What can I say, I love this watch. My history with watches has not been good. I seem to destroy them after a year with no apparent fault of my own. My luck changed about 8 years ago when I invested in my first Citizen watch. It ran for 7 years before it started flaking out on me, and I couldn't be happier considering my luck with previous watches. Lets face it, after 7 years with the same watch, I was ready for a change anyway. I considered some with automatic movements, I considered some with exotic names and faces, but in the end, I couldn't pass up on getting another Citizen with a 5 year warranty. My only pet peeve with my last watch was having to set the date every other month. This was not a fault of the watch, just the way MOST watches with manual dates are. So when I learned that Citizen had watches with perpetual dates that stay correct even through leap years, I couldn't pass it up! I was skeptical at first that the function would not work as advertised, but it does! It's flawless. I can now DEPEND on the date feature on my watch rather than have to look at a calendar to verify the correct date.
The watch movement is very accurate. Because the second hand comes to a stop when you're setting it, it's very easy to set the watch to the exact second of an atomic clock. After doing this, and tracking the time, I'm pleased to report that this watch only gains about 1 second per month. It doesn't get much better than that folks!
I also like that this watch shows the day of the week. Very helpful while on vacation when all the days seem to blend together. If you put the watch in "Calendar" mode, the second hand freezes on the proper month. I prefer the second hand to move since I never loose track of which month it is.
This watch has an alarm. I don't use it myself, but I did test it out. The beeping is not overly loud and I doubt it would wake a heavy sleeper such as myself. It would work fine for daytime reminders though. The alarm, since the second hand has to sweep around to arrive at its set time, is really slow to set. I say slow, I mean it might take 30 seconds to a minute to set, but I think that's pretty slow compared to a digital watch. I guess all things are relative right?
One important feature I've only seen mentioned once in the other reviews is that this watch features a second time on it. - Like a travel time if you're in a different time zone. It's super easy to set, and it doesn't throw off the second hand at all. So lets say you get off a plane and you gained 2 hours, you simple put the watch in this alternate time mode, spin the bezel once in the proper direction you want the second hand to move, and it will automatically stop exactly one hour difference. Spin the bezel again and the minute hand takes off a second time and stops another hour advanced. Pop the bezel back in and you watch is perfectly set for this new time zone. This takes all of 5 or 10 seconds. On the trip back, simply take the watch out of this mode, and put it back on "time" mode and it automatically sets itself to your local time! This is an essential feature for frequent travelers.
I chose the watch with the white face mainly because my last watch of 7 years had a blue face, and I wanted a change. Everyone else on this site seemed to go for the blue one, and wanted something a bit more unique. I get lots of complements on this watch, especially from people in the jewelry business who have a keen eye. The white face version does not have as good of contrast as the blue face, but it's not hard to read. The movement in this watch is also available in other, more heavy duty cases. I almost opted for a more rugged version, but didn't like the bands on the watches. This watch measures 39mm across the face, and 10mm high, with no rotating face bezel on it.
The band is a pleasure to use. It's super easy to take the watch off by simply squeezing the side band buttons. I nice improvement over my last watch that had to have a clasp pried off with a fingernail. (How 1990's) The only down side of the band is that it's complex design aids to harboring dirt. Expect to wash the watch with jewelry cleaner every 6 weeks or so, which will really make the band shine like new again.
Lastly, this watch is solar powered and never needs a battery! I put 2 or 3 batteries in my last watch and it really seemed like a chore to get them replaced. Another feature this watch has is a battery saving feature. The minute hand usually moves a quarter notch every 15 seconds. I noticed if you have a sleeve coving the watch, and it's in complete darkness, the movement slows down, and the instant you expose your watch to light, it catches up to current time. I didn't realize this was happening over the first few months, and though I was seeing things occasionally when I would look at my watch. Citizen claims the internal solar battery has enough juice to last 6 months in total darkness. I have no reason to doubt that claim after viewing the way the watch conserves its battery. The watch is also 100 meter water resistant. I wouldn't go scuba diving with this watch, but it's nice to know I don't have to remove it to wash a car, dog, swim etc.
So in short, if you want a pretty snazzy watch that is highly accurate, doesn't need a battery, and never needs the date set, this should be on your short list of watches to consider. I'm very pleased with my watch and I'm sure you will be too.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Citizen Men's Eco-Drive Calibre 8700 Watch #BL8000-54A
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