Citizen Skyhawk Eco-drive Gents Chronograph Watch, Black Batons Dial with Digital Display, Perpetual Calendar, Titanium Case and Bracelet, Water Resistant up to 200 Metres Customer review:
The Best Pilots' Watch Currently Available., 15 Jun 2008
By Gatsby (England) I have owned this watch for 3 months now and I am very impressed As a fighter pilot having an accurate time hack is very important to me and the best aspect of this watch is that it receives a radio time hack in the middle of the night every day. You can also manually order the watch to re-hack itself from the radio signal. The ability to receive a time hack in America and Europe (plus the Far East too) is invaluable. The radio reception was strong in Ridgecrest, California and OK in Tucson but was very weak in Las Vegas. I had to go outside to receive the signal so the overnight automatic update did not receive indoors. In the east of the UK the signal is maximum strength. Other than this, the watch has numerous additional features which make it indispensable. The slide rule bezel is remarkably useful on the ground, not only for planning missions, but also for currency conversion, long division and percentages. Furthermore on a trail back from the US recently it was extremely useful for calculating fuel burn when the gas was a bit tight. I will definitely not own a work watch without a slide rule bezel again. The light is bright and the watch hands are also luminous and easy to read in low light. Whilst this is a large watch (I suggest you go and try one on before purchasing), the titanium version is remarkably light. I like its purposeful looks too. The build quality of the watch is excellent. Whilst it sounds like a small point, the second hand points exactly at each second mark on the dial as it rotates (it really annoys me if the second hand points halfway between them). Furthermore, if the hands are not correctly aligned you can manually adjust them. This is the first watch that I have owned with this functionality and whilst it arrived perfectly aligned, it is indicative of the quality and attention to detail of the manufacturers. The watch is maintenance free too, as it is powered by an Eco-Drive (effectively a solar panel on the watch face). Mine arrived fully charged and it has remained so over the past 3 months without me having to leave it to charge in direct sunlight. I have simply worn it everyday. Coupled with the automatic radio reception time hack, it means this watch requires no effort from you. All you have to do is wear it - the watch does the rest. Like everything, there is room for improvement. Whilst I like the watch styling in general, I think that the use of orange in the writing was a little misguided. However, there is an identical Japanese version of this watch in black with white writing so if the colour bothers you I'm sure you could track down that version. There are 2 smaller clocks which display UTC (very useful) and a pointless 24hr clock - a pilot who doesn't understand the 24hr clock system is going to be hard to find! Given that this is marketed as a pilot's watch it is a ridiculous addition. Making the UTC display bigger would have been a much better design, freeing up space for a dedicated calendar display. The watch can either show an alternative time zone on the LCD display or the date, but not both simultaneously. Additionally another LCD display is used up showing you what your home city is set to. Personally I would have made the UTC clock larger, removed the 24hr clock and added a dedicated date display. However these points are minor when compared to the quality, styling and overall utility and functionality of the Citizen Skyhawk A-T Titanium. I researched various pilots' watches before buying this, including allegedly dedicated specialist watchmakers. None came close to this watch. As a pilot it offers the near perfect solution to my chronograph requirements and I unreservedly recommend it.
Skyhawk AT Titanium, 22 Dec 2009
By R. H. Sale "R H Sale Bsc (Hons) (Nottingham, England) My watch was faulty but had no quibble refund, I suppose it would be a good watch when working, but it relies on you having perfect eye sight.
Fantastic Watch, 29 Jun 2010
By Percy (England) Have had this watch since last December. I have a number of watches and this is the one I prefer to wear. It is superbly engineered (the watch case is especially well finished off) and has all the functions (and more) that anybody could want. I like the accuracy and not having to worry about the battery runnning out. Though it is a big watch being titanium it is very light and you don't notice it on your wrist. The dial is a bit fussy and I agree with previous comments that there is one display too many. The only quibble is that the bezel can get stiff if any grit gets into the slide mechanism. Would recommend this watch to anybody considering.
