RC—June 22, 2025
This Citizen Men's Classic Eco-Drive Leather Strap Watch represents an exceptionally positive acquisition, distinguished not only by its inherent quality but also by its significant personal value. As a foundational timepiece, it holds a unique sentimental significance, transcending its monetary cost. From a functional perspective, this watch delivers reliable performance. The Eco-Drive technology eliminates the need for battery replacements, a considerable convenience that underscores its practical design. Its Japanese quartz movement ensures highly accurate timekeeping, a hallmark of precision engineering. Aesthetically, the watch is remarkably well-suited for formal and business casual attire, making it an excellent dress watch. Its slim profile ensures it fits comfortably under shirt cuffs without bulk, contributing to a sleek and refined appearance. The gold accents against the classic design add a touch of understated elegance, enhancing its visual appeal without being overly ostentatious. Despite its sophisticated look and reliable mechanism, the watch remains accessibly priced, offering exceptional value for a piece of its caliber. This blend of dependable performance, elegant design, and personal resonance makes it a highly recommended and cherished item. Read more
Mark R. Wietstock—April 23, 2019
I chose this watch over another, similar Citizen with a standard battery. I figured if I ended up not liking it, I’d just return it and get the other one. However, I’ve decided I LOVE the look of this watch. The photos really don't do it justice ... it looks a lot nicer “live.” Take the time to learn about Citizen’s “Eco-drive.” I saw a few reviews from people who complained the watch didn't work right for them. Don’t know what that’s about, but Citizen has been making watches for about a hundred years, and I’m pretty sure they aren’t sending out many that “don’t work right.” I’m also sure they’ll immediately replace any new watch that turns out to be defective in ANY way. I suspect these reviewers never bothered to go online and read/understand all the instructions for the “Eco-drive,” and/or fully charge the watch before they started using it for the first time. For example, when the watch is low on power, it starts moving at two second intervals to tell the user it needs charging. That’s what mine was doing when I first took it out of its container, and if I hadn’t bothered to educate myself on this feature of the watch, I might also have thought at first that the watch was defective. The watch doesn’t come with any full, written instructions ... you have to go online to find/read them. When you do, you’ll learn that in order to “fully charge” the power cell in an Eco-drive the first time, you have to put the watch under a continuous light source for a pretty long time: direct sunlight: 11 HOURS; cloudy sky, 40 HOURS; 30W flourescent light, at distance of 8 inches, 130 HOURS. Once you’ve done that, the watch will then remain properly charged/working right on much shorter periods of light exposure (as pretty much everyone expects these watches to do). If you don’t do that, it will keep draining quickly, performing poorly, etc. It was cloudy and late in the day when mine arrived at my house, so I decided to start by leaving the watch under an LED desk lamp overnight (probably more juice than a 30W flourescent), and then in direct sunlight for about 8 hours the following day. After that, the watch worked flawlessly. Once I finished the initial charging, I set it very precisely against the clock on my computer, and checked it the following day (e.g., after being in the dark overnight), and found it to be exactly on time, to the second. When properly charged, I think this watch will keep time as well as any other watch out there with a Japanese quartz movement. Citizen movements are “industry standard” for most quality watches claiming a “Japan movement,” with accuracy ratings of around +/- 20 seconds a month. “Don’t make me get the strap ...” Some other reviewers have mentioned that the strap that comes with the watch looks cheap, but it isn’t really. It’s a “Citizen” strap, made in Thailand, “genuine leather” with the softer, top grain stuff on the inside; seems pliable and nicely finished to me, and a good cosmetic match for the watch. But if you wear the watch a lot, particularly in humid conditions, and/or if the skin on your wrist perspires a lot, you’ll probably need a replacement strap before too long. However, here’s the rub. If your wrist is 8 inches or more around (mine’s right around that, and this strap *just* fits at its maximum width), this band probably won’t comfortably fit you, and its 21mm width at the point where it connects to the watch is an oddball size for which very few decent replacement options are available. Citizen does not make an “extra long” replacement for the band they provide with this watch, and it literally took me days of searching before I finally found a “not-as-good” replacement band on E-bay that didn’t cost a fortune. The main “thing” with this watch is just making sure it sees enough daylight to keep the power system healthy. Just wearing the watch on a regular basis should do the trick for most users. However, if you typically wear your watch under the cuff of a long-sleeved shirt or jacket, you’ll probably want to take it off and put it under direct sunlight for a few hours once a week or so, just to make sure the power cell is regularly getting enough good back-up charges. TMK, Citizen was the first watch maker to mass produce a solar-powered wristwatch, and I’m guessing that by this time, they’ve made and sold more of them than any other manufacturer on planet Earth, so their “Eco-drive” system is probably as good as it gets for this price. It’s a “gimmicky” technology, with the same set of quirks/issues found in all “solar” stuff, but I still like it, and I’m glad I got this watch. It looks sharp, keeps good time; I can now brag that MY watch is “greener” than YOURS; I like the fact that it’ll run a VERY long time without needing a battery replacement, and I’m sure it will provide more than enough years of trouble-free service to justify its relatively modest cost. [P.S. to original review ... after about a week of checking the watch against the clock on my computer, I noted that it's creeping a little faster, probably around a half-second every 24 hours. So after a month of running, it should be around 15 seconds faster than the original set time ... within the published margin of error for Citizen "Miyota" quartz movements: +/- 20 seconds per month. Works for me ... still love the watch, and don't mind having to occasionally re-synchronize it. Anyone who wants/needs a timepiece more exact than that should spend the extra $$ on one of those atomic/radio-controlled jobs ...] Read more
Jobany—May 3, 2016
This watch is awesome, Super light, pretty thin, simple and to the point. Looks amazing while still being simple. My girlfriend got me this watch for my birthday for a more dressy watch to wear to work. My workplace is business casual and I just recently started getting into watches. I had a more casual/tough Timex that is nice but doesn't exactly look dressy. I am not a fan of lots of silver/stainless metal bands or lots of stuff going on in the watch. I just wanted something as simple and elegant looking as possible. This watch hit the nail on the head. The motion is spot on with each tic and hand placement directly on top of the marks. It has held time perfectly for over a month now so I doubt there will be any issues. The only down side to this watch is the leather band is quite stiff. I wore the watch every day for a month and it is still not broke in. Eventually I think it will break in but its taking its time. Not anything to put the watch down with though. For the price you cant beat this watch. Update: Received this watch at the end of March 2016 its now beginning of September, the watch is still going strong however the band is still very stiff. I wear the watch every day to work and you would think after 6 months it would be broke in and loosened up by now. It is still very stiff and when I take it off the bands form back to almost straight. I am going to look for a new band possibly get a brown band to go with a brown belt/shoe combo. Update March 2019: had this watch 3 years now and it's still just as great as the day I got it. Tics are still dead on, the solar charging has kept it continuously going without needing to set it in the sun to charge. The band did start to break in a bit and has kept a more round look and feel to it however it's still pretty stiff. The leather has warm a bit so its softer to the touch but the band is still firm in place. I picked up a watch box to clasp the band around something when I'm not wearing it and I think that has helped the forming as well. Still a 5 star watch going 3 years strong. Read more
