 Something a little more unusual today, The Citizen Kyoto Recordmaster. It is a little unclear as to why Citizen needed to re-brand some watches under the Kyoto name. We know that they were sold to the French market and possibly other European countries. We know that a number of different model from that era can be found with the Kyoto branding. World time, Seven star rally custom. Some leopard variants, Newmaster etc etc. What we don't know is exactly why the re-branding was required. Looking at the feature watch, the Kyoto Recordmaster, we see that it is essentially the 63-0110 variant but with Kyoto printed on the dial in place of Citizen. The bracelet is also stamped Kyoto on the clasp, yet interestingly enough the caseback retains the Citizen name in it's stamping.  It is safe to say that the Kyoto Recordmaster is pretty rare as only a small number would likely have been made for export to the specific countries, and only for a year or two. It is possible that another variant, the Recordmaster rally custom, could have been made for this market too. It would fit the timeline and seems logical, however I am yet to see or hear of one such Kyoto variant. I would love to dig deeper into the mysteries of the Kyoto Recordmaster. If you have any additional information, or even better if you have one, or even better again if you have one to sell, please reach out to me via the contact page. I would love to hear all about it. Hey, So it has been a while since I have put some time in here on the website and I am excited to announce that I have new information and more discoveries to share. Hopefully I can get some time to update the website soon with my latest findings. I am also excited to have launched a new Instagram page dedicated to the Citizen Recordmaster. It will be a great place for me to share even more about these watches. You may contact me directly through Instagram with general questions or for buying and selling advice or for spare part sourcing assistance. There is also the contact form page here on the website. Cheers. It seems that before production began on the first model Citizen recordmaster a prototype was manufactured with the name Citizen sportsmaster. There is an example that can be found on display at the Citizen museum in Tokyo, Japan. I have no idea how many of these samples were made or why Citizen decided to change the name from sportsmaster to recordmaster presumably before mass manufacturing began. If I ever learn anything more about it i'll be sure to pass it on. Photo comes courtesy of my friend at vintagecitizenwatches.com.  |