The Ultimate Technology Watch, 20 May 2010
By Mr. Wayne Willis "Watchmaster8" (UK) I have had this watch for over 2 years now and it has to be seen to be believed. Prior to owning this I had looked at previous Skyhawk watches and wanted to buy one, but never quite got around to it. The solar power and multifunction dials always appealed to me, but they never had as many functions as this version. When this version came out I could not believe the specification! As well as the usual stuff: Stopwatch, alarms, multiple time zones, solar power and no battery change, two other features blew me away, namely the atomic time, which means this watch is always accurate and the fact that it is titanium making this huge watch extremely light. Not to mention the slide rule dial which can be used for calculations. One other thing that only becomes clear after wearing this is the quality and precision of the dials and the huge amount of finely printed text on this watch. Believe me there is alot of tiny print, but the quality is absolutely second to none and all the surfaces are machined to an incredibly precise finish. I have owned many watches but never seen anything which looks so precise. Although none of these functions is unique, I do not know of any watch which comes close in functionality, except maybe a Casio or Tissot touch and I have heard that many people have had problems with the Tissot, which is aimed at trekkers rather than a world traveller or pilot and Casio have never quite shaken the cheap disposable image of years gone by. This watch has been faultless and 100% accurate for 2 years now. It will never be regarded with the same respect as any of the Swiss timepieces all the purists rave about, simply because it is a Citizen, but it simply blows them all away for accuracy and functionality. Most of all it works without any problems and does it at a price they could never compete with. There are lots of functions on this watch but only two buttons and a crown, which has to be pulled out to use some of the functions and some people object to this, but overall the watch is an absolute revelation.
I've put this watch on and completely forgotten about it..., 21 April 2010
By Action Man "Jon" (West Yorkshire, England) ...except when I check the time! For me, it's not the fancy world times. Don't get me wrong it was fun playing with this, but I'll use this once (twice if I'm lucky) a year to go on holiday. Even then I've got kids so the amount of exotic places I might go where this is actually useful will be few, since I can generally manage to add or take away a couple of hours. It would have been really useful in my wandering days, but that alas is a few years ago (or away hopefully). Anyway you don't want to know that, you want to know what I think of it. Well I don't have to think about batteries, which was my number one criteria, since I have a collection of really nice watches which nolonger go and aren't possible, practical or economic to have the batteries replaced. Because it is titanium, it's light and comfortable and I hardly notice it's on, which was my number two criteria. Added to that it seems to be very resilient, this is a bonus for someone as clumsy as me. Also I don't have to worry about it being the right time when I look at it, because the radio updates work brilliantly. This was a nice to have, but I'm glad I got it now. It's particularly galling to a friend who has a kinetic watch which cost more than my car, weighs nearly as much and has to be adjusted too regularly for his liking. Not to mention having to have it overhauled every few years, for a small fortune. As suggested I'd have bought a cheaper watch with less features but the same quality. Because of the functionality the watch face is too busy for my needs. But I think the dials make it look interesting, it is still a pretty watch which tells the time and date clearly. The other options on the market which satisfied my criteria don't have good reviews and didn't seem to offer the same quality and where still quite expensive. I simply don't want to have to buy another watch after this one. So I am very happy with the watch, but it loses one star for me because of the price. That said, it is Citizen and I'm told they are bomb proof so I might just come back and put that star back in ten years if it's still perfect and turns out to be good value after all.
Total Quality. Amazing Technology! Easy to use., 15 Feb 2010
By Horsey (Manchester, England) I have owned a Casio Waveceptor for almost a year now which I thought was a superb watch. I bought it as the Citizen was double the price, however 10 months on and due to the world wide web I have bought one of these watches for not much more than the Casio cost. Don't get me wrong the Casio is a superb watch but the Citizen is oustanding!! I travel a lot and my main gripe with the Casio was it is just too complicated to change the time, the Citizen is so much easier it is also a little easier to read the various dials as it is slightly larger. Both are great watches but the Citizen wins it for me - just shop around there are great deals to be had.
Skyhawk AT Titanium, 22 Dec 2009
By R. H. Sale "R H Sale Bsc (Hons)" (Nottingham, England) My watch was faulty but had no quibble refund, I suppose it would be a good watch when working, but it relies on you having perfect eye sight.
