Citizen Watch Eco Drive - Citizen Watch

This men's Eco-Drive timepiece is powered by light, so it never needs a battery. The sculpted stainless steel bracelet bears the flawless execution on your wrist. The deep blue dial presents large, polished markers, luminous hands and a date indicator. Other features include 12/24 time, dual time, alarm, perpetual calendar, and 1/20 second chronograph with measurement up to 60 minutes. The screw-back case provides you with 100M of water resistance.

I returned this watch the day after I received it. I prefer a larger "clunky" watch (they look more masculine). This is a somewhat diminutive dainty watch. If you have big hands or arms, then this isn't the watch for you. Also, the band totally pulls on the hair of your wrist so it is very uncomfortable to wear. To summarize, if you have small, hairless wrists, then this is the watch for you. The functionality of the watch seems great otherwise.

So, you would think when you spend this kind of money on an item you would be getting some high quality merchandise....ummm- not so much! i bought this for my husband for christmas and the very first time he wore it....it Broke!!! we have returned it and will not buy citizen again.

watch quit working after a week and haven't been able to get it right yet

After I purchased this product I found the same one on the merchants website with a better offer. I contacted the merchant who told me to send the watch back at my own expense, pay a restocking fee and I could receive their offer. Not exactly a good taste in my mouth from that reply......

Once the watch arrived I must admit I was disappointed in it as well. It was not as substantial as I hoped, especially for a man's watch. There was nothing wrong with it, but I did not feel that it was as nice as similarly priced watches by other manufacturers. Personal taste I guess.

In the end I returned the watch and was charged a restocking fee. I would never use this merchant again.

I purchased this watch for my husband as a Christmas present. Since I had a bad experience with solar watches years ago (not Citizen) I decided to try it and make sure it works before I gave it to him. First thing I noticed once I opened it was, usually, all brand new watches have a very thin peace of cellophane on their screen but this one didn't have one. But it was a masculine and stylish watch.Our apartment doesn't have direct sunlight but it's quite bright! I put the watch in front of window for almost 4 hours and nothing happened! It did not get re-charged and therefore, I returned it.

Explore new, exciting depths with this men's Eco-Drive 200 Meter dive timepiece. Equipped with large stainless case, black canvas strap, and boldly luminous hands and oversized numbers, you'll be able to easily read the time whether you're diving deep into the sea or relaxing next to the pool. Additional features include a three-hand function, date indicator window, non-reflective crystal, screw-back case and screw-down crown.

I have owned Citizen watches in the past, especially the Promaster series, and I have had no complaints about them (except the need to replace the battery). Hence I thought I might get an Eco-Drive watch from Citizen to "replace" those that needed a battery.

Before ordering, I read through all the reviews. I checked the specs, and so on. Everything seemed great about this watch. I waited anxiously for Amazon to deliver this to me after I had ordered it.

But, it was such disappointment to me after I had received it.

No the watch is working, but I can't return it now that I've used it for awhile.

Before we go into the parts I was disappointed with, let me just state those which I am happy with.

I liked the big numerals. Big and easily readable. Even in the middle of the night, the numbers glow nicely. The hands however, didn't glow as bright, but still readable. The crown is screw-down, which is great for water resistance. I am sure I can use this thing at the seaside without worrying about the water. Nice black canvas strap, but the holes were spaced too far apart. I couldn't get a nice "fit" around my wrist. It was either too loose or too tight. The metal rims around the holes make it hard for me to punch a hole of my own in-between.

What I didn't like was that the date window was small. Really small. As small as what would be on a ladies' watch, I guess. I compared the window size side-by-side with other watches I have, like Pulsar Men's Solar Powered Tech Gear Dive Watch #PUA111, Seiko Men's Kinetic Auto Relay watch #SMA011 and Expedition Aluminum Trail, and yes, the date window on this watch is definitely smaller! They should have included either a date magnifier or make the date window bigger.

Also, either the minute markings on the outer rim is wrong, or the hands aren't ticking/moving "to the right place". It's always "off" the markings, and this makes it difficult for me to set the time. I can only use the 3, 6, 9, and 12 markers as a guide to set the time. Even so, the hands will still be "off" slightly. As an example, when the second hand ticks to the 12 o'clock marker, I have no idea if it's currently the 59th second or the 1st second, because the hand isn't vertical. It's just slightly off to the left (or right) of the marker. It happens with the minute hand too.

