Customer Reviews

Citizen Men's BL5250-02L Eco-Drive Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Watch

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I am what many would call a watch nut and own over 30 ranging from Timex to Rolex. For me to buy a watch there has to be "something there" for me to get excited about. At $240, this is one of the very best buys on a fantastic watch that you can find! I was so impressed with this watch I purchased a second one as a gift for my father in law who by the way, was very impressed with the watch himself.

Before getting into all the things I like about this watch I want to point out one of the other reviewers posted a problem with the buckle on his watch having some "points" on it that dug into his wrist and made the watch uncomfortable to wear. This must be a factory defect as this is not the case with either of the two that I purchased. While the watch strap is not usually covered by warranty I know from 1st hand experience that Citizen has a dedicated and friendly customer service department and I believe if he contacts them he will find a new strap coming to him rather quickly. Also as to the strap, I have been disappointed somewhat in the past when purchasing a watch and the strap that comes with it is not substantial in length. I have a 7.25 inch wrist and this has not caused me a problem but I would readily notice if someone had a larger wrist they would have to go out and purchase a new and larger strap to be able to wear their new watch. The strap that comes with this citizen will allow someone with a larger wrist than mine to be able to wear this watch with the strap that comes on it. This is very good as I believe the supplied strap is very handsome on this watch.

The BL5250-02L is a marvelous little piece of technology at a very good price! At a suggested retail of $400 I have routinely found the watch at local authorized dealers at around $300. My watch was purchased on line for $240 with free shipping and for an additional $5 you could have "next day" shipping.

This watch comes to you very user friendly right out of the box. Along with the user manual also comes a mini disk that when played will have you understanding all the features, time settings and adjustments. You will have your watch set and on your wrist in about 10 minutes. Also, if you lose this information you may go to Citizen's web page and pull up the same info on an interactive video.

The Echo Drive models have a power cell in them that is charged by available light so there is no battery change ever! The perpetual calendar allows you to set the watch once and then it recognizes short months along with leap years so there is no further adjustment for that. Also, there is a duel time zone feature. I use this for setting the second time zone to address the yearly time change of one hour. Doing this with the simple turn of the dial my watch snaps into Daylight savings time mode and then back with another turn when the time comes to go back. It just does not get easier than that.

The rotating bezel certainly may be used for more than just looks. One of the ways I use mine is when I plug a parking meter. I just rotate the bezel so my minute hand moving toward the marker allows me to quickly see when I need to be back at my car. The alarm function works but it is not very noticeable. I have two Seiko's that have a very audible and piercing sound. In this area I have to say Citizen could improve the watch. However, I do notice it if I am awake. I just don't know if it would wake me from a deep sleep.

The finish of the watch is very nice and the strap is very comfortable to wear. The watch while feeling very solid is not as heavy as you may would expect and it wears very nicely on the wrist. The watch is advertised as a "deep blue" face and that is an understatement. For all purposes except in direct sunlight it is black. This does not bother me at all because it looks great and again, in direct sunlight it does have a blue hew that looks good also. Besides great function and price another strong point on this watch is the luminosity of the hands and markers. With over 30 watches my Seiko's seem to have a lock on that area but this citizen comes in a very, very close second. After being outside all day I can read my watch all night long from my darkened bedroom.

Last but not least, this watch comes with a five year warranty and as I stated before, Citizen has great customer service.

I have just touched on the many features of this finely made watch and for you that do not like straps and would prefer a bracelet, Citizen offers the same watch on a bracelet as model number, BL5250-53L. It retails for $500, local price around $400, web price $300.

I rate this watch a solid 4 out of a possible 5 stars. I would have given it 4.5 if the alarm were more noticeable. I am very picky and I did not even rate my Rolex 5 stars. I highly recommend this watch and would but purchase it again. In fact, I did when I purchased one for my father in law. If this watch appeals to your eye buy it! Price, functions, ease of use, warranty, and customer service is just icing on the cake!

As others have said, this is a wonderful watch for many reasons. Made of Titanium and steel, it is a proper large size man's watch, but not heavy to wear. The leather band attached to it is heavy duty and will last, and the watch is beautifully designed and eye catching. The bezel (outer ring) is a little loose but easy to turn, and the dial is surprisingly clear and easy to read due to the strong design of the sword hands. The luminosity is brilliant too, as these things go, and will last a decent period. (You will be able to read the watch for the first few hours at night after you switch the lights off. No watch, from any company, luxury brands included, really lasts very long.) It has a perpetual calendar, so once set, you never have to think about it again, as long as it gets enough light.

