Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5581 in Watches
• Brand: Citizen
• Model: JR3155-03E
• Band material: Polyurethane
• Bezel material: stainless-steel
• Case material: stainless-steel
• Clasp type: fold-over-push-button-clasp-with-safety
• Dial color: black
• Dial window material: Mineral
• Movement type: japanese-quartz
• Water-resistant to 330 feet

Features

• Ecologically friendly, light powered Eco-Drive Caliber C650 Japanese-quartz movement; Charges in natural sunlight or indoor light
• Max power reserve: 90 days to 4 Years with Power Save; Low charge warning: 1.5 days; Charge time from stop state to max charge: Incandescent Light - 29 hrs, Outdoors, Cloudy (10,000 Lux) - 9 hrs, Outdoors, Sunny (100,000 Lux) - 5 hrs
• Black ion-plated case & polyurethane band; Time and calendar in 22 time zones (30 cities); Three world-time alarm functions; One-touch interchangeable analog-digital times
• 1/100 second chronograph measures up to 24 hours; 99 minute countdown timer; Rotating slide rule bezel; Screw back case
• Water-resistant to 330 feet (100 M)

Amazon.com Product Description
Sporting a hardened, special ops look, the Citizen Black Eagle Skyhawk stainless steel men's flight watch offers advanced timing functions and the latest technology. It's powered by Citizen's unique Eco-Drive, which absorbs sunlight and any artificial light through the crystal and dial to recharge the watch continuously. The fast-forward timekeeping features include time and calendar in twenty-two time zones, thirty cities, three world time alarms, a 99-minute countdown timer, one-touch interchangeable analog/digital time, and 1/100-second chronograph that measures up to 24 hours.

The large round black ion-plated stainless steel case measures 44mm (1.73 inches) wide and 14mm (0.55 inches) deep, and it's topped by a bi-directional rotating slide rule. The black dial background features large white hands with luminous tips as well as luminous square dial markers. It's completed by a comfortable black polyurethane strap. Other features include water resistance to 330 feet (100 meters) and a scratch-resistant, non-reflective mineral crystal.

Summary of Features:

• Time and calendar in 22 time zones (30 cities)
• Three world time alarms
• 1/100 second chronograph measures up to 24 hours of elapsed time
• 99 minute countdown timer
• One-touch interchangeable analog/digital times
• Rotating slide rule bezel
• Screw-back case

The Citizen Watch Brand

The company was established in 1924. The founding fathers selected the name Citizen so it would be "Close to the Hearts of People Everywhere" and soon after adopted the company’s formal name, Citizen Watch Company.

During the last seventy-five years Citizen has expanded its business throughout the world and has achieved recognition as the global brand. The past twenty-five year period has coincided with the company’s dramatic rise to its current position as the world’s largest watchmaker, a distinction Citizen has held every year since 1986.

Beyond sheer size, Citizen is also recognized as a worldwide leader in advanced technology. From the world’s slimmest LCD watch to the first voice recognition watch and the world’s first professional dive watch with an electronic depth sensor, Citizen’s record of "world’s firsts" is unmatched.

More recently, Citizen has staked out a new position as the leader in Ecologically Friendly timekeeping with its Eco-Drives watches that are light powered. With models ranging from dress models to sports models to professional dive watches, Citizen Eco-Drive runs continuously in any kind of natural or artificial light for a lifetime of use. Fueled by light, it never needs a battery.

Eco-Drive Frequently Asked Questions (See the full Citizen Eco-Drive FAQ here)

How can you tell if the Eco-Drive watch is getting enough light?
In normal use, the watch displays the time and the sweep-second hand moves in one second intervals. A very important feature of Eco-Drive is the Low Charge Warning Mode which as a result of low battery voltage, causes the second hand to jump two seconds at a time (while still keeping correct time).

How long will an Eco-Drive watch run after it is fully charged?
If your watch is put away where no light is available to it while in a fully charged state, depending on the model, it will run for from 45 days to 5 years.

