[Whitebread]

I'm looking to get a new watch. I was looking at the Citizen watches and there are so many! I was looking at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...outThisProduct
that watch but I have no idea if it's any good. How does it differn from the other Calibre series watches? Anyone know?

 

[meat01]

The one you linked is the 5700 series. There is also an 8700 series and a 2100 series. I have a Citizen brochure in front of me and this is what it says.

8700: Prepetual Calendar, Alarm, Dual Time, 12/24 time, month-day-date

5700: Chronograph measures up to 30 minutes, 12/24 time, date

2100: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ance&n=3367581

I like the Citizen Eco Drives and I believe they are welll made watches.

 

[Nomad]

Just out of curiosity, many people think Citizen is a cheap brand of watches.

What they don't know is that Citizen has a watch called "The Citizen" wich is the most accurate watch in the world ever (excluding atomic clocks) with only +/- 5 secs/year (and these are the extreme values, they usually achieve less than 1-2 secs/year). This watch comes with 10 years warranty, perpetual calendar, a neat system so you can change timezones/summerTime by only moving the hour hand without affecting min. or sec. hands. They are treated in order to be scratch-proof not only on the glass (the usual sapphire one) but on the metal too. It's quite unique and only for japanese market. They have a low-profile look, like that classic look that most watches had at the end of 70s/beginning of 80s.

I rather prefer this than any TAG, Raimond Well and others on that tier of watches. There are better watches at higher tiers, of course.

But it is funny. It's like to judge AT for their cheapest range of headphones instead of doing it for the L3000.

Cheers!

 

[Whitebread]

Meat, the Amazon website says that that particular model that I linked to has a perpetual calendar.

Nomad, I don't think citizen is cheep, I also don't have 1000+ to spend on a wrist watch. Sure, I'd love to get an Omega, but I don't have that kind of money to spend. So long as the watch looks good and is functional, I'm fine with it.

 

[Old Pa]

I've been wearing a Citizen Eco-Drive titanium chronograph most of the time for the last ten years and it had performed flawlessly. The titanium is lighter than stainless, better on your skin, and IMHO neutral and attractive. I let SWMBO wear the gold around here.

 

[meat01]

Whitebread, I would do some searches on ebay for calibre 5700 and the other models to see nice big images of the watches you are looking at. As far as I know, the 5700 has a date window, but not the day and month like the 8700's. The 8700's also have something to set the leap year.

Here is a nice image of the watch you are looking at I believe.

http://www.bluedial.com/AT1000-50E.htm

 

[Nomad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whitebread Nomad, I don't think citizen is cheep, I also don't have 1000+ to spend on a wrist watch. Sure, I'd love to get an Omega, but I don't have that kind of money to spend. So long as the watch looks good and is functional, I'm fine with it.

Well, my point was that there is snobish people out there thinking that Citizen is always just plain cheap (and quite bad), and that's not the case at all.

They have some very nice and functional watches, they improved the manufacturing techniques in watchmaking big time, they have the most accurate quartz movement in the world, their eco-drive technology is very well designed/implemented, they are innovative with a lot of good patents and they are the biggest watch seller in the world.

Not bad for "a company that makes cheap watches" (according to some people that have no idea about watches, apart from a couple of adverts). This kind of people prefer a watch company that has a swiss-sounding name and that the only thing it does is to buy generic ETA movements (at $20 the dozen) and put them on a nice (but nothing really special) case. With no R&D, no in-house movements, no patents,... Good for them.

There are great swiss names in horology, of course. And I love them. It's just that not all swiss watches are great and not all japanese watches are bad. Not at all.

 

[jerb]

I've been eyeing an eco drive for a while now:
http://www.bluedial.com/BJ7005-59E.htm

I love the black metal, lots of other watches seem too flashy for my tastes

I dont like its band though (thats a reason I havent bought it yet) the links are too small. my current watch has nice large/plain looking links and I love it

 

[MuZI]

Nicely said Nomad.

Whitebread, can you tell us what you want in a watch?

Automatic?/ Quartz?
Thin?
Big?
Diver?
Chronographs?

 

[Trippytiger]

So, here's a question: is the Citizen that makes these watches the same Citizen that made my awful PCDP and my parents' breadmaker? Is Citizen a general-purpose electronics manufacturer, or are there two separate companies?

 

[rsaavedra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad What they don't know is that Citizen has a watch called "The Citizen" wich is the most accurate watch in the world ever (excluding atomic clocks) with only +/- 5 secs/year (and these are the extreme values, they usually achieve less than 1-2 secs/year). This watch comes with 10 years warranty, perpetual calendar, a neat system so you can change timezones/summerTime by only moving the hour hand without affecting min. or sec. hands. They are treated in order to be scratch-proof not only on the glass (the usual sapphire one) but on the metal too. It's quite unique and only for japanese market. They have a low-profile look, like that classic look that most watches had at the end of 70s/beginning of 80s.

Could you please post a link to this model "The Citizen", I feel curious to take a look at it.

 

[Whitebread]

Quartz/Automatic?
I know the mechanical differences between these power sources, but I do not know the benefits/cons of each. As far as I can tell, though, it seems that either source is a viable and long lasting way to power a watch
Thickness?
No thicker than 7-12mm
Big?
Not to large, my current watch is about 36mm wide and I have small wrists, so no larger than about 45mm wide
Diver?
No
Chronograph?
Yes, preferably with 1/5 timing capabilities and a Tachymeter
Alarm?
Yes, but not THAT necessary
Price?

Nomad, I understand what your saying and I agree. Besides, all of them swiss watches are way too much money for me.
No more than 300 US.

 

[dffman2001]

Accuracy is really a moot point with quartz timing mechanisms.

Call me a snob, but there is really something about a nice mechanical swiss. Somehow I would rather have a tempermental ferrari than a super reliable Lexus.

Either way, citizen makes good watches. Choose something that you like the look of and goes with the clothing you are planning to wear it with. Dont obsess about having to change the date every leap year.

BTW, leather straps tend to hold up better to wear than bracelets - scratches on the bracelet tend to look bad while wear on the leather tends to blend in and for

 

[sjt78]

I am extremely happy with my Citizens watch. I have this one: http://www.bluedial.com/BL5210-58E.htm. I picked it out as my first anniversary present from my wife. I definitely would recommend getting a watch with a titanium case/band as it makes the watch much lighter and therefore more comfortable to wear. Amazon.com is where we bought mine and they seem to have the best prices with free shipping included.

 

[dffman2001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whitebread Quartz/Automatic? I know the mechanical differences between these power sources, but I do not know the benefits/cons of each. As far as I can tell, though, it seems that either source is a viable and long lasting way to power a watch

Automatic watches are all mechanical run by a spring. They are wound by hand or by the motion of your wrist. It uses a constantly moving balance wheel to keep time. You need to wear this all the time to keep the spring wound.

Quartz watches keep time using a quartz crystal and powered by electricity. The newer technologies such as eco-drive, eco-drive thermo, and kinetic are ways of providing the electricity to the watch. eco-drive is solar powered. Quartz watches are much more accurate as the precision on build, balance, mass, etc does not have much of an effect on the timekeeping mechanism. (a mechanical watch might be slower of faster depending if you lay it flat or on its side at night)