Jisa Shaji
The shark you asked for, hand-painted onto a deep blue dial.
This launch is a little different for us, because it did not begin with us. It began with you.
Some time ago, we asked our community what they would like to see us paint next. One collector imagined a shark, drawn from the spirit of our earlier Koi Fish, and the idea quickly took hold. We placed it into a poll alongside a handful of other concepts, and from the very first day it moved ahead and stayed there until the final vote. So we made it.
That is why the Citizen Tsuyosa Shore Mako feels less like a watch we released and more like one we created together. You chose it. Our artists gave it form.
What’s Happening Beneath the Surface
Look closely at the dial and a single, charged moment comes into focus. A school of fish has drawn tight into one shifting mass, and around them three sharks circle in slow, deliberate formation, closing the distance with no wasted motion. Nothing has happened yet, and that is the entire point. This is the calm before the strike, the suspended pause just before instinct takes over.
We wanted the dial to hold that tension rather than break it. Not a scene of violence, but something quieter, like a held breath.
Bringing it to life asked something new of our artists. For the first time, they worked in a multi-finish enamel-paint technique built from two surfaces. The open water is rendered in a glossy, almost liquid sheen, set against a seabed of stones and algae in a soft, light-absorbing matte. As the watch turns on your wrist, the two finishes catch the light differently, and the whole scene appears to shift and breathe.
The Watch Underneath
We chose the Citizen Tsuyosa Shore as the canvas with intention. It is a clean, modern automatic that understands the value of restraint. A 40mm stainless steel case on an integrated bracelet, balanced proportions, nothing competing for attention. It steps back so the painting can step forward, which is exactly what this artwork needed.
Inside sits Citizen’s automatic Caliber 8210, wound by the movement of your wrist and visible through the skeleton caseback. A sapphire crystal guards the dial, and with water resistance to 100 meters, it is ready for daily wear.
The Citizen Tsuyosa Shore Mako is available now at iflwatches.com, priced at $890 USD. Limited to 200 pieces worldwide.
Technical Specifications
- Case: 40mm stainless steel
- Movement: Citizen Caliber 8210, automatic
- Power reserve: approx. 40 hours
- Crystal: Sapphire
- Water resistance: 100 meters (10 bar)
- Bracelet: Integrated stainless steel, fold-over clasp with hidden double push-button release
- Caseback: Exhibition (skeleton)
- Dial: Hand-painted, enamel paint in glossy and matte finishes
- Functions: Date, 12 applied luminous indices
