Customer Reviews

Citizen Men's BL5180-57L Eco-Drive Perpetual Calendar Watch

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The watch is great... it is full of features and above all it is a Citizen EcoDrive, which is a very important element here. EcoDrive has the ability to convert light to energy, therefore the watch never needs a battery. This function is very important since the watch is full of features and if it was not an Ecodrive then you might kill the battery in a 1 year.

Appearance:

The watch is very attractive, very elegant looking, and it is worth every dollar. the color of the dial however is completey different from the picture. In the picture the color of the dial is blue but the watch itself has a very dark gray or even a black dial. under very bright ligh (like sunlight) you might notice a little blue color in the dial but 90% of the time you are only going to recognize the color of the dial as a black or dark gray. Does is look bad? No, the watch looks very elegant and its color looks great.

The features:

Before you touch anything you MUST READ THE MANUAL. this watch is very complex. if you are looking for something that you can setup in 1 minute, put on, and start using right on arrival then you might want to look for a different watch, this watch is going to take some manual-reading and some understanding. The good thing is the watch actually comes with an INTER-ACTIVE CD that you can play on your computer and watch step by step instructions on how to setup and use the watch - very nice, i was impressed -.

alarm: the watch comes with an alarm feature which actually can be setup for am or pm. you can have the alarm wake you up at 6:00 am or at 6:00 pm, i think that is very impessive since i have used other analog watches that their alarm failed to offer am and pm settings.

Calander: might be the most impressive feature of all. you will never need to adjust the date at the end of the month using this watch. after you setup the watch for the first time, the watch will recoginze how many days are in the current month and will display the correct date based on that. also, the watch recoginzes leap years... great feature i think...

Local Time: this one is okay...when you switch to local time mode, the watch arms will move to the local time you seted up. however, if there are more than 4 hours difference then you might sit and watch your watch spin for a while, which is my case here ( 6 hours difference for local time) so local time is not so great for me.

Chronograph: great feature and offers the same great features as any other chronograph watch.

finally, the watch looks fantastic, loaded with features, unbeatable price on amazon. just remember, the first time you lay hands on your watch you are going to have to go through some reading and a thing called a Zero-Reset. also there is alot to learn and read inorder to use the watch correctly, otherwise, if you don't read the manual the watch may drive you crazy.

Final rating: 4.5 out of 5.0

This is the finest watch I have ever owned. It comes in stainless steel with a big front that is easy to simply look down on my arm and easily tell the time. I don't have to squint as I did with my old Fossil watch.

This watch has many pluses. First, it never needs a battery. It is solor powered. At night I take my watch and place it on my dresser and it simply leaves the second hand at 12 until the sun shines through the next day (or I cut on the light). Second, it has a perpectual calendar which means I don't have to change the date. The calendar runs until 2100 and even leap years are not missed with this watch. Third, it is waterproof. And fourth, is can be worn for any occassion.

A great watch!

Purchased this direct from Amazon - it must have been one of, if not the last one in their inventory, and was selling for quite a bit less than you can find it for now. Having said that, I would still pay more for such a quality watch. Citizen has a long-standing reputation for making solid, practical watches with innovative features, and this model does not disappoint.

It is a visually beautiful watch. The stainless steel band and case work very well together, both mechanically around my wrist and in appearance. The clasp is perfect - easy to remove but will not release until you want it to. This is literally a watch you will feel confident wearing anywhere; from a black tie affair to playing around with the kids or swimming. The face is easy to see from any angle. The flat crystal and its glare reducing coating alleviate problems with other watches I've owned. Weight is a non-issue - it is certainly there, but very reasonable for a steel band watch. If you have fragile wrists, you may want to look for a canvas band watch or something in titanium, perhaps a ladies style..

The mechanical and technological features are practical and useful. Eco-Drive is a great concept and seems to be implemented very nicely. If the idea of never thinking about your watch battery again appeals to you, you'll enjoy the Eco-Drive. The Perpetual Calendar is accurate and adds to the non-existant maintenance this watch provides. Chronograph is useful and works well. I didn't buy this watch for an alarm function, but it exists. Someday I may try it out.