For a watch that costs over $100, I had expected at least an acceptable standard of craftsmanship when it comes to the hands and markings/markers. If all Citizen Eco-drive watches are like this (eg the reviews on Citizen Eco-Drive Men's Canvas Strap Watch #BM8180-03E), perhaps I should give this series a miss.

After shopping for watches for months, I decided to buy this Eco-Drive and couldn't be happier. It's solid, it's stylish, it's bold, it's weighty. I worried the size and heft would be a problem for my small wrist but this was not the case. I love the watch and sturdy band, but you can add me to the LONG list of customers who would like Citizen to make the date more visible. It's too small and completely useless. All in all, if you're attracted to the watch you'll like it.

Just bought this watch, my third Citizen Eco-Drive watch. What I like is the size of the watch, the size of the numbers and the visibility of the hands and numbers at night. The strap works fine, it is easy to buckle on and the metal guide works fine. My only complaint is the size of the date feature. WAY too small. I would love to see this watch with large day/date combination at best or larger date readout at worst. I will probable get nothing but Citizen Eco-Drive Watches from now on.

The easily readable dial and large sweep second hand make this watch both attractive and functional. The token date indicator is of little value in view of its miniature design. This is a practical watch that may be a bit bulky for some tastes. Certainly, an affordable item well represented by its photo and description.

This watch was purchased for it's large numbers. It lets me read the hour numbers without using my reading glasses.I am well pleased with the watch even though it is rather large. I have small wrists, but it poses no problems.

The Eco-Drive Perpetual Calendar infuses a black dial and bezel with precise functionality. Features include black ion plated stainless steel case and bracelet, one-way rotating elapsed-time bezel, which reveals the hours, minutes, and seconds on luminous hands and markers, date indicator, 12/24 hour time, 1/20 second chronograph which measures up to 60 minutes, dual time, alarm and a superior water resistance of 330 feet (100 meters).

Summary of Features:

• Perpetual calendar
• 1/20 second chronograph measures up to 60 minutes
• 12/24 hour time
• Dual time
• Alarm
• Unidirectional rotating elapsed-time bezel
• Non-reflective mineral crystal
• Screw-back case

This is a good watch: solar powered, packed with functionality, and the black looks really good. You can read the pros of the watch in reviews of BL5180-57L (which uses the same movement), so I will not repeat them here. Instead, I will share with you my frustrations with the design.

1. Dual-time requires mode switching. There is no way to check time in the other zone with a quick glance; you have to switch modes (see point #2). If only we could make the 24-hour sub-dial display the hour in the second time zone (like Nighthawk) there would be no need for separate TME and L-TM modes! (Yes, this requires an additional motor, and I would have gladly paid for that. See also point #3.)

2. The features are not quickly accessible. You need to switch modes to access different features, and that can take literally minutes waiting for the hands to finish spinning. Minutes to change alarm settings? To see the second time zone? I don't have that kind of patience.

3. Chronograph maxes out at one hour. They could have used the 24-hour sub-dial to indicate chrono hours (requires the same additional motor as #1). It would not be too bad if the chronograph just keep running after rolling back to zero; I can remember which hour I started timing. Instead it stops and switches displayed time to TME (even if it was in L-TM, why?). Oh, and chronograph resets when you switch to either of the time modes (TME or L-TM).

4. Alarm only in TME time. Suppose you travel from US East Coast to Japan. No problem, you use TME for time at home and set L-TM time to local time in Japan (easily done by design). Now you want to wake up at 7am. You cannot set the alarm to 7am; you have to set it to the US East Coast time when it will be 7am in Japan. We use local time for our daily schedule, why should the alarm be different?

I still think that this is a nice watch. But it would be so much better if the designer at Citizen had used more common sense and made better use of the (currently quite useless) 24-hour sub-dial.

This is a great watch at a great price and it was delivered faster than I expected.

You will never run late with this men's sporty, Eco-Drive timepiece. From the stainless steel case, green canvas strap and 12/24 hour time indicator, the bold details never end. Additional features include a day/date indicator and water resistance to 100 meters.

