Customer Reviews

Citizen Men's BJ2000-09E Eco-Drive Aqualand Stainless Steel Black Rubber Dive Watch

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you buy this watch- get used to the idea of having it for a loooooong time. I purchased this watch in the mid-'90s while living in Hawaii. It was my second dive watch (the previous watch was also a Citizen but no longer made). That particular watch was beyond repair and I ended up buying this one. FOURTEEN YEARS later, the watch is STILL with me. I was in the Navy and have dived and surfed all over the world- this watch was with me all of the way. I've never had one issue with it- ever.
This story gets better: After 14 years of abuse, the paint had rubbed off, I knocked the glow-in-the-dark thing out of the bezel, and the band (the third band I've needed for this watch) was rubber-rotting. I sent the watch into to have the bezel and band replaced by Citizen. I received an email from Citizen stating they did not replace or repaint bezels, but they will give me an entire new housing for the price of replacing the bezel. For $116- Citizen gave me a nearly new watch- strap, crystal, metal housing, etc. The only original part of the watch is the inner workings- which I've never had an issue with.
Hopefully, I'll get another 14 years out of the watch and I'll give it to one of my kids.

I've joyfully owned this watch for 9+ years now and still love it. After innumerable diving & snorkeling excursions, swimming pools and showers, it has never missed a beat. Have enjoyed the depth meter. It's been windsurfing, hang gliding, sailing, motorcycling and in sinks of dirty dishes and still looks modern, professional, rugged and up-to-date. It's equally appropriate in the boardroom and beach. It keeps accurate time, is easy to use and is most certainly durable! I've changed bands a couple of times (the stock rubber band lasts a few years of hard use). Bands are easy to find. The orange parts are a bit faded after many hundreds of hours in direct Caribbean sun. Crystal will scratch some eventually with abuse, but it's surprisingly durable. The SS case is also not prone to scratches. I've gotten several more expensive watches in the interim (including Rolex) but have always quickly gone back to wearing this one full-time. If I lost it, I'd get the same model!

I owned this watch for about 9 years. I swam with it, and dived with it extensively in fresh and salt water. It had been to depths of 125ft. (about 39 meters) where it worked flawlessly. I was always amazed at how close the depth gauge on this watch mirrored the reading on my actual diving gauge. (accurate in salt - not as accurate in fresh water.) It was worn while playing tennis, football, soccer, volleyball, in the sand, in the mud and so on so - I can attest to it's TOUGHNESS. The look is great and over the years it garnered many compliments. It also told time, believe it or not, and very accurately. My habit was to set it only on New Year's eve as "the ball dropped" and it was never off by more than a few seconds. My "2 year battery" lasted about 8 years. (Not sure why but not complaining.)

Other observations:
Yes the band wears out - it's rubber - but that takes a long time.
Yes - if you don't tighten the crown, then submerge it, you WILL ruin it. No surpise there. And you must thread it carefully. No big deal.
Yes - The orange depth hand looks like a second hand - until you are diving with it, then it makes a VERY handy back-up depth gauge and is critically easy to read.

This WAS hands down (no pun intended) the best all-around watch for an active guy that I have even owned. My only problem with it was that one night, my playful cat pushed it off the nightstand and into the waste basket, after which it made its way to some landfill. Tragic really ... I'll miss that cat!

I bought this watch in 2003, and have worn it since. I've replaced the rubber band three times, once with the stainless steel band. The stainless broke within days when I tripped and fell against a concrete and brick surface. The band and watch took the worst of it, the case was practically unscratched, the band broke a couple of links and was replaced with rubber again. The skin oils rot the rubber, the band is cheap to replace though. It wears well, the years and repeated dives and daily water immersion have not affected it. The orange of the depth gage is fading, the green glow is still noticeable in the hour dots in the dark. It keeps time well, I might correct it with my cellphone once every year or two. I recommend it and will buy another if this one dies, which I don't foresee.

I have had this watch for 15 years now. Never been sent in, NEVER had any issues. This is weird for me due to the fact that I am a very active person and my watches take a beating day in and day out. If you want a fantastic watch that looks good, wears well, and will never fail you... then this is the watch for you. I have a citizen promaster that last me 2 months, seiko monster dive watch that last me 5 months, tag heuer 3000 quartz (25 years old in for refurb), and a Rolex Yachmaster II. Guess which watch is on my wrist.

This is a great watch. Very durable. My last Citizen Aqualand lasted over 20 years!! It finally died on me for the last time, just before Christmas...and given it's longevity, I was determined to buy another one. The Eco-Drive technology is an amazing feature...especially for a diving watch. In the older models, every time the battery needed to be changed, it had to be sent to Citizen, so the watch could be re-pressurized correctly, etc. Not very convenient, and a bit costly. I have only two minor gripes with this new watch. The orange hand (charge meter/depth meter) should've been placed BEHIND the minute and second hands, as it was in my old model. It's so distracting, and obsucres the minute & seconds hands to the point that it acually makes it difficult to read the time quickly. The primary reason for owning a watch is being able to see the time!! Very frustrating. Had the orange hand been placed behind those, as in previous models, it would be near perfect. The other features I'd like to see on this watch (especially at this price point) would be a digital stop watch, and a backlight for the bezle for easy viewing in dark environments. Pretty simple & inexpesnive fixes like this, and I would've easily given it 5 stars. These aren't deal breakers, so I'm not going to send it back...I just hope it gives me 20 good years, like my old one did.

I've had the watch for 7 years now, and i absolutely love it. Never needs a battery replacement, super durable, and the chronograph is really nice, even if it is just quartz movement. the only problem i've had with it is the screw-down crown. i am left handed, so i wear it on my right arm so the adjustment crown points up. i banged it hard one time on a table, and stripped the threads on both the crown and the case. I sent it back for service, and they replaced the crown, band and crystal but the case was still damaged. about a year later, i was still having problems with the crown, so i sent it back with a detailed explanation, and they replaced the crown, case, crystal, battery and band. its like i had a brand new watch! service is super-slow, but it appears to be worth the wait. I'm shopping around right now for a replacement band. Mine is dried out and cracking, but its been 3 years with no trouble.

Fantastic watch! I'd give it a 5 star rating, but for one really stupid choice Citizen made: The big orange hand that looks like a second hand? It's not. It's the depth gauge needle underwater (good), but on land, that big huge hand only indicates the charge level. Important, but not nearly important enough for the most visible feature of the watch to display 99% of the time. Instead, seconds are relegated to one of the small inset dials.

Better would have been for that small inset dial to indicate charge, and the big orange hand to show seconds on land, and depth underwater. Perhaps the charge meter (useless underwater) could double for seconds once you're actually submerged... but it's lousy placement for the full time seconds display.

The watch face is somewhat busy and can be a little hard to read as a result, at times, but that could be my preference for digital (when reading), even though I prefer the look of analog.

The last other minor nit is the depth dial is displayed in 5' increments, which would be fine, except the needle also moves only in 5' increments. It "ticks" from one 5' segment to the next, so you don't know if you're at 18' or 16'. This is not mentioned in any literature I noticed, but you learn it the first time you descend and see it in action.

Overall, I love the look, and it suffices as a backup gauge, which is why I bought it, so I still like the watch. I'm just annoyed by those few flaws to an otherwise fantastic watch.

Great watch, robust, good looking, and never needs batteries. I have even had young ladies saying...'what a great looking watch', gosh I will have to get two!! Ha!

I love this watch!Easy to use never needs a battery.It has the look of the high priced brands but not the price.Quality is outstanding I have no complaints.This is the best watch I have ever owned.