Citizen has spent a ton of 2026 marking 50 years of its light-powered watch technology, and the latest anniversary releases take one of the brand’s more technologically ambitious watches in a wildly colorful direction. The new Attesa Eco-Drive 50th Anniversary models come in two limited editions Citizen calls the “Power of Green Flash” and “Power of Purple Aurora.”
The names reference natural light phenomena, though I think the more interesting story is what Citizen actually did with the watches. Each uses layered dial treatments, structural color, and a vapor-deposited sapphire bezel to give the familiar Attesa F950 platform a different personality. And to me, the Purple Aurora is easily the more interesting of the two (and yes, I’d rock the heck out of it).
Its black dial features raised printing with purple structural-color film applied to the subdials, while the sapphire bezel gets a purplish-blue treatment. Pink-gold-colored accents appear across the indices, date frame, and city names. It sounds like a lot when you write it all out. However, I think the renderings show a controlled execution considering just how many colors and finishes Citizen is playing with here.
The Green Flash takes a similar approach with green structural-color film beneath a black printed layer. Gold-colored details and a dark green sapphire bezel finish things off. Citizen ties each design to its respective natural phenomenon, but my take is that neither watch really needs the story. The Green Flash and Purple Aurora names are useful shorthand for the color schemes. Fine. Beyond that, I’m more interested in whether these materials make the Attesa itself visually compelling. Underneath all of this is a familiar Attesa formula.
Both watches measure 44.6mm across and 15.4mm thick, with Super Titanium cases and matching bracelets, sapphire crystals, and 100 meters of water resistance. Those are substantial dimensions, though I don’t find them particularly concerning on paper. This is already a big, highly technical chronograph, and the proportions make sense within that context. Of course, without actually getting one on the wrist, I wouldn’t make any assumptions about how much the titanium construction helps with wearability.
The bigger story, in my opinion, remains Citizen’s F950 Eco-Drive movement. It synchronizes with GPS satellites, offers world time across 40 time zones, a perpetual calendar, dual time, an alarm, and a 1/20-second chronograph capable of measuring up to 24 hours. Citizen also claims time-signal reception in as little as three seconds. That tech also changes how I look at the $2,295 price.
I think spending more than $2,000 on a quartz Citizen will remain a psychological hurdle for plenty of watch enthusiasts. That said, I don’t think the price is unreasonable once you look at what Citizen is actually offering and where the regular F950 Attesa models already sit. You’re getting a titanium GPS-synchronized Eco-Drive chronograph with a fairly complicated set of functions, and Citizen isn’t attaching an enormous premium to these versions simply because each is limited to 1,500 pieces.
To me, that’s what makes these releases interesting. Citizen already had the technical side covered with the F950. These editions seem more about giving all that engineering a stronger visual identity, and I think the Purple Aurora makes the better argument. I wonder if these structural colors and layered surfaces look as interesting outside Citizen’s carefully controlled photography. At $2,295, that’s something I’d want to see in person before making any stronger judgment.
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Michael Peñate is an American writer, photographer, and podcaster based in Seattle, Washington. His work typically focuses on the passage of time and the tools we use to connect with that very journey. From aviation to music and travel, his interests span a multitude of disciplines that often intersect with the world of watches – and the obsessive culture behind collecting them.