The watch does have some quirks. You require patience to set it. As others have pointed out, changing the settings requires you often to wait until the hands travel back or forth from whatever time they're currently set at, to the new function you're changing to. Be careful of date setting. Depending on the setting, you have to wait for a few revolutions of the smaller hands before the date window moves, one date. If you're changing the date from the 2nd to the 29th, you'll be there a while. This watch requires commitment! The alarm is not only soft, but SHORT! About 15 seconds at best. The watch is a not really a chronograph. Those extra sub-dials you see don't really function in that way. Yes, there is a limited chronograph function but it is so poorly designed so as to render the watch useless for that function. The second time zone is handy but the alarm is not sychronized to it.

On the plus side, the watch is accurate, never needs to be fiddled with once it's set AND as long as it gets regular light, is very comfortable to wear and gorgeous on the wrist. I changed out my stitching for a Hirsh carbon black strap with white stitching, and it looks fantastic. The lesson is, buy this watch if you'll wear it regularly and don't really care too much about the fiddly details. If you're likely to forget it in closets or cupboards for long periods, beware!

First off, I got the watch a couple days ago. The look, feel, and accuracy are all spot on.

However, it appears that Citizen has changed a few things about the setting of the watch, and NOT changed the documentation. I had to experiment in order to figure out how to set the date, it was nothing like the instructions. In order to change the MODE (time, chrono, alarm, local time) you now have to pull the crown out to the first position, then rotate it. This means that the first position can no longer be used to set the date! (like the instructions say) Now, in TIME mode, with the crown pulled out to position two (where the time is set) the "A" button toggles between all of the time AND date settings (the selected hand does a little dance to let you know it's selected), and twisting the crown adjusts it.

Personally I LOVE this change (once I figured out how to set it). Other reviewers had complained about inadvertently changing the mode when pulling their hand out of a pocket, etc. Now, clicking the crown in the zero position does NOTHING. Which is how it should be. It looks like Citizen listened to user feedback, which speaks miles about them. They now need to update their documentation to match.

Great watch, we'll see how it does with more time on the wrist, but I wanted to let everyone know about my findings ASAP!

I have many watches that I really like, but I hate to wear them to work for fear that the crystal or case will get scratched. I decided I needed a watch with no sentimental value to worry about. In looking for a watch the criteria I was looking for included solar power movement, perpetual calendar, and a bezel. I also wanted something that would be comfortable to wear. The fact that the case is titanium (and therefore quite light for its size) s just a bonus.

This has been just a terriffic watch, and I'm extremely satisfied. It has exceeded my expectations in all particulars!

I can honestly say that I have a small number of watches in my collection, and believed that I had reached my peak on finding watches that really caught my eye. But this was one watch that I had already been eyeing for quite a while. I had to buy it, and I did. And it is stunningly beautiful. One of the most attractive watches that I have. Citizen however, has always made some of the nicest watches I have ever seen. But this was one that I was hoping it looked as great as it did on the website. Powered by light and being perpetual, I believed I would have a difficult time setting it to the correct date. But nevertheless it was a breeze. Now it will never need a battery. One of the most power robbing features of any watch would be the alarm which I use constantly. But I certainly will not worry about this one. I can use it all I want since it will recharge itself again, and again. Just a typical day at the office (or outdoors), will recharge it to operate for several weeks, if not months. Unbelievable !! And at a 200 meter water resistance, I can use it swimming, snorkeling, and it may work just as well for scuba diving. It will look great whether you are relaxing by the side of the pool, at a classy dinner, or at a formal business meeting. Several people have already told me to take it off so they can look at it. I feel great whenever somebody says that. Its a really beautiful watch. Worth the price. Maybe it is my love for watches with brown leather bands. I don't know. But if you do so, I would highly recommend it.

After lots of research I bought this watch.