I really can't say enough about this watch. Especially considering the price I scored, I am thoroughly pleased and would make the purchase again. Abundant resources are available to assist you with the easy setup, shipped with the watch in form of a manual and an instruction CD, as well as an interactive movie available through the Citizen Watch website.

Let's get the basics out of the way. Once set (no simple procedure), the watch keeps excellent time. I assume that if you are considering this watch, you think it looks great. I agree, it does look great. The problem is, this watch is sold as a chronograph with perpetual calendar. It has two side buttons that you might think perform chronograph functions. You know, starting and stopping the sweep second hand in a simple manner. Well, you would be wrong. By the time you get this watch into chronograph mode, whatever you are trying to time is probably gone. Setting the watch to the proper time and date is a hoot. Definitely have your instruction booklet and reading glasses handy. Hopefully, you will not have to do a zero reset. If you do, then it's a lot more fun. To be fair, don't despair. You can do it. I did, and lived through the task with only a few deleted expletives along the way. Once the watch is set, you should be set for a long time. UNLESS, you decide to go on a trip to a different time zone and cross the dateline. Then you can have the fun all over again - twice. There is the local time LTM feature that permits your home-town time to be retained while the hands display the time where you are travelling.

Would I recommend this watch? Yes. Do I like mine? Yes, now that it has been through the zero reset game. As long as you are informed in advance, I feel that the Citizen Chronograph is a nice watch, which never needs a battery. Make sure that it is fully charged going into winter, or you will definitely play "Zero-Reset". A day in the sun is enough. If you buy the watch in the spring or summer, you will have no problem. Ordinary wear without long sleeves will suffice to charge the battery and get you through to next spring.

Citizen needs to rethink the setting procedure of this watch and the use of the two buttons for chronograph operation. By the way, these comments apply to all of the Citizens chronographs except the flight series.

This is a great timepiece. It is rugged, attractive, never needs a battery or winding, and never needs to have the date adjusted (for months of different lengths, leap years, etc).

I agree with the other reviewer that the watch does have some complex functions, however all of the basics (setting the time, setting the alarm, etc) are fairly straight-forward.

My only complaint is that the mode dial (the dial that looks like a wind dial on a wind-up watch, but switches between "> TME <> CHR <> LTM <> ALM <> TME <> CHR <> LTM <> ALM <", in a repeating ring) tends to turn by itself on occasion while I am wearing it. Thus, occasionally I will glance at the watch for the time and it will read 7:00am exactly, with the second hand not moving...this is momentarily confusing until I remember that the alarm is set to 7am, so the mode dial has been bumped backwards one click to the ALM setting. This can be annoying because it takes the watch a while to wind back around to the true time. I have found that I can 'bias' the mode dial towards the CHR setting, so that it has a tendency to go forward instead of backwards...it's ok if it switches to CHR, because the time is still correct, but the second hand is not moving...an easy fix.

This is a minor complaint, however, it happens rarely (particularly now with my work-around), and overall I love this watch! Five stars!

This watch is an excellent buy. A nice looking watch but not too flashy, it can be worn on any occasion. The perpetual calender, local time, chronometer, and alarm also mean that you get a very functional watch. Setting time and using all of its features is extremely easy.

Not only do you get a detailed instruction manual, you get a DVD with interactive instructions on using different functions. If you go to the Citizen Website you can get interactive instructions as well.

The Eco drive function is one of the nicest aspects. No batteries and no hassles. Some people put their Eco-Drive under a light source at night to charge. I have never done that. Just wearing the watch normally charges it. I have 3 Eco-Drive watches and never had one run out of power.

The perpetual calender is one of the reasons I chose this watch over others. Once you set it up properly, you will never have to adjust the date until 2100. The directions for this are a little complicated so make sure you use the interactive instructions.

The band has a good feel to it. The links feel good on your skin and don't grab at the hair on your wrist like some cheaper brands do. The clasp is solid, and the push-type lock ensures that there aren't any accidental releases.

