Experience with Citizen Eco-Drive divers?

[kjr_29]

I don’t want to gum up the Obligatory Wrist watch thread, but wanted to see what others experiences with the Eco-Drive line up from Citizen have been.

My background - long time analog diver style fan, predominantly Casio G-shocks and analogs throughout my time in the military. Gave my last Casio to my son last year when he was on his own in the workforce.

Picked up an Invicta Pro Diver (https://www.invictawatch.com/watches/detail/21392-invicta-pro-diver-men-48mm-stainless-steel-stainless-steel-black-dial-pc32-quartz) about 18 months ago - it is my one and only timepiece. I like the style, and it worked ok for being an every day use watch. I can wake up at 3am and see the luminescent hands. I dropped it in my garage last week and it smacked the concrete hard, the 12 o’clock marked came off and is floating around inside the case.

Time for a new watch. I don’t mind paying a few bucks, but north of $200 is not happening, just cannot wrap my mind around that for my needs. Amazon has some good deals on the Promaster Diver line at the moment.

I am really liking some Citizen pieces, particularly these models (below) which tick my aesthetic box. Have never owned a Citizen so I don’t know what I don’t know regarding quality and longevity.

https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/BN0150-28E.html?cgid=mens-ecodrive#sz=24&start=132

https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/BN0085-01E.html?cgid=mens-ecodrive#sz=24&start=131

Let me know your thoughts and experiences!



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[vcdgrips]

Both great choices. The first on is also avail. w a dark blue dial.
The eco drive system is well vetted. 10 yrs plus on the watch would be my expectations.

As you said, Amazon often has them at well under 200 shipped. Jomashop is another source of deeply discounted Citizens.

[willie]

I had one that worked well. My brother had one that never worked. That said, I would buy another if price were right. Might look at the Seiko line before deciding. We are talking about cheap watches. I've never owned any other kind and suggest buying a model with a good track record, information that you are seeking.

[1911Nut]

I have had zero bad experiences with any of my Citizen watches. At last count, I owned four and wear them regularly on a rotating basis.

As mentioned earlier in this post, one can catch some real bargains on Amazon on Citizen watches, and another source is Macy's. They have a "Friends & Family" sale a couple of times a year when some really deep discounts are available on a lot of merchandise. I don't know when those sales are held . . . . but my wife does! She bought me a Citizen Navihawk AT model for my birthday a couple of years ago and it is my favorite.

The watch in the first link provided by the OP was on a special sale on Amazon some time back and IIRC, they were available for somewhere around $110-$115 delivered on Amazon Prime. Seem as though that subject was discussed on this forum at that time and several members scored one of those watches. I was among them, and it's another great watch.

[Poconnor]

My go to work watch has been a G shock for years. My “dress” watch has been a seiko diver for over thirty years. I started with a seiko quartz Pepsi diver but moved to the black seiko 007. I like them a lot. One 007 has the stainless band, the other a NATO strap with a dragon band. The problem for me was I never wore them enough to keep the automatic movement wound up enough to keep good time. If I wore one everyday after a couple weeks it would keep great time but if I took it off for the weekend it required to be reset. Not a big deal but not great. I even bought a watch winding box. It helped but not enough. I recently switched to two eco drives. A titanium golf watch, super thin and light and a diver. I keep them on the window sill and they work great. Any time I want one it is ready to go. I want to get another eco drive diver. One with a stainless steel band and one with a nato band. I have been wanting to email dragon shroud for a shroud to fit the citizens. I got my son his own eco drive diver. I got them off amazon on sale

[scjbash]

I've had two eco-drives for a few years, a chrono and a small field watch, and I have no complaints about either.

[kjr_29]

Both great choices. The first on is also avail. w a dark blue dial.
The eco drive system is well vetted. 10 yrs plus on the watch would be my expectations.

As you said, Amazon often has them at well under 200 shipped. Jomashop is another source of deeply discounted Citizens.

That blue one is tempting, but I find black timeless and appealing. I should get both! One blue and one black!


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[kjr_29]

I have had zero bad experiences with any of my Citizen watches. At last count, I owned four and wear them regularly on a rotating basis.

As mentioned earlier in this post, one can catch some real bargains on Amazon on Citizen watches, and another source is Macy's. They have a "Friends & Family" sale a couple of times a year when some really deep discounts are available on a lot of merchandise. I don't know when those sales are held . . . . but my wife does! She bought me a Citizen Navihawk AT model for my birthday a couple of years ago and it is my favorite.

