Vintage Watch | Citizen Highness 4-770161Y (36000 high beat)

Citizen Highness 4-770161Y: High-Beat 36,000, A watch that Citizen built to stand on the same stage as Grand Seiko. Fully Serviced, Clean Dial

A Citizen Highness 4-770161Y is one of the rarest high-grade mechanicals Citizen made: automatic 36,000 beats per hour, Excellent Class accuracy, short production. This one has been serviced, runs correctly, the dial shows no aging, and the case is in very nice condition.

The Citizen beside Grand Seiko

In Japan, Citizen and Seiko were the two serious watchmakers. Seiko answered the Swiss with Grand Seiko and King Seiko. Citizen answered with the Chrono Master in the late 1960s, then the high-beat Highness and the even rarer Glorious around 1971. The Highness sat at the top of the Leopard family. It used a 36,000 bph movement adjusted to Citizen’s Highness Standard — the same accuracy band as the Swiss chronometer of the period. Production was short. Most collectors know the Chrono Master. Fewer have seen a Highness. The Glorious is rarer still.

What is special about the Citizen Highness 4-770161Y

Reference 4-770161Y is a stainless case model. The watch is from around 1971. The case is sharp and faceted, about 36–38 mm across, 18 mm lugs. The dial carries “Highness” in a distinct script that reads more formal than ordinary Citizen lettering — the royal note the line was named for. Applied markers, clean silver dial, day and date at 3. The movement is an automatic 7730 caliber, running at true high beat 36,000 bph, hand-wind, hacking, with the fine adjuster expected on a high-grade Citizen. It is not a Chrono Master. It is the high-beat step above it. It is on the same level as the Grand Seiko 61GS give its spec but much more rare.

Condition

This Highness is fully serviced by our watchmaker. Running perfectly. Dial with no aging. Case in very nice condition. Everyday wearable.

Specification

Maker: Citizen

Model: Highness 4-770161Y

Era: circa 1971

Case: Stainless, faceted, about 36–38 mm, 18 mm lugs, very nice condition not much usage mark found on the case

Dial: Silver, no aging; Highness 36000 script, applied markers, day and date. I love the font used to write the Highness Text on the dial

Movement: Automatic high-beat 36,000 bph (7730 caliber), Excellent Class, fully serviced

A serviced Citizen Highness 4-770161Y with a clean dial is the high-beat Citizen that most people miss. Chrono Master is the known one. This is the rarer one above it.