How can the Eco-Drive watch be recharged?
Besides sunlight, it can be safely charged by exposing it to a fluorescent desk lamp, with the dial (face) up and within about 8 inches or an incandescent lamp (regular light bulb) no closer than 20 inches. Never use a halogen lamp since the heat generated by it can cause damage to your watch. The most efficient and the quickest is in direct bright sunlight (not windowsill) and never on the dashboard of a car.

Customer Reviews

A great watch, if sometimes a little over-complicated
I just purchased my second of these watches (my first being a stainless steel Skyhawk model), and am smitten with these watches, but realistically see the few drawbacks to them.

First, a few selections from the long list of pros. This watch is extremely durable, and can definitely stand up to the bumps and bruises of daily life. I've worn this watch everywhere, from work to the gym to the airplane to the beach, and the only time it stopped was when I submerged it in briny sea water, and water somehow got into the watch itself. It was repaired under warranty, with no problems or questions. The Eco-Drive power supply is great- save for the rare malfunction or mishap, it doesn't need to be changed. It'll keep itself fully charged on the fluorescent lighting that we all have at work, or if that fails, it'll charge itself fully within three or four hours of direct sunlight.

The multiple time zone functions are very handy for someone who travels frequently, as I do. You can simply set another time zone in the digital display, and with the simultaneous pressing of the two buttons on the side of the watch, it'll switch the time displays between the digital and analog displays. This function is very handy if you're more than one time zone away from home- when I'm traveling in Europe, it's very convenient to be able to tell the time at home with a simple glance as opposed to the mental gymnastics of calculating the time difference. The slide rule on the crown is also very useful if you want to calculate the arrival time of your flight, or as an amateur pilot, to figure out the amount of fuel you'll use on your flight. Again, all very useful.

Now, the cons- the watch is large. I mean, BIG. If you like large watches, as I do, that's actually a pro, but some people don't really go for that style. Also, in anything other than the titanium, it's rather heavy too. There's no forgetting that you have a watch on, although you get used to its heft rather quickly. Another con would have to be the (sometimes) complex methods of changing the times. You can't simply pull out the crown and turn, you have to select the correct time zone in the digital display. It's very precise (which is the upside of this feature), but it's a little time-consuming. However, it's pre-programmed with Daylight Savings Time, so when the time comes to change the clocks, that's just a simple push of a button. It just takes a little getting used to, but once you do, you'll never wear another watch.

In conclusion, I'd like to reiterate that this watch is a great timepiece, one that I've just duplicated in my collection (the first watch is my wedding gift, and I can't bear to scratch it again). I highly recommend this watch to anyone.

Versatile timepiece...
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1UFFBEOO1U49V A Video Demonstartion

Less Practical Than Other Skyhawks
Great at night, hard to read during the day.

I got this as a present, and I just couldn't keep it. At first I thought my eyes were old (they are), but as it turns out the problem with the Black Eagle is that the LCD numbers and letters are inverse-video (i.e., they are clear when active and must let light pass through, reflect off the backing, and go back up to the viewer.) Now, if the light is a point source (like a single bulb) directly behind the observer's head, say at night, the LCD works great. But when the light is bright, diffuse, scattered sunlight, the LCD gets harder to read, especially when combined with the large amount of light scattered off the crystal as there are no surface reflective suppression coatings on the crystal. This would be a problem in a high wing aircraft with a lot of scattered sunlight coming in from the outside. (I have a Navihawk and yes, I do use the E6-B ring quite a bit) To make a long story short, it was harder to read than the other models.

Also, the Black Eagle's battery status indicator LCD isn't the same configuration as what's shown in the instruction manual, they're tucked away on the side of the left display about flush with the side of the case, so that's harder to read, too, as compared with the other Skyhawks.

Compared with the Navihawk, the Skyhawk's center crown is more cumbersome to use when setting daylight saving time and making setting adjustments. It takes a complete half turn of the crown to make just one input, and there seems to be a fair amount of friction on the crown stem (possibly the o-ring to keep it water-tight to 100 m) Maybe it was just this one watch.

Anyway, I sent mine back. :( It would have been a nice watch, but I couldn't surmount the annoying problems. I hope others found it more satisfying than my brief time with it.