ⓘ Citizen – edited by
Citizen will release the smaller halves of its 2026 Dear Collection on November 5. This effectively completes two pairs whose men’s models we covered yesterday.
Dear is Citizen’s annual couples watch program. This year it’s based on a theme the company translates as “Morning in the Sacred Forest,” a winter forest that shifts from night to dawn, rendered as a shade of blue.
The xC ES9491-50L is the cheaper of the two at 121,000 yen including tax, about $765, and is limited to 1,300 pieces worldwide. Its case measures 27.0mm in diameter and 8.2mm thick. A lab-grown diamond sits at twelve o’clock beneath a pattern meant to represent the rising sun, and the lamé finish on the dial changes as the viewing angle changes.
The Exceed ES9510-65L costs 176,000 yen, about $1,113, and is produced in 500 pieces. It’s the smaller of the two at 25.0mm, built around an oval case with a flower-shaped bracelet, and Citizen sets ten diamonds in the index with a square pedestal at six o’clock.
The two share more features than they do. Both use Super Titanium cases with Duratect Platinum finish, Caliber H060, five bars of water resistance and radio synchronization in Japan, China, Europe and the United States. Signal-free accuracy is plus or minus 15 seconds per month, and a full charge lasts about three years with power saving turned on. Both feature a perpetual calendar, Direct Flight, world time, and Perfex, and both are resistant to nickel allergy and made in Japan.
Two key distinctions: The Exceed’s sapphire gets Citizen’s Clarity coating, a higher transmittance treatment, while the xC gets a conventional anti-reflective treatment. Citizen also specifies that the xC’s single diamond is lab-grown, while describing the Exceed’s ten simply as diamonds.
The pairing is tied only on one set. The Exceed matches its CB1140-79L partner at 500 pieces each, but the xC’s 1,300 compares to the Attesa BY1000-69L’s 2,400.
Buy the Citizen BF2013-56E on Amazon.
Most of my time is spent writing, and somehow, it still hasn’t stopped being fun. My work mostly revolves around everyday technology, games, watches, DIY modding, and occasional pieces on the chaos of tech politics when companies and governments collide. I try to keep things simple and honest, without sounding like a product brochure. I have a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and an associate’s degree in English studies from the College of New Caledonia in British Columbia, Canada. Away from articles and deadlines, life is usually focused on making music, taking photos, or trying to finish games that should have been completed months ago.