Great Watch, 15 Oct 2009
By MR ALBERTO CASPI Although is a fairly large watch, is very light as it's made of titanium. I live in London and get full strength signal to synchronize the time, and it's spot on after checking it on the internet. It's full of features like alarms, chronograph, timer, world time. It's charged with light. When it came on the box it was half way, and on normal use its full at the moment, so I didn't have to charge it as it was done by normal use. If you are looking for a watch full of features, cool, and that synchronizes with an atomic clock, you should definitely get it. Pros: Very light, Atomic time, loads of features, never needs a battery change Cons: red colour of the light lcd display
Best watch around, 4 July 2009
By Paul R. Palmer This watch has everything just got mine yesterday and really chuffed, I first condidered a casio waveceptor as I liked the idea of a watch that was atomically acurate, and thought that Casio were the only brand that did that, then I discovered Citizen did one as well, so I went to a local jewellers and compared the 2 I looked at the stainless steel version of this watch and the Titanium and as soon as I put the titanium one on I had to have it, its got some things that I will never use like a stopwatch ,countdown timer and world time zone thingy but what is really impressive are the build quality, the fact that it is 100% acurate all the time (checked on the atomic clock on the internet this morning and it was exact to the second ), it will never ned a battery and it looks great ,simply the best watch I have ever owned. Negatives are Orange hands they could have chosen a better colour and I have mine set to london and UTC, UTC replaced greenwich mean time but as we are in sumertime now the main display is correct and the UTC digital and 24 hour display are an hour behind which is slightly annoying but I am really pleased with it and its cheaper on Amazon than anywhere else
Excellent watch, 26 April 2008
By Redeye (England) The watch is superb, really well made, the strap is comfortable and with being titanium is not excessively heavy, in fact everything about the watch is superb. Would have been happier if it had received the UK atomic signal, but seems to pick up the German signal ok.
Awesome watch! , March 21, 2008
By Jeff Even though I'm not a pilot, I've always liked the Skyhawk/Navihawk titanium line of Citizen watches. My brother is a commercial pilot and has an older one. He loves it. They are just too cool. But I never liked the fact that they didn't have a backlight for the LCD displays. Well now they do! It has an amber backlight that works great. This watch is the new titanium version of the much heavier stainless steel JY0000-53E that came out last year. Of course the weight of this watch is ridiculously light due to the Titanium construction. For such a big watch, I can hardly tell it's on. I can't stand a heavy watch bouncing on my arm. And be aware, this is definitely a big watch. But that seems to be the trend now (which I like). The atomic time function works like a charm. I also like having world time at my fingertips. I have family members that live overseas, so it's nice to be able to check their local time at a glance. It's great knowing I will never have to change batteries with this watch. The solar-powered "Eco-Drive" is an incredible feature that every watch company should have. The watch has 2 alarms, world time zones (43 cities), solar power, atomic time, a countdown timer, a chronograph, a slide rule, UTC time, a 24 hour clock, ultra-light and nearly indestructable titanium construction, 200 meter waterproof, mineral glass, and it looks outstanding. What more could you want? I think it even does the dishes, bathrooms, and windows. But I haven't looked up those features yet in the 115 page manual (English portion). One thing that's missing is a one-touch feature to bring all hands to the 12 o'clock position to clear the LCD displays during certain times of day. The hands occasionally obscure your attempts to read the LCD's. Another little gripe is you have to pull out and turn the crown to check the date. And it'll show you the date of your second time zone only. You have to do a couple more steps to get your home zone date if your second time zone is across the dateline from you. I think there's a way to set the LCD 2 to show the date all the time, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. (Correction 4/1/08: I don't think there is any way you can get LCD 2 to show the date.) Forget Rolex, Breitling, and Omega. They might look cool and have their high-falutin image, but they have nowhere near the functionality and practicality of this new Citizen. And they all cost about 10 times more. They are also much heavier. Bottom line: It's virtually indestructable, ultralight, maintenance and adjustment free. I never have to set the time again nor will I ever have to change a battery or put it in a watch-winder (for automatics). I'm a big fan and proud owner of one of the coolest watches on the planet.
Got a Used Watch, April 14, 2008
By MarcFTL "MarcFTL I ordered a Skyhawk AT Titanium and when I opened the box it looked like it had been opened before. The outer box was bent and scuffed up and you could tell that the manual and other paperwork had been used before. The watch was clean so I figured I would keep it. I soon found out why someone had returned it the first time. The watch was intemittent on some of its functions, esp when trying to get the time from the Time Server in Denver. At first it would not read the signal, I called Citizen ( great tech support ) and they had me do a complete reset on the watch. Things seemed to be better for a day and then lost the signal again. After doing another reset and ZERO HANDS setup, it worked again for a few hours then stopped. I returned the watch to Amazon with no problems at all. Unfortunatly, the watch is out of stock so they could not replace it. I would buy another one when it becomes available. I gave this watch a "3" because it was shipped to me used but Amazon I give a "5" for their return policy.
