CITIZEN Eco-Drive

[IS200RJR]

Any stories to tell ?
While shopping today my girlfriend has shown an interest in some of the Citizen Eco-Drive Watches.
I am a bit of a watch fan but prefer an auto watch so know nothing about the eco-drive.
So any information would help.


Thanks Rich

[ShadownINja]

Solar powered. Need a new capacitor every 10(?) years, I understand. At least with normal battery-powered watches you can change the battery yourself every 2-3 years for a £1.23 battery from Maplin. Suspect you'd have to risk paying someone £20 on ebay or sending it away to Citizen. Same goes for Seiko Kinetics, Casio Tough Solars, etc. They will bin the dead capacitor so not very environmentally friendly when you think about it. I suppose you could google for "change eco-drive capacitor" and you might find a way of doing it but it might be tricky or involve soldering (would google but CBA). That's my current thinking on such watches. Oh, I suppose you could bin the watch in 10 years' time.

Edited by ShadownINja on Sunday 1st November 17:57

[Doofus]

I've got one, and I'm happy with it. If left in the dark, it stops, and then wakes up again when exposed to light, and this can happen under your shirt cuff from time to time.

Occasionally it suddenly loses an hour or so without reason, and needs resetting, but otherwise, I can't really fault it.

£400 well spent IMO. Here's mine:

Edited by Doofus on Sunday 1st November 22:22

Edited by Doofus on Sunday 1st November 22:24

[HereBeMonsters]

I've got a few - very good watches. Citizen repair centre in Wokingham won't charge much for a battery or service.

[adycav]

I've got one (won it from a car mag for letter of the month!), and the missus has one too.

Both of us are very happy with them.

[Funk]

Very pleased with mine, can't fault it.

[HereBeMonsters]

Well if we're doing Eco-Drive porn:

This one gets a lot of wrist time:


Big, but light as it's the titanium one.


Simple chronograph. This was the watch that piqued my interest in watches, and why I have a 40+ collection today...

[andymin]

Mine never stops working ever if I leave it in a draw for weeks unlike some of the automatics I have.

[toohuge]

I have the Skyhawk Atomic one and it's brilliant. I use it everyday and the power indicator never shows anything less than full. It's a very geeky watch but very useful.




It is rather large though!

Edited by toohuge on Monday 2nd November 07:52

[smartie]

always fancied a Citizen but they all seem a little 'fussy' somehow?

[HereBeMonsters]

smartie said:

always fancied a Citizen but they all seem a little 'fussy' somehow?

ALL?

[ShadownINja]

I like this one:



It's so tasteful it hurts, but I look odd with dress watches.

Edited by ShadownINja on Monday 2nd November 07:46

[CmdrBond]

HereBeMonsters said:

Well if we're doing Eco-Drive porn:

This one gets a lot of wrist time:


Big, but light as it's the titanium one.

I have one of these incoming from the Netherlands and should be here this week - although mine is the steel version. Have been after one for a while and missed out on a couple over the last few months, but managed to bag on at a very good price.

[HereBeMonsters]

CmdrBond said:

HereBeMonsters said:

Well if we're doing Eco-Drive porn:

This one gets a lot of wrist time:


Big, but light as it's the titanium one.

I have one of these incoming from the Netherlands and should be here this week - although mine is the steel version. Have been after one for a while and missed out on a couple over the last few months, but managed to bag on at a very good price.

Mine was £26 on ebay - seller couldn't run an auction for toffee. Was advertised as a "Cittisen", no data filled in. Arrived with broken main crown screw. £12 repair at local watchmakers, bob's your mother's brother.

I did try a steel one on in a shop, and it is nice and chunky, the weight makes it feel like a totally different watch on the wrist. Enjoy!

[andy_s]

HereBeMonsters said:

smartie said:

always fancied a Citizen but they all seem a little 'fussy' somehow?

ALL?

Which one is this HBM? I'm looking for something for my ten year old - big hour and minute numbers, a splash of lume and w/r, so this looks interesting unless it's 50mm....

ETA - Found it - Eco-Drive 180, just over a ton.

Edited by andy_s on Monday 2nd November 10:20

[ShadownINja]

What drugs are you on?

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2...

Not sure it's the same model... the date is wrong.

Edited by ShadownINja on Monday 2nd November 14:26

[sjg]

I bought my gf a titanium eco-drive for christmas last year. No problems - as long as it's exposed to light for at least part of the day it will go on running.

[IS200RJR]

Thanks Guys i never knew there were so many available All i have to do now is choose the one she really wants (god help me).
Cheers Rich

[HereBeMonsters]

sjg said:

I bought my gf a titanium eco-drive for christmas last year. No problems - as long as it's exposed to light for at least part of the day it will go on running.

I did an experiment on my chrono. Left it in a drawer for a week and it was still running perfectly. You can tell if it's running out as the second hand ticks every two seconds rather than every one.
Some of the more expensive ones have a "hibernate" feature as well. It will eventually stop the hands moving, but still keep time in the movement. When exposed to light it will charge back up and reset itself to the correct time.

[AB]

I've had a Nighthawk for a while now, exactly same as this...



Seem to remember it costing around £200, bought it from ebay as a backup watch - it still gets quite a lot of wrist time and is probably the most accurate watch I have.