The watch in the first link provided by the OP was on a special sale on Amazon some time back and IIRC, they were available for somewhere around $110-$115 delivered on Amazon Prime. Seem as though that subject was discussed on this forum at that time and several members scored one of those watches. I was among them, and it's another great watch.

Thanks!


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[kjr_29]

My go to work watch has been a G shock for years. My “dress” watch has been a seiko diver for over thirty years. I started with a seiko quartz Pepsi diver but moved to the black seiko 007. I like them a lot. One 007 has the stainless band, the other a NATO strap with a dragon band. The problem for me was I never wore them enough to keep the automatic movement wound up enough to keep good time. If I wore one everyday after a couple weeks it would keep great time but if I took it off for the weekend it required to be reset. Not a big deal but not great. I even bought a watch winding box. It helped but not enough. I recently switched to two eco drives. A titanium golf watch, super thin and light and a diver. I keep them on the window sill and they work great. Any time I want one it is ready to go. I want to get another eco drive diver. One with a stainless steel band and one with a nato band. I have been wanting to email dragon shroud for a shroud to fit the citizens. I got my son his own eco drive diver. I got them off amazon on sale

I was a huge G-shock fan but found as my travels increased, the process to change time back and forth was just too much. I got my first Casio analog style diver and have been a fan ever since. Simple, timeless style.

I have considered a Suunto Core for field work or fitness activities but still undecided. Might take some hard use wear off my daily piece.


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[kjr_29]

I've had two eco-drives for a few years, a chrono and a small field watch, and I have no complaints about either.

Thanks!


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[Duke]

It will be the same disposable nothing that everything else in the $200 range is.



Not trying to be rude. There just isn’t much thought that need be placed on this type of piece.

[GardoneVT]

It will be the same disposable nothing that everything else in the $200 range is.



Not trying to be rude. There just isn’t much thought that need be placed on this type of piece.

What makes you say this about Citizen?
The OPs Invicta definitely qualifies as “disposable nothing”, but Citizen makes pretty good quality timepieces for the money. I owned a Nighthawk and it’s build definitely is above “disposable”.

[Erick Gelhaus]

The '06 Titanium version of this Citizen - https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/BJ8050-08E.html - has been a day-in / day-out watch since Jan '07 at the latest. Truly like it and the other three or four Citizens I've gotten over time.

[98z28]

What makes you say this about Citizen?
The OPs Invicta definitely qualifies as “disposable nothing”, but Citizen makes pretty good quality timepieces for the money. I owned a Nighthawk and it’s build definitely is above “disposable”.

Citizen makes nice stuff for what it is, but an Eco-Drive is not something you are likely to hand down to your kids. It has a limited service life that is not cost effective to extend. It makes more sense to buy a new one when it dies, i.e. it's disposable.

A good mechanical piece can be regularly serviced and passed down for generations. If keeping the watch around for several decades is not a concern, rock on with the Citizen. The Eco-Drive is awesome at what it does.

[That Guy]

I guess I'm the only one with a bad experience with an eco-drive? (Mine wasn't a diving watch though.) Wore one all summer - so the battery was definitely fully charged. Then about a month after long shirt sleeve weather had begun I checked my watch only to find it dead. It started working again after sunlight hit it, the battery was simply out of a charge. "Works up to six months in total darkness" my arse...



I have considered a Suunto Core for field work or fitness activities

Bought one of those too, and ended up breaking about six before the warranty ran out... The barometric sensor was usually the first thing to go.

[UNK]

What makes you say this about Citizen?
The OPs Invicta definitely qualifies as “disposable nothing”, but Citizen makes pretty good quality timepieces for the money. I owned a Nighthawk and it’s build definitely is above “disposable”.

Im guessing what he means is not worth the money to repair if needed. May as well buy a new one. At least that was the situation with a co worker who had one of the fancy chronometer models. I believe that was with factory or factory approved repair.

[Duke]

Apologies for being brief and rude


Yes I did mean disposable in regards to more costly to repair than replace.

And if that’s the goal then, cool. It’ll work

But if not wasting money is key, planing on sometime not lasting is an odd path imo.

[ranger]

I bought a Citizen Ecodrive "field watch" for $65 on an Amazon sale. I am wearing it now and it is doing great. I also have an older Suunto. If I wear the Suunto for a few days - the Citizen Ecodrive is "dead" and I have to rest everything before using. As long as I use it daily - all is ok.

