Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5791 in Watches
• Brand: Citizen
• Model: BL5250-53L
• Dimensions: .15 pounds
• Band material: Titanium
• Bezel material: Titanium
• Case material: Titanium
• Clasp type: fold-over-clasp-with-double-push-button-safety
• Dial color: black
• Dial window material: Mineral
• Movement type: japanese-quartz
• Water-resistant to 660 feet

Features

• Ecologically friendly, light powered Eco-Drive Caliber E812 Japanese-quartz movement; Charges in natural sunlight or indoor light
• Max power reserve: 120 - 270 days with Power Save; Low charge warning: 5 days; Charge time from stop state to max charge: Incandescent Light - 43 hrs, Outdoors, Cloudy (10,000 Lux) - 12 hrs, Outdoors, Sunny (100,000 Lux) - 4 hrs
• Perpetual calendar; Chronograph, unidirectional rotating bezel
• Easy to use alarm function; Date feature at 4 o'clock
• Water-resistant to 660 feet (200 M)

Amazon.com Product Description
The Eco-Drive Perpetual Calendar features a titanium case and bracelet. The timepiece features a 1/20 second chronograph that measures up to 60 minutes, 12/24 time, dual time, alarm, date indicator, and power saver function. Additional features include an inner calendar, which automatically adjusts to the proper date as well as leap years through the year 2100. Independent hour hand adjustment makes changing time zones simple and precise.

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

Echo the other reviews
As a prior owner of a tag-heuer( bezel broke; paid to have it fixed; broke again, then fell off...watch worked great but looked silly without the bezel) and a luciene picard( couldn't see the silver hands against the silver background and I work in the dark), I needed something that looked stylish, worked and THAT I COULD SEE! I picked up a watch band pin remover tool considering the other review on the size of the watch band. Have been extremely happy with how the watch has lived up to expectations so far. If it fails to hold up to life's abuse(I tend to be hard on everything I own), I'll put in an addendum.

Addendum: I've now had this watch for about a year now and it has lived up to my expectations 100%. I have no criticisms and will buy another one if I end up breaking(or losing) it in the future.

Addendum #2: I've had the watch over 3 years now and with the exception of a few scratches on the crystal, it's been flawless. The perpetual calendar should get a positive comment as not having to change the date on every month or so is really convenient. I stand by my first addendum on which watch I'd buy in the future.

Great watch
Great watch. I am really happy with this purchase, for $250 i think you will be hard pressed to find a watch with the same features/quality.

The watch has 3 modes, time, chrono, dual time(local time) & alarm. You switch between the features by turning the stem to the desired function in the bottom sub-dial. To keep this review short and sweet..

The good...
- Never need to replace the battery!! - This is a huge when you think about the cost of replacing the batteries in some watches that need to be sent to a service center.
- Titanium composition makes the watch & bracelet lightweight but strong compared to a stainless steel equivalent.
- Perpetual calendar - never need to adjust the date when its a 30 day month once you have set the calendar.
- 5 year Citizen warranty should anything ever go wrong.
- Instructional CD comes with watch - easier than reading the manual

The bad...
-No wetsuit expansion clasp on the bracelet.
-Rotating bezel isn't that easy to turn (compared to previously owned watches with a bezel)
-Switching between time & dual time takes a while for the hour dial to change time zones which is annoying if you just want to quickly flick to see what the dual time is (the top left sub dial is for telling the currently displayed time in 24 hour format not the dual time).

Minor Flaws Over Time = Major Pain!
Out of the box this watch looks and feels great. However, the zero setting, too often required, is painfully methodical, the mode change easily switches as the protruding bezel often touches my wrist and, as a result, the perpetual calendar, alarm, and chronograph are accidentally altered! After having reset the perpetual calendar for the fifth time for some reason, the date is perpetually crooked! I would not recommend this watch and am surprised by the great reviews. My assumption is that many of these reviews were written during the first week or two.