Description
Citizen mechanical wristwatch
MADE IN JAPAN
The Citizen Legacy: A Pioneer of Precision
Founded in 1918, Citizen is now one of the largest watch and movement groups in the world. The Japanese brand is known for its highly accurate and reliable Eco-Drive solar-powered watches. The Citizen group owns Bulova, Alpina, Frederique Constant, and Arnold & Son, as well as movement manufacturers Miyota and La Joux-Perret.
About the Leopard Line
The Leopard was Citizen’s high-beat automatic range, launched around 1969 to compete with Seiko’s upper-middle offerings of the day, King Seiko and Lord Matic. Where the ordinary movements of the period ticked at 18,000 or 21,600 beats per hour, Leopard calibres ran at 28,800, and the top variants at 36,000. The higher frequency gives better timekeeping stability and the smooth sweep of the seconds hand the line is known for.
Citizen built around 15 to 20 Leopard movement variations on its 72xx and 77xx families, with jewel counts from 24 to 32. The line sat high in Citizen’s range, below the Chronomaster and alongside the Glorious and Highness grades, and the movements typically offered hand winding, hacking seconds and quick-set day and date. The dials of this era carry the line’s own marking, “SUPER BEAT”, rather than Seiko’s “Hi-Beat”.
The Leopard ran for only a few years before quartz redirected the industry, so the examples met today are almost all from the late 1960s and early 1970s.
About This Watch
This Citizen Leopard Super Beat, case reference 4-770307 TA, was made in August 1971. Citizen’s 8-digit serial starts with the last digit of the year and the two-digit month, so serial 10806222 reads 1 = 1971, 08 = August, which sits squarely inside the Leopard’s short production run. The PARA WATER marking on the case back belongs to the same period.
The silver sunburst dial carries applied polished baton markers, black-filled baton hands and a framed day-date window at 3 o’clock, with the day in red. The day wheel is bilingual, in English and Japanese Kanji. The case is a brushed barrel shape with a polished bezel, and the crown sits low in a cut-out in the right flank, between 3 and 4 o’clock, clear of the back of the hand.
Inside is Citizen’s own calibre 7720, stamped on the case back and confirmed by the case number: Citizen’s 4-77xxxx case numbers belong to the 77xx movement family. It runs at 28,800 beats per hour, winds automatically and by hand, hacks when the crown is pulled, and quick-sets both day and date. The rotor is stamped CITIZEN 28 JEWELS JAPAN, matching the 28 JEWELS printed on the dial.
It is fitted with a Citizen-signed steel bracelet with a fold-over clasp.
Technical Specifications
- Brand: Citizen
- Line: Leopard Super Beat
- Reference Number: 4-770307 TA (dial code 7700-770410 KA)
- Movement: Citizen cal. 7720, automatic with hand winding and hacking, 28 jewels, 28,800 bph
- Serial Number: 10806222
- Production Date: August 1971 (from the serial)
- Case Material: Stainless steel
- Case Diameter: Approx. 35 mm (excluding crown)
- Lug Width: 18 mm
- Dial: Silver sunburst, applied baton markers, day-date at 3 o’clock with bilingual English / Kanji day wheel
- Crystal: Mineral
- Case-back: Screw-down, stainless steel, stamped PARA WATER and GN-5-S
- Country of Manufacture: Japan
Condition Report
The dial is clean, with an even sunburst and no visible spotting; the markers and hands are bright. The case shows light scratches on the brushed surfaces and a few small marks on the left flank, the normal wear of a watch worn for over fifty years. The bracelet is in good working order, with surface scratches on the signed clasp cover. As shown on the sizing cylinder, it closes at around 150 mm.
This watch has recently been serviced by a professional watchmaker and keeps good time.
Comes complete with original steel bracelet*.
(*)Note: Stock bracelets are often shortened by previous owners and may not fit you(see bracelet size in the product images). We match the strap to this watch’s lug width, so there is nothing for you to measure — just pick a padded leather strap for Citizen from the options at the top of the page.
This watch ships from 🇺🇦 Ukraine with tracking number
Why Collectors Want This Watch Today
The Leopard is the most accessible way into Citizen’s high-beat years: a 28,800 bph, 28-jewel in-house automatic with hand winding, hacking and quick-set day-date, from the short window before quartz ended the race for mechanical precision. This one has the silver sunburst dial, the bilingual day wheel and a Citizen-signed bracelet, in a compact 35 mm case that wears well on a smaller wrist. The Leopard turns up regularly on the Japanese market, so the appeal is the movement and the design rather than scarcity.
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We guarantee the item you receive looks and works exactly as advertised — or your money back.
Citizen lug-width matched leather straps — 18 / 19 / 20 mm
About the watch factory
The Spirit of Innovation: The Citizen Legacy
Founded in 1918 with the mission of creating timepieces that are “Citizens” of the world, the Citizen Watch Company has spent over a century redefining the boundaries of horology. From its origins as the Shokosha Watch Research Institute, the brand has remained steadfast in its philosophy: “Better Starts Now.” This belief—that it is always possible to make something better—transformed a local Japanese workshop into a global powerhouse of precision and craft. By controlling the entire manufacturing process in-house, from the individual components to the final assembly, Citizen ensures an uncompromising standard of quality that few manufacturers on earth can match.
What truly sets Citizen apart is its relentless pursuit of pioneering technology paired with environmental consciousness. The brand made history by introducing the world’s first light-powered analogue watch — the Crystron Solar Cell of 1976, the technology Citizen later branded Eco-Drive, which eliminated the need for battery replacements and forever changed the industry’s approach to sustainability. Beyond its eco-friendly milestones, Citizen’s history is decorated with “world firsts,” including the first professional diving watch with an electronic depth sensor and the most accurate satellite-synchronized timekeeping systems. When you wear a Citizen, you aren’t just wearing a watch; you are wearing a piece of history engineered for the future.
Why Choose Citizen?
- In-House Manufacturing: Citizen designs and builds its own movements — its Miyota calibers are among the most widely used in the world.
- Built to Last: Citizen engineered its 1960s–70s calibers to be serviced rather than discarded, which is why so many are still keeping good time today.
- Heritage of Firsts: The first light-powered analogue watch (1976, the technology that became Eco-Drive), the first dive watch with an electronic depth sensor, and satellite-synchronised timekeeping.