[RJ]

Bought a pair of these, one for me and one as a gift, a few months ago:

Citizen Men's Eco-Drive Promaster Diver Watch with Date, BN0150-28E https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016R90VBK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_NKDvDb33KVGDQ

Nicely finished. Bezel is not as fine as my Sub. Date window is almost impossible to see.

Timekeeping is fine.

I wear it from time to time.

[littlejerry]

I bought one of those on sale for ~$115 back in December. I have a much older Ecodrive from ~2002 that still works.

[ralph]

I bought one of the citzen divers, eco- drive about 3 weeks ago, I checked the time against the official Gov't time website where I set it when I got it, so, 3 weeks in, and it's running two seconds fast..2 seconds! I've worn this watch daily since I bought it, wore it shooting, mowing the lawn etc, you get it..So far no problems/issues to report. Take it off at night, and put it on in the morning, no problems, running fine. I love this watch's accuracy, to me it's the best of both the mechanical, and quatrz movement world..quartz accuracy, but like a mechanical, never needs a battery.. And, it's affordable.. 200 meter water resistance(like I'm going to be diving that deep)What's not to like?

[GardoneVT]

Apologies for being brief and rude


Yes I did mean disposable in regards to more costly to repair than replace.

And if that’s the goal then, cool. It’ll work

But if not wasting money is key, planing on sometime not lasting is an odd path imo.


Im guessing what he means is not worth the money to repair if needed. May as well buy a new one. At least that was the situation with a co worker who had one of the fancy chronometer models. I believe that was with factory or factory approved repair.

My understanding is a Citizen Eco-Drive will last 20 years before needing any factory service, which costs $80 from Citizen. Since most of their models retail for at least double that, it doesn’t strike me as a throwaway brand of watch.

Now a sub $500 mechanical or generic quartz watch I could see being considered disposable. You’re not keeping one of those running for 20 years without paying more then it’s worth.

[RJ]

I bought one of the original Citizen Aqualand watches in 1991 or 92, doing my AOW cert in the Cayman Islands. Dove with it in the Red Sea on a Aggressor Liveaboard. Same for a couple trips to NC on the Olympus out of Morehead City. Plus 100s of training dives at Haymarket Quarry in VA. The digital depth gauge, timer and alarm were a welcome adjunct to one’s Dive Tables in the early days of the new digital multi-tissue model dive computers then coming out (e.g. Sherwood Source.)

It was warranted till the year 2000 - unheard of at the time.

I bought at least two new rubber bands. I think I had it serviced 3 times maybe, new batteries, gaskets and pressure test.

It was bombproof.

I sold it on eBay in 2010 after my Divorce. Too many memories, if you know what I mean.

I suspect it is still running somewhere.

Looked like this:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190815/cd4f433c16acb61782d405f657a788a6.jpg

[kjr_29]

Some good debate above. Opening my perspectives a bit.

While I never really considered the legacy aspect, I am not looking for an heirloom piece at this point, just a cut above the quality on my previous Casios (I averaged about 6-7 years with each) and certainly the Invicta which still works fine but has the number piece floating around now sine hitting the concrete from about a 5ft drop. Both of my boys (22 and 17) are into G-shocks now, not much of the classic diver style like interests me.

It will get worn, scratched, slept in, low crawled while bow hunting with, dunked in the river setting up duck decoys, worked out in and stared at longingly during boring meetings at work. I just can’t envision taking a multi-thousand dollar timepiece through that.

In essence, I guess I view it as a finite lifespan item, I just want a little better disposable on my wrist :)


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[ralph]

That blue one is tempting, but I find black timeless and appealing. I should get both! One blue and one black!


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The one I bought is blue..I like it, something different than black..

[UNK]

My understanding is a Citizen Eco-Drive will last 20 years before needing any factory service, which costs $80 from Citizen. Since most of their models retail for at least double that, it doesn’t strike me as a throwaway brand of watch.

Now a sub $500 mechanical or generic quartz watch I could see being considered disposable. You’re not keeping one of those running for 20 years without paying more then it’s worth.

I want to be clear i have no problems with a citizen watch. I have almost bought one several times in the past but considering my line of work and everything that is on my wrist gets broken and beat to hell i never have sprung for one.
I went to their website and i thought they have a great five year warranty. Under repairs for out of warranty there was no stated cost. They want you to send it in and they will give you a written estimate, repair work will not be done without your approval.