An almost immaculate watch if not for these few issues, August 14, 2010
By V. Maluh "vinn" (East Lansing, MI, USA) I had been looking for a watch that needed no maintenance and had great looks and features, at the same time not super expensive. Citizen Skyhawk A-T Titanium does a great job at all of those. The watch is beautiful and has a solid feel to it. The titanium version costs about $250 more than the stainless steel version. For people with skinnier wrists, the wearing comfort is well worth the extra money. Unlike some watches which offer to store telephone numbers and so on, this watch does one thing really great and that is to show time. Much so that I like this watch, there are a few things that citizen ignored which disappointed me. Although most of them have already been pointed out by other reviewers, I figured I will add the things that I noticed which I didn't find in other reviews. 1) When you look at the watch in total darkness especially when its sitting on a table, its hard to figure out the 12 o clock position because all the positions are made alike. I have seen $50 watches which make the 12 position bigger. I have no clue why this was done so. 2) At first glance, the watch looks like its loaded with all sorts of dials but after closer look, its apparent that most of the dials were not necessary. They could have saved some real-estate and made space for other useful displays like having analog date for the analog time and so on, because currently, if you set the home time zone different from world time zone, the date is only shown for one of them and not both. Also, they could have had a mode where the digital display would show the time and day-date together. 3) For a watch with an everlasting battery, it would have been good if they had made the LED back-light for the whole dial. This would have been especially helpful to change the mode in the night since it involves rotating the crown. I am a little disappointed that citizen missed these things. I would have paid more just to have these features. Other than that, I would say this watch is as close to perfection as you can get for the price. Finally, my advice to prospective buyers is to go to a jewelery store and try on both the titanium and stainless steel versions before purchasing.
Great Watch, July 22, 2010
By P. Walton (Fredericksburg, VA) I got the watch on a friday nite and spent the time going over the CD and instructions on setting up the watch the way I wanted. Instructions were clear and easily understood. The watch has plenty of features I wanted in a watch, especially UTC display, alarms, etc... the best thing though is the built in accuracy and it's light weight. This is a big watch but it doesn't feel that way because of the titanium build. I own another Citizen titanium watch (which I still have) and it soldiered on for well over a decade. The Eco-Drive feature is a feature I'm confident I'm going to like as I don't have to worry about battery life any longer.
Very Nice watch indeed, May 12, 2010
By A. Pal (San Jose, CA) This brand has been very very special to me right some childhood, so finally chose to present myself with one of its kind. After much deliberation chose the JW0010-52E Eco-Drive Promaster SST Stainless Steel Watch. For everyone here out to buy one, please do try out from a local store before ordering. Your choice may change depending on the size. The Promaster is a HUGE watch (5.4 diam cross section) and is going to feel large on not so big wrists. So went ahead and bought this one. I am really very much pleased with my second choice because it feels big and is yet not overbearing. The difference between a stainless steel and titanium versions is prominent once you get a chance to compare both side side. steel is hefty and will feel heavy after a few days so you might not want to put that on for everyday use. But again that's a personal choice. However, titanium is much lighter and more comfortable to wear. The LED light is OK. The light will only not be effective under direct sunlight, but under such conditions, you won't probably be using the feature anyway. The 24 HR inner dial seems to be a bit redundant but is a nice show off and overall this watch does have a look which is meant to deliver and not just look good. The time and date is bound to timezone in right hand display. The design is rock solid. About the cons : A sapphire crystal would have been a nice value addition. The display could have been made bigger for better visibility (I loved the display under the Promaster dashboard) Overall a great watch for this price.
best watch ever, April 5, 2010
By jay taylor (daytona beach, florida) It's light, easy to read, waterproof, maintenance-free and has a busy face that makes you seem smart. If you see me flying your plane--whether calculating stuff with the watch bezel or not--you will probably not make it, but the slide rule looks smart. The titanium pins slide out of the adjustable band pieces and snag things sometimes. Other than that, it's the perfect watch.
Comparison with prior edition Citizen Skyhawk, March 22, 2010
By Reiff Lorenz (Dayton, OH USA) I owned the previous model Citizen Eco-Drive Skyhawk Titanium and recently bought the Skyhawk AT Titanium. Here is a comparison for others who are considering the upgrade. The new edition: * Has a larger face, with a more readable UTC dial and larger digital display. The face is much more visible at night. * Has a louder alarm. You still won't hear it if the watch is under a pillow, and don't even think about in the cockpit, but it is much improved. The new edition has 2 alarms instead of 3. * Does a great job synchronizing with the national time signal. I'm 1000 miles from the signal in Colorado, and I get a strong signal during the day near a window, and also inside at night -- when the auto-sync is scheduled. * Does not stop the second hand in the dark. The old model would quit ticking when the lights went out. I never minded that the second hand stopped -- it ensured that I never heard the ticking at night. Fortunately the new model is absolutely silent. * Requires the crown to be pulled out in order to change modes. On the older model, one could just twist the crown without pulling it out. The new way is a minor inconvenience. At least the new crown is larger, with better texture, so it's much easier to pull out. * Has white numbers painted on a plastic black bezel for the E6B circular slide rule flight computer. These are easier to read than the prior edition's black numbers engraved in titanium, but I doubt they will last as long.
