Customer Reviews

Citizen Men's AT0810-12E Eco-Drive Strap Sport Watch

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This watch is designed just the way I like it. Simple and elegant, yet it smacks of quality. This watch is not small. It's big, bold, and easy to read. Using stainless steel and a thick front crystal, this watch is not lightweight either and you will feel its weight as you wear it. With that said, this watch is not "big and gaudy", nor is it too heavy. I consider it to be a "standard size aviator style watch" and I think it's just the right size, weight, and look. Unlike many black-face watches, there are no red or yellow highlights on this watch which makes it a little more dressy and less sporty than similar watches. The numbers and date window and inner dials are easy enough to read. There is a very handy stopwatch feature which is simple to use and fun to play with. The outer rotating bezel requires strong fingers to rotate it and it only rotates in one direction which makes it very unlikely to get bumped around. The leather strap is thick enough and wide enough to handle the weight. I much prefer leather to metal for compfort reasons.

Cons: The second hand doesn't move. Instead, the second hand only rotates when using the stopwatch feature. Citizen opted to use one of the inner dials to indicate the seconds for the current time. This is a minor nit-pick and it just takes some getting used to. When you first look at the watch, you are inclined to think it is not running (when it is). I wish this watch would indicate the day of the week.

I can't comment on the eco-drive feature, but it seems like a good idea. If this watch runs for more than two years without a battery change, then I will be happy. The owner's manual says this watch will run in complete darkness for 6 months before the batteries fail and then you can simply rechange the watch with exposure to artifical or natural light. Sounds great on paper.

APPEARANCE: Very attractive. ECO-DRIVE: Full charge within 24 hours; has remained fully charged since. TIMEKEEPING: +5 seconds/month. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS: (1) The bezel is brightly polished and is susceptible to scratching with even occasional casual-dress wear. (2) While I realize that many watch wearers prefer a watch with significant "heft," I believe other reviewers have been quite tolerant about the weight of the watch. I'm 5'10", 175 lbs. with decent muscle mass and I don't find this watch particularly comfortable to wear for hours at a time because of its weight. The 22mm strap helps distribute the weight, but the relatively small footprint (wristprint?) of the watch and the thickness of the watch tend to yield a significant ounces-per-square-inch of wrist contact factor.

That having been said, this is an extremely attractive, accurate, Citizen Eco-Drive. That will be the deal-maker for those who choose to live with the weight of the watch.

And one suggestion: This model is in abundant supply in the United States. If one will shop carefully he will find deep discounts on this watch. With regards to all other Citizen-lovers, --Ron

UPDATE 02-04-2011: I've tried several bands and bracelets on this watch and have settled on a Hadley-Roma jubilee-style solid-link bracelet. The watch is still heavy, but now it's "comfortably heavy," if I can get anyone to buy into that description. --Ron

I have owned this watch for a year now and really like it a lot. It was a big step up for me in terms of quality and style. It has a very nice solid feel to it, a certain substantial heft, but not heavy. The strap is nicely detailed and has a very attractive white contrasting stitching along the sides. The dial is rich with information and details, that I still stare at occasionally even a year later. I find that it's very well made and designed. It fits the role of business casual and weekend dress watch very well. The luminosity when fully charged is very nice, still bright after several hours in the dark. It's also very easy to read day or night.
It is not perfect however, to be very nitpicky the date window is small and a little too deep, which makes reading it difficult on occasion. It must be fairly level to read well. Also the large second hand is tied to the chronograph feature and the small second hand (near the 6'oclock position) is used for the actual seconds. It was a little odd at first and took some time to get used to but the design makes sense. If I am timing anything I would not be very accurate with the small second hand dial but can be fairly accurate with the larger dial. Also the large second hand doesn't line up perfectly with the hash marks around the dial. It is only off by a tiny fraction and is only noticeable if you are a perfectionist.
These things do not take away from the overall impressions that I have, but they need to be mentioned so you would know exactly what you are purchasing. Overall I really like the watch and the Eco-Drive feature is big plus. Its nice not to have to worry about batteries as the one in this watch is rechargeable. It also keeps very accurate time. Mine is about +/- 3 seconds a month.

i purchased the watch in January 2011 and it's been running supremely accurately since, the band has broken in nicely and the crystal does not show any signs of scratching. The polished bezel has succumbed to occasional scratching but nothing so deep that a minor polish job could not take care of, plus the numbers in the bezel are recessed so they will retain their black colour even after polishing. Overall the watch is accurate serves it's purpose well and looks like it cost far more than it actually does.

Great watch, stylish and nice looking, good quality too. It also arrived earlier than expected. Would highly recommend to anyone planning it's purchase.

Ive owned another citizen but it was more of a formal look then this one, so it couldn't be an everyday watch. What I can attest to is the fact that it never needs a battery. with my other watch I have had for over 3 years now it has never gave out on me at all. (Citizen knows how to make good watches) well, I have been searching for something as nice as this and I believe this really is the one for me for everyday wear, it looks nice not too shiny or much of an attention grabber but that's what im looking for. now this watch has a chronograph not much use for me i guess I think it could have used a month dial instead but well this watch is made for use. all in all I feel its a nice watch and I the fact that this is fulfilled under prime makes it even better. If your looking for an affordable citizen watch that looks nice then go for this you wont be disappointed.

I really liked this watch and the reviews were okay, but not straightforward . I ordered this watch and wore it for 2 days but it was just too heavy, my wrist hurt at the end of the day and i couldn't wait to get home and take off. I don't like being without a watch. It looks great on your wrist though, but it is big. If you don't have a problem with a heavy watch this is the way to go. I didn't like it so i returned it. Hope this helps.

I received this watch and although it looks good, it was defective and would not charge properly. The chronograph would somewhat work but the watch itself would not. Even the chronograph would not return to zero upon a normal reset. I noticed that the original package looked distressed. I wonder if it was a previous return or not a real Citizen... I ended up returning it...

Actually i bought this watch after reading customer reviews on this web. May be my expectations were raised by the reviews. But the watch has a very cheap outlook actually what you see on the picture is not what it is. In the picture you see a strong professional like watch but the watch itself does not look strong or professional. I have bought and used other watches of similar outlook some of them did not last long (the quality was not good) but they had better outlook. I believe Citizen could have done a better justice to the item. So far it is performing perfectly ofcoz most watches don't start problems this early. So please if you are looking for a watch that will improve your outlook, better keep on searching.