[UNK]

I don’t want to gum up the Obligatory Wrist watch thread, but wanted to see what others experiences with the Eco-Drive line up from Citizen have been.

My background - long time analog diver style fan, predominantly Casio G-shocks and analogs throughout my time in the military. Gave my last Casio to my son last year when he was on his own in the workforce.

Picked up an Invicta Pro Diver (https://www.invictawatch.com/watches/detail/21392-invicta-pro-diver-men-48mm-stainless-steel-stainless-steel-black-dial-pc32-quartz) about 18 months ago - it is my one and only timepiece. I like the style, and it worked ok for being an every day use watch. I can wake up at 3am and see the luminescent hands. I dropped it in my garage last week and it smacked the concrete hard, the 12 o’clock marked came off and is floating around inside the case.

Time for a new watch. I don’t mind paying a few bucks, but north of $200 is not happening, just cannot wrap my mind around that for my needs. Amazon has some good deals on the Promaster Diver line at the moment.

I am really liking some Citizen pieces, particularly these models (below) which tick my aesthetic box. Have never owned a Citizen so I don’t know what I don’t know regarding quality and longevity.

https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/BN0150-28E.html?cgid=mens-ecodrive#sz=24&start=132

https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/BN0085-01E.html?cgid=mens-ecodrive#sz=24&start=131

Let me know your thoughts and experiences!



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You do realize when you get this watch you have to post pics ...😎
Here is the perfect thread for your pics. https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?70-Obligatory-Wristwatch-Thread&p=504&viewfull=1#post504

[Poconnor]

I bought a broken Mickey Mouse eco drive off eBay for 20 bucks for my wife . Somebody had tried to replace the battery. I took it to a citizen dealer. It was sent back to the factory and it cost $80 to repair

[kjr_29]

You do realize when you get this watch you have to post pics ...[emoji41]
Here is the perfect thread for your pics. https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?70-Obligatory-Wristwatch-Thread&p=504&viewfull=1#post504

Obligatory! I have spent a few hours lately perusing the thread.


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[UNK]

Obligatory! I have spent a few hours lately perusing the thread.


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This whole forum is a danger to your wallet and that thread is no exception.
I typically buy timex $20 dollar watches and usually get two years out of them. Many years ago I bought a Bertucci and the first day I wore it to work I got weld splatter on the glass. Thats when I decided cheap watches only from now on. However retirement is getting closer so you never know.

[Sharkbite]

I have 2 and my Wife has 1. Zero complaints.

[NEPAKevin]

Amazon has the black Promaster BN0150-28E (https://smile.amazon.com/Citizen-Eco-Drive-Promaster-Diver-BN0150-28E/dp/B016R90VBK/ref=lp_20125886011_1_1?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1570208487&sr=1-1&nodeID=20125886011&psd=1) on their deal of the day today.

[RJ]

Amazon has the black Promaster BN0150-28E (https://smile.amazon.com/Citizen-Eco-Drive-Promaster-Diver-BN0150-28E/dp/B016R90VBK/ref=lp_20125886011_1_1?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1570208487&sr=1-1&nodeID=20125886011&psd=1) on their deal of the day today.

That watch is on my wrist right now.

Love it.

[Le Français]

Has anyone had issues with Citizen spring bars? I’m going to replace the strap, and I was wondering if there’d be any benefit to installing “heavy duty” spring bars while I’m at it.

[RJ]

Has anyone had issues with Citizen spring bars? I’m going to replace the strap, and I was wondering if there’d be any benefit to installing “heavy duty” spring bars while I’m at it.

None w multiple Citizen Dive watches used on approx 400 dives ranging from 0-130’ fsw between 1990 and 2011.

[Le Français]

None w multiple Citizen Dive watches used on approx 400 dives ranging from 0-130’ fsw between 1990 and 2011.

Thanks


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[csheehy]

I've had a Citizen diver (no idea on the model) for 8-9 years. Previously worn everyday, not alternates with a blacked out G-Shock. Only complaint was the original black rubber
strap cracked after about a year or so of wear, $40 to replace. That one cracked after another 12-18 months, and THEN finally I got smart and put a NATO strap on it. It ha always
kept time, has been banged around quite a bit, and I think it looks good with the classic black & grey 007 strap. Days I'm not wearing it, the watch sits on an east-facing windowsill
to keep it charged up.

I would have no reservation about getting another one.