almost perfect, March 12, 2010
By G. Holland i really like everything about this watch, except for one thing. the bezel for my watch has become more difficult to rotate, even after just one month. i have washed it and while washing rotated the bezel and still nothing seems to help. i used warm soapy water too and the bezel just doesn't rotate like it used to. aside from that everything about the watch is wonderful. it would get 5 stars if the bezel worked as perfectly as it did the day i received it
Great Watch... Until Software Glitch Showed Up!, March 3, 2010
By M. Connell I own this watch. Love it for all of the reasons in the other reviews. Only 2 issues... First, there is a loose particle under the crystal (called support and they said to send it in under warranty to remove the particle - OK, it happens). Second and worse (IMHO), there is a software issue with some U600 movements that cause the date to be incorrect after 28FEB10 (goes to 29FEB2016). You have to send the watch in for a software update. This is a known issue since at least Feb '08, yet mine has the issue and was sold to me in July '09. Why keep selling without ensuring the software is correct? Also, current posts by Citizen, in watch forums state incorrectly that watches with serial numbers starting with 8 or greater are unaffected. My watch serial number starts with 8 and IS affected. If seems pretty clear Citizen is unable or unwilling to clearly identify watches with issues, so be aware that you may need to send in this watch (on your own dime, unless you buy from good retailer) for software update. Great watch though..
Wonderful Watch, February 17, 2010
By Puddinhead (Between, GA United States) This is an excellent watch. It is better and more funtional my TAG-HEUR, which is just a chronometer. It is hopefully more reliable than my TISSOT which failed to function well shortly after buying it. The dial seems busy, but the functions are simple to learn. I am uncertain why the center complication needs to always display Greenwich Mean Time and could not have another function. I know how to use a slide rule so this was a feature for me. As for weight, it is lighter than some smaller stainless steel watches. I do not recommend buyig from a non authorized dealer since Citizen may not honor the 5 year warranty. I ordered mine from Macy's and with sale discounts, the watch was only $565. Macy's is also an authorized dealer. I believe I will enjoy this watch for years to come.
Best Watch Ever!!, December 27, 2009
By Rick S "Rick S" (Florida) I got this watch for Christmas from my wife and i was not expecting the Titanium version. WOW! i would have been happy with the stainless steel (like my other Eco-Drives) and am used to a heavy watch but man this thing is great! I love the functionality,weight, color of the metal, backlight, led displays, everything about this watch is great! I would def recomend this watch to anyone who is into watches or just wants a great looking, totally functional watch. Its amazing how expensive these can be in the jewelry stores. My wife said she shopped around online and got it from a store for less than the stainless steel version. Overall Great Watch!
A watch for everytime and everywhere, October 16, 2009
By Garfield (Bayern) I saw and tasted this watch a few times in some shops before I bought it here at Amazon. How every time Amazon sent the packet fast and without problems. Then if I had this watch at my home, I was very lucky: this piece is really exceptional. The big case give a good feeling and the the high-tec-looking is a good pleasure for me. No battery evermore, always exactly time (nearly) everywhere, some good chronographic utilities, and a indestructible case and watch strap, and also waterproof to 600 ft. I think this watch is one of these things, which I would keep at me on a lonely island; and I can advice it to everybody who likes extraordinary watches.
