Citizen Resurrects an Affordable 1980s Classic with Some Help from Honda
JDM FTW.
Honda
Published February 23, 2026
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For certain segments of gear enthusiasts, the 1980s were all about analog-digital watches and boxy coupes — with both preferably coming from Japan.
Two standouts from the era are the Citizen Ana-Digi Temp and the Honda Prelude. The former was an automotive-inspired quartz watch from 1982 with a unique temperature display, the latter a punchy two-door produced from 1979 through 2001.
Following pop culture’s tradition of circular trends, both models are now back. Citizen has been making various modern versions of the Ana-Digi Temp since 2020, including some Star Wars models, while Honda recently brought back the Prelude as a hybrid for the 2026 model year.
Now, to celebrate the return of the Prelude, these two Japanese legends are combining forces for one seriously cool JDM watch.
Honda
A JDM dream
The new Citizen X Honda Ana-Digi Temp “2026 New Prelude” Limited Edition puts a fresh coat of paint and some Honda logos on the Ana-Digi Temp, but it’s functionally the same as other recent versions of the watch offered by Citizen.
The watch’s display is covered and gauges and straight-up looks like a 1980s’ car dashboard, making it the perfect vessel for a Prelude-themed edition — or any retro automotive crossover, really.
On the top half of the dial, there are two clockfaces labeled “A1” and “A2.” Both of these subdials have been given cleaner, more automotive-inspired redesigns for this limited edition. A1 is a 12-hour dial with two hands and it displays the current hour and minutes. A2 is styled like a speedometer and displays the running seconds in timekeeping mode, but can also perform other functions when the watch is set to alternative modes.
Honda
Speaking of those other modes, they’re chosen on the display on the bottom left of the dial, which is a digital screen featuring an arrow that’s used to select the current mode of the watch. Those modes, from left to right, are time, date (the watch includes the day and is a perpetual calendar), alarm, dual time, and stopwatch.
To the right of the selector screen are two more LCD displays, one on top of the other. The top one displays the running seconds normally, but can also be used to display the date, alarm, second time zone and the stopwatch. The bottom screen displays the temperature in Celsius —the speaker-looking thing to bottom left of the screen left is actually a thermometer —and can also show the 1/1,000th-of-a-second chronograph when running the stopwatch.
To the right of the aforementioned thermometer, which has been given a honeycomb-patterned makeover modeled after the new Prelude’s grille, is the Honda wordmark logo, while Honda’s famous “H” logo sits at the 12:00 position of the dial.
Honda
As usual, the watch’s 32.5mm wide x 40.6mm long x 8mm thick rectangular case is made of stainless steel, along with the single-row tapering bracelet. The solid caseback features the classic and now resurrected Prelude logo, along with some specs. Concealed beneath is the Citizen Caliber 8989 quartz movement that powers the watch, while the water resistance is a healthy 50m.
There are two colorways for the 2026 Ana-Digi Temp “Honda Prelude”: One in plain stainless steel with white panda dial, and the other fully blacked out, including the case and bracelet. Both feature the same blue accents on the dial.
Regardless of which color you go with, both include the same special red box featuring the Prelude logo and a removable image of the new hybrid coupe.
Honda
Availability and pricing
Well, I have some good news and bad news. The good news is, these watches are pretty affordable — at least if you live in Japan. Honda’s official “Fun Shop” has them with an SRP of 45,000 Japanese Yen, which currently converts to around $292, which is roughly the current sale price ($285) you’ll pay for a Star Wars-themed version of the Ana-Digi Temp directly from Citizen in the U.S.
The bad news is these new Honda Prelude versions are exclusive to the Japanese market, and each is limited to only 200 pieces. There are places to buy for U.S. customers, but they’re massively price-gouged — The Japanese Factory has it for $700, plus Trump’s 15-percent tariff tax —and everyone seems to be sold out of the more attractive panda version already.
The Japanese Factory
Citizen x Honda Ana-Digi Temp 2026 Prelude Limited Edition
Specs
Case Size 32.5mm x 40.6mm
Movement Citizen Cal. 8989 quartz
Water Resistance 50m
About the Author:
Johnny Brayson is an editor at Gear Patrol mostly covering watches. He enjoys watches that are packed with blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em details and believes nearly every watch could stand to be a tad smaller.
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