screw-in type, some are not
8. They can be made of one part or have two parts (as CH or GC – that have a push button as the central part)
9. The same watch model can sometimes be fitted with slightly different crowns
10. We will never know all the facts about them.

Conclusion:

Unless you know exactly the model, you have a NOS one, or some catalogue pictures… unfortunately you can never be sure what crown that specific watch is supposed to have. This search and documentation is also the curse and the blessing when collection vintage watches, and Vintage Citizen Watches. Enjoy the journey and share your findings (as a comment here or on the Vintage Citizen Watches Facebook Group so others can learn and grow too!