Great watch one big issue no easy way to get calendar and dual time together, August 17, 2009 By Vic Kanwar (NJ, USA) The GOOD: If you need dual time zone watch this is it. I do deal with India all the time and that is challenge with nearly any other watch. India is 9 1/2 hours yes it is one of the few countries that is a 30 minute offset in time zone and does not change over to DST so then thats 10 1/2 hours just try keeping track of that and things fall apart. There is hardly any watch that will handle a half hour time zone except this one (even the old skyhawk didn't). This watch does that and more including alarms in different time zones so you can set the alarm in another time zone without doing a major compute for the local time. Two alarms so keep one on the local and the second on the world time if you wish. If you deal with London you get a third time zone the UTC sub dial and you can calculate most of Europe easily from that. The watch is big and thick and in titanium weighs nothing its nearly as light as my kids Casio The BAD: Contrast on the digital display is pretty bad. The back light though present is not the best. The hands cover the digital display a few times a day you can tilt and read under the hands but forget trying to set any function at 20 past the hour The UGLY (loses one star for this): If you are going to use the second display for a world time zone there is no way to see the local calendar. Just to see the calendar you have to pull the crown 1 stop twist to change the mode and that will give you the calendar of the world zone So to have calendar functionality for local zone you have to set the world zone as your local zone (you lose an easy way to see the world zone). Simply put this watch can work as a dual zone watch or as a calendar watch not as both. There are 2 nice press buttons one for the light (nice idea) and the other to indicate if the watch was able to sync with the atomic radio signal, it would have been much better if pressing that button would have flashed the local calendar on the display. Citizen could have easily put the atomic signal as an icon on the display. Citizen really dropped the ball on this one I nearly returned the watch due to the loss of calendar but I had got it during a price drop to $510 (Amazon not another vendor) and that sort of let me forget the day and date. Just keep in mind if you must have calendar and world time (besides UTC London) at the same time this watch does NOT do a good job. It does a great job for each (including perpetual calendar) but not both together
Awesome Watch!, June 10, 2009
By E. Sung So I've had this watch about a week now and I love it! The build quality is awesome and you can tell the Japanese Workmanship is still going strong. Looks - I think the watch looks great. It is quite big on the wrist but that it looks good for today's standards. It is looks like a heavy duty watch that was given to designers to make elegant. If I had to make a car analogy, I'd say it would have the same feel as if Lexus made a heavy duty truck. Workmanship - The quality is great. The hands align perfectly on the mark. The second hand ticks where the second hand is supposed to tick which I find annoying if it doesn't. (I've seen omegas that don't even align properly.) The minute hand also moves slightly every time the second hand ticks, the quality is definitely there. Functions - Calendar, Timer, Chronograph, Alarm 1, Alarm 2, and of course Atomic Time syncronization. There is also a dual time zone function which is very helpful (home time zone and away time zone, you just press a few buttons and it switches them vice versa). The only problem is that if you want to see the current date, it will show the date of the away time zone. This is slightly annoying as to see the current date and time, the zones would need to be set to the same city. The calendar function however would be more helpful to real pilots (which I am not) as they will probably actually land in the away time zone. Weight - This watch is a good weight, not too heavy, not too light. It is well balanced. This pretty much means that you should expect the non-titanium (i.e. stainless steel) version to be very heavy! Illuminating hands - at night the illumination is pretty good. There is ample surface area of illumination making it pretty easy to read. The illumination seems to die down pretty quickly however though I haven't tested about how long it lasts. (The watch hands can illuminate briefly in the daytime when you are out in the sun and then walk into a normal lit room, I don't mind it personally.) Sliding Rule Bezel - I like the function and I think it is really useful. If you take the time to learn this old school calculator, it is really neat and handy. It is best for multiplication and division, it doesn't do addition or subtraction. Eco Drive - It is hard to tell how well this works, but so far so good. Overall - I love this watch, it is rugged yet elegant. It also has an extremely impressive set of bells and whistles. The titanium looks good but also makes the watch light enough for wearing all the time without having to think about it. I give it 4.7 stars. Nearly Perfect.
great watch all the way around, February 7, 2009
By R. S. Naszcyniec Jr. "Rich Nasz" (Alpharetta, GA USA) I went a long time thinking about a watch and finally decided to make a decision. I had Rolex and other high end names in mind when I started and was ready to spend the $$ to get what I wanted. However, Citizen provided me with a nice package of options on this watch at a very reasonable price. I cross time zones often so the ability to switch to my local travel time while knowing the date and time at home are important to me. Having not worry about batteries is a big bonus and the automatic time setting means one less thing I need to think about. If you are thinking about saving a few bucks by not getting the Titanium model... buck up! There is a world of weight difference between the titanium and stainless steel mode. Unfortunately I could not find one dealer in my area that carries the titanium model so I had to go on faith. Maybe you won't have to take the same leap of faith I did. If you do, I can only say I was not disappointed. I was shocked how much lighter it is.
