This Affordable Japanese Chronograph Has Never Looked This Good

It involves the brains behind Adidas’s Y-3 collection.

a citizen ground y chronograph watch against an orange gradient background

Published November 13, 2024

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One of the coolest watches Citizen has ever made in its 100 years of watchmaking is the “Bullhead” Challenge Timer Chronograph. The 1970s racing chronograph sported its pushers and crown on the top of its case, along with an automatic flyback chronograph movement.

The Bullhead was long a sort of “if you know, you know” watch among collectors until 2019. That’s when Brad Pitt wore one on-screen as stuntman Cliff Booth in the Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. After that, the Bullhead’s popularity greatly increased, which also raised the profile of Citizen’s modern Bullhead, the quartz-powered Tsuno Chrono, which had launched a year earlier in 2018.

citizen watch on a mans wrist — Citizen makes modern-day bullhead chronographs in several different configurations.

While it lacks the original’s mechanical movement and flyback complication, today’s Tsuno Chrono still has its quirky bullhead layout and is a fun and compelling chronograph — especially at its extremely affordable price point, which starts below $300.

Now, Citizen has teamed up with famous Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto — the guy behind Adidas’s Y-3 label — for a stylish new take on the Tsuno Chrono. And frankly, the watch has never looked better.

a black citizen ground y chronograph watch — If there’s a better-looking take on Citizen’s Tsuno Chrono, I haven’t seen it.

Urban Rodeo

The new collab was done through Yamamoto’s forward-thinking Ground Y label, which aims to create genderless and ageless styles.

Ground Y has given the Tsuno a dark makeover. The base watch is the same octagonally cased stainless steel quartz chronograph you can get directly from Citizen, but a black coating has now been applied all over the case and bracelet, greatly changing its vibe. The murdered-out treatment instantly transforms the watch’s aesthetic from 1970s retro to contemporary urban.

a man and woman each wearing a black citizen ground y chronograph watch — Like all of Ground Y’s offerings, the Citizen collab is intended to be genderless.

There are two versions of the blacked-out chrono. If you really want to completely go over to the dark side, there’s a version with an all-black dial. Another version offers more contrast, with white subdials against a black dial for a classic reverse panda look.

Both versions feature white applied indices, a white chronograph seconds hand, a date window at 4:30 and a white inner tachymeter scale. Both also include a Ground Y logo on the dial but in different spots. On the all-black version, the logo is inside the 6 o’clock subdial, while on the reverse panda, it’s above the register instead, sitting just below the handset.

a black citizen ground y chronograph watch on a mans wrist — The fully blacked-out version offers a slightly more contemporary look than the reverse panda.

Pricing and Availability

Both versions of the Citizen Ground Y Tsuno Chrono feature closed casebacks with the Ground Y logo and are individually numbered. The all-black version is limited to 300 pieces, while the evil panda gets just 200 examples.

They both have the same SRP of $575, which is a considerable increase over the standard panda and reverse-panda Tsuno Chronos in stainless steel, which are currently listed at $295 on Citizen’s website.

As there is no added functionality over the standard Tsuno Chrono, the price increase of the Ground Y version is largely due to its scarcity and the involvement of a designer label … though it certainly doesn’t hurt that they’re also the best-looking takes on the modern Tsuno I’ve seen.