The World’s First Titanium Watch Doesn’t Get Enough Credit

Most watches are made of stainless steel. It’s a good watchmaking material, but a metal that’s both lighter and stronger is surely superior, right? The watch industry today knows titanium well and celebrates its many beneficial properties. The watch that pioneered its use way back in 1970, however, is all but relegated to obscurity.

It’s so overlooked, that another watch from ten years later was long thought to hold the title of first titanium ticker. Sorry, 1980 IWC x Porsche Design Chronograph, that honor belongs to Japanese watchmaker Citizen, which produced only around 2,000 examples of its titanium X-8 Chronometer in 1970. And good luck finding a vintage one today.

Why wasn’t titanium always popular?

With all of titanium’s merits it seems like an obvious choice not only for military and aerospace applications, but also for wristwatches. However, some of the same things that make titanium an attractive “high-performance” material, like its impressive strength, are also what make it more expensive and difficult to work with than steel.

When the watch industry refers to steel and titanium, it mostly means 316L stainless steel and Grade 5 titanium specifically, though there are variations of both with different properties. In general, however, titanium’s lightness is its primary benefit. While watch brands often cite titanium as being “stronger than steel,” it’s also softer — meaning it scratches more easily unless specially treated.

Interestingly, the Citizen X-8 Chronometer’s case back proudly proclaims “scratch proof.” It’s hard to test Citizen’s claim or, if accurate, know exactly how “scratchproofness” was achieved. We do, however, know that the case, bezel, and crown of the X-8 Chronometer are said to have been produced in 99.6% pure titanium. At 45,000 JPY (~$421), it was one of the brand’s most expensive watches at the time it was introduced.