great state of the art technology watch at a reasonable price, December 11, 2008
By Peter T. Cheung "hahaha48" (fremont CA) This is the watch to get if you want the state of the art technology in a watch and at an amazing reasonable price. You can shop aound for the best deal and if you do not mind the risk ebay has a few shops offering it at half off. I buy most of my stuff from amazon but sometimes ebay has extremely low price. I did get cheated twice on ebay and always only buy from ratings >99% with a lot of sales. Most people buy this model first of all for the atomic clock. I live in California and it works great. At first I try to connect to the atomic clock transmission "on demand". I am not sure why it did not get the signal. Then I put it next to the window of my second floor bed room. Next morning when I check it did updated by the atomic clock. (I check against the US clock on the web and also the status shown on the watch that said it successfully received signal from the radio and set the time with it) The second most likely reason to buy this watch is for the solar power. The watch when I receive it already is fully charged (unlike most cell phones). The manual said it will run for 6 months if fully charged. To fully charge the watch from almost completely discharged takes 20 hours under the sun or 60 hours with cloudy sky. I'll have to put it under the sun once every 3 month or put it under my desk light once a week. I wear my watch under long sleeve shorts and never expose it to light. The third reason is for the weight (titanium). Even though the watch is "Hugh" it is light, lighter than a standard Rolex. I have not tried the other versions of the same watch, but you can save $50 to $100 for other versions that are heavier. If I have a second choice it would be the black belt one which will give the watch a cooler look in color. There are a lot of functions this watch can do and most of which I am not going to use. The watch come with a cd that has all the info you need for adjustments to the watch. That is much better than the very small print manual which I have a hard time reading. I make a copy of the cd onto my laptop. I can assure you I cannot remember how to do most of those things without referring to the documentation. I'll give you one example. The watch has a home clock and a second "world" clock which you set to a city you travel to most often. Let's say now you fly there and you want to switch the two clocks. 1. Pull the crown to position 1 (there are 2 positions). 2. Turn the crown to adjust the mode to tme or cal (there are 8 modes). 3. Push button A and B at the same time until you hear a sound. The two clocks will have been switch. 4. Turn crown back to original mode. 5. Return crown to original position. It is easy if you follow instruction but difficult to remember. The size of the crown is big compare to other watches like the standard Rolex. It is ok if you only need to do a few things. If you try many things like me when I got it new, you break your nail. So you may want to get a tool to help you if you are planning to use the crown for more than 10 minutes. Almost all adjustments require using the crown. The chronograph functions once set you will only use the two buttons and not the crown any more. Same for the 2 alarms once it is set. There are many more pro's for the watch but I want to say something about the con's. The led display is too small for me and even when using the light it is hard to read. If you really want to use the digital readouts a lot you have to have very good eyes. I have yet to find out what is the use of the UTC hours and minute hands? 12/16/2008 Now I have used the alarm a few times I would like to add a few comments. There are 2 alarm settings. They are all very easy to do. The alarm setting is in the digital section. Be careful about the am and pm setting. It is not by the hr and min section and is at the bottom next to on and off. Someone else said the alarm is difficult to hear but I found it is quite acceptable and laud enough for me.
The Ultimate Watch, September 7, 2008
By dasn0wman "dasn0wman" (Brooklyn, NY United States) This is the ultimate watch: It's light (titanium), highly functional (I'll get to that in a moment), Eco-Drive (powered by the sun, no batteries necessary), radio-controlled (requires no adjustment) - so in other words, you can be a total dummy and not read the manual and the watch would still work properly - forever! So yes, it has 2 alarms, chronograph, flight calculating bezel (no idea how to use that), world time, power reserve, date, 2nd time, am/pm indicator - the only thing that is missing is compass, thermometer, and barometer! Only problem is accessing these functions is not always easy or intuitive and it is pretty ugly. The band is a mix of brushed and shiny titanium. with a black face just littered with technical markings so more function less form.
Great watch!, August 21, 2008
By C. J. Madson (Pensacola, FL) Great watch! I bought it from designertimepiece.com. They're not an authorized reseller, however I felt it was worth the large discount in price . I only paid $460 shipped! The watch is of great construction and very light. The digital displays are a tiny, be prepared to look at your watch if you're using them. The backlighting is awesome, works great on NVGs. The face is easy to read and the atomic clock feature is great! Just make sure you take off your watch at night; apparently it needs to be motionless to receive the signal. The battery charges quickly in the sun; after an hour or two on the window sill it was already at full charge. I'll update after a few months.