To set the time *(refer to full-setting instructions here: Manual ):

1. Stop the second hand by pulling the crown out to the 2nd click (time setting position).
2. Turn the crown to set the time.
3. The watch will start after the crown is firmly pushed back into its normal position

To set the Calendar*:

1. Pull the crown out to the first click (calendar setting position).
2. Set the desired date by turning the crown counterclockwise.
3. Set the desired day of the week by turning the crown clockwise.
4. After you have set the calendar, be sure to press the crown back to its normal position

*Do not adjust the calendar when the watch is reading between 9:00 pm and 4:00 am, otherwise the movement may become damaged and the calendar may not change correctly

I purchased this watch about 6 months ago. With this kind of watch, after any month with fewer than 31 days in it, the number in its day-of-the-month window must be manually reset to '1', in order for it to display the correct numbers during the following month. Today (at the beginning of December) when attempting to reset that number, I discovered that its date-resetting function no longer operates. While I've owned this watch, it hasn't been subjected to any trauma. The failure of its date adjustment feature seems to have been a spontaneous failure, in other words, which suggests to me that this model's mechanism for adjusting the date is of poor quality.

As in my other Citizen (a GMT ecodrive) the hands don't line up at 12 o'clock and the luminova is unevenly applied. Manufacturing glitches seem to be common with this brand, which is unfortunate because their solar technology is basically a good idea, it just needs a better execution.

Just got mine two days ago and I am very disappointed that the seconds hand does not index with the minute markings. It makes the watch appear cheap and substandard. The movement of the seconds hand is not crisp and defined and may be the result of a poorly made mechanism.

The watch band is not to my taste and I would replace it if I were to keep wearing the watch but at this time I am considering returning it to Amazon since the poor indexing bothers me quite a bit. I don't sit there and observe the seconds hand but the fact that I know that it does not index correctly makes me feel that I am wearing a very poorly made watch.

I am not recommending this product to people that are critical of quality and refinement in manufacturing.

This watch was on order within an hour of discovering it. It's perfect old-school military looks, its size, and the reliable brand didn't give me any qualms about buying without reading any reviews. As you can see from the watch's ratings, reviews would not have deterred me anyhow. Obviously, and hopefully, my experience was entirely different than most owners. When the watch arrived it was exactly as I was expected. Looked beautiful, was lightweight, comfortable, and super easy to read. A five second Surefire blast had it easily readable for the next two hours in the dark. The first thing to show up that disappointed me was how easily it was scratched. Not just the glass, but all metal surfaces too. When I finally put the watch in a drawer permanently, it was so scratched as to be unreadable from any angle other than looking straight down on it. This was at the six month point. I had already been slightly annoyed with it for the previous five months, because once the first month of owning it rolled over, it was not able to be set to the proper date, no matter who tried. I've owned several analog watches in the past that I was able to set the date easily on, but not this one. I was in Iraq, so was unable to take it to a dealer to let them try, but now that I'm home and could, I don't bother. The third negative was the watchband took on a sweat smell within a month that couldn't be washed out.

I still love to look at it when looking at new watches, but won't be trying another one. BTW, I replaced it with a Seiko 5 SNK809K2 Military, and the negatives I experienced with the Citizen were not an issue with the Seiko. It proved to be superior in every way, other than looks.

The quality is terrible. I've tried two of this model. The first one failed on the next day after arrival--the date/weekday wheels can no longer rotate. Amazon replaced it for free. But the same problem appeared in a few months. I had to let it sleep on my desk for several weeks until recently it fell off and the fragile glass cover broke into pieces.

Keep time with military precision while adding a unique edge to your wardrobe with the Citizen Eco-Drive Men's Chronograph Canvas Watch. Featuring the clean look and the rugged dependability of a stainless steel case and bezel, this timepiece relies on the unique Citizen Eco-Drive movement system, so you never need to replace its battery. Eco-Drive is an advanced, technical system that uses a thin solar panel under the dial to convert light energy from any source into electrical energy used to run your watch. Also playing a key role in this unique system is a special energy storage cell that greatly increases the efficiency and dependability of using light as a power source. As an added benefit, Eco-Drive power doesn't utilize the harmful chemicals contained in traditional batteries, so it's an excellent environmental choice as well.

The watch features a black dial with easy-to-read Arabic numerals in white, a convenient date window at four o'clock, a slim second tracker on the outer dial, and three subdials that provide chronograph functionality along with the ability to track hours on a 24-hour scale. The dial is further offset with luminescent minute and hour hands and a sweeping red seconds hand. Even the cool canvas band on this watch offers ultra-detailed construction. In addition to featuring a sturdy buckle clasp that relies on steel-reinforced eyelets, the band is backed with leather, which provides added durability and results in a pleasant feel against your wrist. This versatile men's watch is water resistant to 330 feet.

