Citizen Eco-Drive Black

Citizen produces range of Eco-Drive watches. Some of them mundane, some of them are classy, some cool and some are military inspired. I want to present my special watch and hope description part will overcome shortcomings of illustrative one.

I always loved watches; however there were long periods when I never bought one.  This one was target of my affection for a period of time, until I found guts to buy it. Along with Seiko solar. Both charmed me. Charm of Seiko rubbed off a little, while Citizen gained. I still very happy with my choice.
First batch of solar powered watches saw the light in 1976 or so. If you can imagine how cool it was at the time , think of hummer on your drive way. It something you can see on the moon in space , news and something you own.  I can't think of anything in the modern world to parallel it. May be drones fit the bill. Later it grew mainstream and learned how to hide so perfectly you hardly can tell it is a solar powered watch.
This is how Eco-Drive watches distinguished themselves from rest of the pack.

Let me start with introduction speech. Citizen Eco-Drive is solar powered watch with capacitor or Li-ion cell. It practically perpetual one. I have old 1998-99 Eco-Drive which still ticks happily, so that origin of the claim. Citizen claims 80% of original charge after 20 years. Though, with Eco-Drive watches, I had to deal with , low battery level (in the winter), can be brought back in no time by sun, indoor laps or anything else capable of providing enough power for a watch. It cool to think about perpetually working watch, however gaskets and seals are made of rubber and have defined shelf time. I would recommend Citizen Eco-Drive or any other solar powered watch in heartbeat. As far as technical side goes it is decent, but not exceptional it has no jewels in the movement, it keeps time within precision I never had to complain about. However it is not internal staffing, but overall watch character turn this watch into something truly special.

Second introduction part deals with style. Style after all and these “heritage touches” sell watches in far greater numbers compared to mechanics and electronics inside.  Military watches were somehow trendy in old Soviet Union, since they were perceived as a quality option. May be it’s true to certain extent. I don’t recon trendy military styled watches in the 80-s. Divers, but not military. In 2000-s they come back to life in all shapes and sizes (usually big ones). What defines military watch? Straight in your face answer will be it is not actually today’s military usage. It combination of style and some hints of heritage belonging.  I read several pieces describing real military watches, posted by actual former soldiers on watch forums. Yes! It a Casio and not an expensive one. When it comes to real use, form never dominates the function, in addition to price point. So Casio FW91 would be best choice, may be something with 50m water resistance. It tells time , night or day. It light and comfortable. It wakes you up 15 min prior, so you can visit washrooms in relative solitude and not in rush hour mode. It inexpensive, so even in unlikely event of some tank riding over your watch, you can get another one on your tight salary. Christopher Walken character smiling, and you know which one!

You can see on this photo Citizen vs WW2/ Korea war era swiss made watch. You may ask yourself, what this old watch have in common with Casio? It reliable(not supported by actual facts), inexpensive, comfortable to wear and it easy to tell exact time. The essence… It could be glowing in the dark variety, however it not always bright idea to have something glowing on your hand and giving away your position. So many old military watches had no lume for these two reasons: price and stealth. It not really in your face  watch by any means or clearly pontificating message about your ruggedness . It is just a watch. 

Citizen is a bit different, it bigger, brighter, it has fantastic lume. It perpetual and no worry watch. But bit posh in terms you can’t see exact seconds, you have to count them.  But it all in details. Hands have nice balanced shape. There is a icing in form of colorful rainbow like effect if you play with the watch it will reveal how color of the hands changing with the angle. Watch is straightforward but not dull. It tell in loud clear voce your statement of proud male owner, however it not overburden with some stories of how it was (preferably in some “parallel” world where you believe everything you been told) . I love it about Citizen. It like a hat story. You can get certain style of hat sometimes called Russian. I got one form Eddie Bauer and it was fantastic : warm and wind resistant. On other hand I saw student wearing actual Russian military surplus with military insignia. Considering, it came with long coat to boot, it was awkward looking combo.  Same with the watch, Citizen is good looking and useful with certain hints of true style to get conversation going.