Beautiful watch, June 18, 2008
By Paul Nevai "nevai" (Columbus, OH United States) This is my 4th radio controlled watch (3 Casios & 1 Citizen). THE GOOD: It really is beautiful. It is very-very well made. It synchronizes perfectly both here and in Europe (except for steel-framed buildings). The dials are easy to read, even at night. Even after three years of daily wearing, the watch still looks absolutely great. THE BAD: The LCD info is way too small, I can't read it while in motion (I have 20-20 vision with my glasses on). Way too many totally unnecessary and useless features. Too heavy (titanium but huge). Alarm is impossible to hear (my hearing is less than perfect). The watch band can't be micro-adjusted. THE UGLY: None SUMMARY: Great watch, highly recommended. P.S. Call up Citizen and check if your watch needs a ROM update. P.P.S. Although it synchronizes well in my home in the US, it failed to synchronize in most hotels and European style apartment buildings I stayed at in the US and in Europe, even if I placed it outside the window (don't do this unless properly supervised by an experienced adult). ADDENDUM on August 2, 2010. After 3+ years the crystal got slightly scratched so I took a deep breath... and... went for the replacement by the much talked about sapphire crystal. It took a little over 2 weeks and a little over 100 bucks. It was done by Citizen in Torrance, California. They did an excellent job. To be honest, I can't tell the difference between the old and the new crystals. Both looked/look great.
A bargain at Macy's! Titanium!, June 7, 2008
By Stolizino (Kitsap County, WA) Yes, I bought this watch, brand new, including a Macy's 2-year renewable all-inclusive warranty in addition to the factory warranty for a total price of $420 including tax. Why so low? The Macy's everyday price was already marked down from the $795 MSRP tag, opened a Macy's account which gave me a 20% discount, other promotional Fine Jewelry Department discounts. Why a Macy's warranty in addition to the Citizen factory warranty? The Macy's warranty includes repair of cosmetic damage, including buffing out scratches to retain the original finish. I was sold on the spot. BTW, I wore the stainless steel version for a week and this titanium is weightless in comparison. I love it!
Excellent Watch-Extensive Features, May 30, 2008
By Mr. Robert J. Rineer "Bob R" (Fullerton, CA USA) I have had several Citizen Eco-Drive watches. This is the best one yet because of the addition of being able to synchronize with the atomic clock, along with having a Eco-drive light powered battery. AS far as I can tell, my watch is synchronizing with the atomic clock automatically each night--because when I compare times to my atomic clock table radio, they are both in perfect sync. I have manually synced several times and have experienced no problems in my Southern Cal location. The watch has a lot of capabilities, some of which I find valuable and some not: Valuable--99 hour timer and chronometer, digital display, different time zones, and the UTC time Less valuable to me--24 hour clock (I can usually tell if it AM or PM by looking through the window),the alarms (you almost have to be awake and have the watch next to your ear to hear them) and the dial "computer" (looks pretty complicated). Setting up the watch and using the tools is fairly complex but generally intuitive. The UTC pointer is pretty hard to see when the need to align all hands to the upright position is required. Switching time zones is not too hard, but unless you have a good memory, you will want to have the instructions close. The face is huge and you look like you are wearing a computer--I wear mind with the face inside, so passers by usually only see the back of the band. The titanium is fairly light but I would guess that the steel version could be a bit on the heavy side. The luminosity looks the same as any other watch--it would really be nice if it had teaser luminosity, like the Luminox. The crystal is mineral but not sapphire--but I ultimately manage to scratch any kind of crystal, anyway. The band is a single clasp unlike the double clasp that I had on my previous Eco-drives. However, I used a single clasp Rolex for many years and never experienced any problems--so probably not a big deal. If this watch has the features you want, this is the watch you can just put on and never take off. It's not cheap. I personally love it!
Could have a more sensitive radio receiver, May 21, 2008
By Lotus-Seven The titanium case is great, lighter weight and a less shiny look than stainless. I also have the Citizen Skyhawk "Blue Angels" model. The A-T is slightly larger in diameter. The small LCD displays on the AT is not as readible as the Blue Angels' display in daylight, but does have a backlight so is usable at night. I live about 1000 miles from the Ft. Collins NIST transmitter and my example of ths watch just barely will pick-up the time control signal, and only if I place the watch on in a window and position it exactly right. I own a couple of cheap plastic radio controlled alarm clocks and they can pick up the time signal anywhere in our house during the day or at night. This citizen A-T will only pick up the signal at night (when it's typically stronger). The other differences between the A-T and the older "Blue Angels" model are the push buttons and the watch band. In my opinion,the smoother, rectangular buttons on the B-A are less likely to snag on clothes and the smoother "two-tone" band of the B-A model is much nicer looking. The B-A also has an additional safety catch on the band release, which was dropped from the A-T model. This makes it easer to remove the watch, but also makes it more likely to accidentally release the band. Bottom line: The automatic time adjustment is great if you're in a strong signal area, but if you don't mind resetting your watch manually every couple of months (mine lost 10 sec./ per month) the Blue Angels titanium model is a nicer design and half the price.