*Charging information: Functions of this watch may not work correctly if the watch is not charged, or charged properly. Please see the full Technical Information.

To set the time *(refer to full-setting instructions here: Manual ):

1. Pull the crown out to the time correction position when the second hand has reached the 0 seconds position.
2. Turn the crown to set the time. The 24-hour hand moves in conjunction with the hour hand. Pay attention to AM and PM when setting the time.
3. Securely return the crown to the normal position in synchronization with a telephone or other time service.

To set the date:

1. Pull the crown out to the date correction position.
2. Turn the crown to the right to set the date. The crown turns freely and the date does not change if the crown is turned to the left.
3. If the date is set while the time on the watch is between the hours of about 9:00 PM and 1:00 AM, the date may not change on the following day. If this happens, set the date after temporarily moving the hands to a time other than between the above times.

Using the Chronograph*:

The chronograph function of this watch is able to measure and display elasped time up to 59 minutes, 59 seconds in 1 second units. After 60 minutes have elasped, each of the chronograph hands automatically stop at the 12:00 position.
   
    Chronograph Timing:

1. Start timing by pressing button (A). The chronograph is repeatedly started and stopped by pressing button (A).
2. Pressing button (B) resets the chronograph to 0 seconds.

    *Note: Do not subject the chronograph to strong impacts while chronograph timing is in progress. Subjecting the watch to a strong impact during chronograph timing or when the chronograph has stopped automatically after 60 minutes have elasped can cause the chronograph minute hand to shift out of position. If this happens, press button (B) to reset to the 12:00 position before using the chronograph again.

The main problem with this watch...and it is/was a big problem...the canvas watch band was way too short in length. I am not a big person, not overweight, and don't have big wrists..but the band was about an inch too short. I kept the watch but had to buy another band to make it work. A last note, the watch looks black in the photos but the band is army green and the watch face has a green tint to it.

I probably should have paid more attention to the other reviews of this watch, but it looked so nice in the pictures and was rated highly by other reviewers that I bought it, despite some reviewers saying the band was short. Well the band is VERY SHORT. It is not like I have a super thick wrist but the strap was on its last hole for me. Plus, the holes have metal grommets so the holes are farther apart than on most watch bands, limiting fit choices. Sure, I could have swithed bands, but I liked the cloth--that is why I bought the watch. Also, I saw a Citizen replacement cloth strap and it is $70!!! I was not going to throw away such an expensive strap. Finally, the watch face is totally flat--no depth at all--so it looks cheaper in person than in the pictures. For a couple of reasons, therefore, I can't recommend this watch. If you do like it, be sure you have a small wrist.

This watch failed to hold a charge after about 2 months, if that. I left it out to charge in direct sunlight and it would , on a good day, work for a few more hours. I returned it to the factory under warranty,ALONG WITH MY OTHER ECO-DRIVE watch that STOPPED WORKING and they sent it back to me "FIXED" and the same thing happened after one WEEK. I left it out in the sunlight and to my astonishment it worked for about half an hour before dying on me again. Upon leaving it out for almost my entire work day I forgot about it and someone stole it. End of story, never buying another citizen (piece of crap) watch again. My original eco-drive has begun working again but I wouldnt reccomend these watches to anyone who wants a working timekeeper. Not a bad bracelet though.

The watch has been a real disappointment. It is accurate with understated looks (which I like). The watch face is huge and the entire watch is a real clunker. Whenever I go to look at it to get the time the watch has rolled around to the top side of my left wrist requiring me to use my right hand to move the watch face back into view to check the time! The band's grommet holes are too widely spaced so either the band is too loose or too tight. One of the main reasons I got the watch was so I could use the stop watch feature. This has proved impractical as timing is limited to one hour and the hand that shows the minute count is so small and poorly laid out that it can be difficult to read (e.g., is the wacth showing 7 minutes or 8)!

Worked great until day 45, which I learned is outside of Amazon's return policy for watches. Chronograph function works, but sadly the watch just won't keep time no matter how long it is charged.

Unfortunately, Citizen wouldn't provide any phone support, only a recording of instructions to send the watch to their service center.

As others have noted: band runs small, hard to tell if chrono buttons actuate, and metal rings on band holes are larger than I expected.