The face and dials on this watch are very clear and easy to read. The pointer movement is exact, in that they line up perfectly with the numbers. It's the small things with this watch that make it nice. Note: The Face of this watch is slightly grayer than the picture here shows. But it still looks great. The face is about medium size, 40mm so it is not imposing. There is a little thickness to it all but you get used to it very quickly.

I recommend buying this watch from Amazon. No, I don't work for them. Retailers will never match the prices of Amazon. With the free shipping, this is a good deal. I got about 40% off buying this watch online, whereas any retailer will barely give you 25% off. If you must, go to a retailer and see how the watch looks in person, but I wouldn't do much more.

I have an expensive Movado watch for formal events, and an inexpensive (yet nice) Timex Expedition for very casual use. I hated to wear the Movado every day for work, but the Timex and it's sports band wasn't appropriate for normal business events.

This Citizen watch is the perfect middle of the road timepiece. Looks great whether wearing a suit, or just going out for dinner. In that respect, it's the most versatile of my watches, because it can be worn for most any purpose.

The instructions are absolutely necessary to learn how the watch works. The CD-ROM comes with multimedia instructions and PDF instructions. Once you get the basics down, it's fairly easy to work with most functions.

I don't think I will use some of the features, such as the chronograph (stopwatch) or tachymeter. I do, however like the dual time feature, and the perpetual calendar.

I also love the Eco Drive movement, because it is powered by light. Light recharges a lithium battery. A solar watch - how cool is that? A full charge lasts 9 months. My Timex eats a battery every year, and my Movado is an automatic, which means it self-winds when worn (it has to move to wind, or it will stop in a couple days).

Best of all, the Citizen watch looks great. I love the dark blue face and the chronograph dials. My Movado has a black face, and my Timex had a dark green face, so this is a nice alternative.

All in all, I should be set for watches for years, until I get the urge to go for a Tag Hauer or heaven forbid, a Patek Philippe some day.

I have been using this watch for the past 3 months.
Look and feel is excellent. you won't feel the weight on your hands. Perpetual calender works flawless. Stop watch is great, fraction of seconds.
Only thing I don't appreciate about this watch is the local time, which could be set only in multiples of 1 hrs. May be its ok in US but you cannot use it as a dual time.

Otherwise the technology is great. Go for eco drive defenetly and if you are looking for good looking and long lasting watch on your wrist go for this. If you want more features then may be look for more costly eco drives with features.
But I am completely satisfied by this watch whatsoever.

Before I bought this watch I had been researching watches of every make for around 6 months. After checking out the Citizen line of watches, I fell in love with their Eco-Drive solar energy design. Citizen has many styles to choose from, but this one really stood out from the rest. Not only is it great looking, but the price is was affordable. One thing I didn't want was a watch that was too big, which seems to be the trend for many watch makes. This watch is the perfect size, and the weight is heavy enough to know it is there, but not too heavy. Be prepared to sit down and read about how to set this thing. The initial setting of the watch is very involved, but as the directions say, you only need to do it once until the year 2100. The watch band is nice and sturdy, with a beautifully styled push-button clasp. Sizing the band may be better left to a professional with tools if you aren't the do-it-yourself type. Personally, I got a paper clip and some pliers and pushed the pins out with no problem. This allows you to remove excess links to size it perfectly. After wearing this watch, I have nothing negative to say about it. This watch should totally sell for twice what it is going for. I completely recommend buying this watch while it's still available. Go to the Citizen website and compare it to the others...nothing comes close to the style and price.

I ordered this Citizen Eco-drive watch through Amazon from WatchZone. They delivered the watch promptly (only 3 business days) and the merchandise was in perfect condition in original packaging with manuals, and an inter-active DVD. The entire experience was professional and problem-free and I will certainly use this site again as well as recommend it to friends.

The watch was nicer looking than I originally thought, as I had not seen the actual watch yet except online. The combination of style and function are amazing. It can be a dressy watch or an everyday watch because of it's versatility. I like the fact that the watch feels substantial and solid while not being too large or gaudy, and the size of the watch fits my wrist very nicely. I also enjoy the complexity of the timepiece and the fact that it is capable of many different functions. It is definitely one of the nicest watches I own. I highly recommend this watch to anyone who is willing to spend a little more for a quality item that will last a long time.