Let's face it, a Timex will provide accurate time but it's the look & style that really matter and this watch has what I wanted (a Brietling appearence) but could aford. It's a masculine and classy watch all the way. I have no need for the alarm or stop watch functions so that doesn't matter to me.

likes:
looks distinguished, well made, great value, easy to read (day or night), nice functions, and best of all- you don't have to let some moron man-handle your timepiece when changing the battery on a regular basis!

dislikes:
be aware that the bezel is highly polished which means that it looks a bit like "chrome" or cheap "bling". It doesn't look like a Brietling or Tag, you know? I'm looking into having the finish buffed but I might be asking for trouble. This is kind of silly to mention but the luminescent is so strong that when I come from outside the face hands look green because of the glow, and I don't like the look. After a while it dissapates. The other issue for me is that the date window is very small and I usually can't read it.

This watch is a great value for the price. Overall I might have given it 4 stars because of the shininess of the band and the bezel, but when you factor in the price and the features it's a 4 plus. It's a good looking watch with a handsome deep blue face that looks black and dark grey dials and shiny bezel. I found the leather band a little cheap looking and feeling at first - maybe a bit too shiny or something but it seems to have gotten better looking with wear. From a distance the combination of the leather band, titanium case and dark blue face is quite nice.

Like the other reviewer mentioned the bezel is a bit too shiny depending on the light which can make it look like cheap chrome. Not exactly bad and it depends on how the light hits it, but it may not be your thing.

I was concerned this watch might be too thick because of a review of this watch with the metal band - but I found it to be in the same range as other watches I own. Certainly not as chunky as a Casio Atomic Solar G-Shock. The titanium is quite light. I tend to like watches with some heft so for me this might be a slight drawback, although I like the idea of extra strength. Not that I ever have or expect to break a watch case!

I don't know how other chronometers work but I expected the dials to spin more. On this one they don't - the second hand does most of the main timing with a smaller dial keeping track of the minutes and if a button is pushed, the fractions of a second in 0.2 sec increments. I thought all the dials would spin simultaneously but maybe that is how chronometers work.

When I first set up the watch I thought the function dial was broken. Turns out all it needed was a full charge. So don't despair until you've charged the watch up fully. The manual was short, but I found unlike the other reviews, that it had as much as I needed to know in it including how to center the date in the date window.

The watch has a great and unusual combination of solar power, perpetual calendar, plus chronometer and alarm. The alarm is too quiet and not practical to wake up to as others have said. It might work if you're awake and cooking something.

I got this watch from the Watch Spot which delivered it really really fast with no problems.

Update on 4/16/10: I decided I really didn't like the original brown leather band no matter how much I tried, it just seems like it is made of cheap leather. So I replaced it with a 20mm black Kevlar band found on Amazon for around 20 bucks, and presto - it looks fabulous and like an entirely new watch! I love it now: Kevlar, titanium and steel what more do you want for under $300? I always loved the midnight blue face of the dial and with the modern band it looks like a much more expensive Breitling now, with great solar functionality. I'm also considering a black waterproof leather band with the dual raised ridges as an alternate band. If you get this watch I'd really recommend springing for a better band.

I've had this watch since July 2006, and have cherished it since. However, just one thing to beware of, this watch cannot be retrofitted with a Citizen metal wrist strap. Ironically it's sibling that comes with the metal (titanium) strap has a different case back i.e. it has deeper scalloping to allow the metal strap to connect to the watch. The leather band watch does not have this deeper scalloping and so will not allow attachment of a Citizen metal strap. In conclusion if you think you will one day switch from one strap material to the next, then it may pay to get the metal strap variant, allowing retrofitting of a leather strap at a later date.

First the summary: I really like this watch for what it is but I am also glad that I read ALL the reviews before I ordered it so I was prepared for most of its quirks. Since I have owned it only for a short period of time I cannot comment on its long-term reliability. It keeps the time to within less than 1s error per week. I like the very low weight for a watch of this style & size and in contrast to one of the other reviewers I don't think that this contributes to a cheap look-and-feel, rather the contrary. The white hands on an almost black background make it easy to spot the time on a first glance. All indicators including the small additional function hands and the date window were precisely aligned upon delivery and stay so in normal use. The date does not start shifting around 11pm as it happens with other watches but it simply switches at 12am, ensuring that one can always easily recognize the correct date at any time. Setup from scratch can be a bit cumbersome during the first time. So, yes, you sure need the manual but it isn't rocket science either. As for the looks of it, it is more shiny than the official Citizen images suggest, you get a more realistic idea by looking at the photographs provided by other amazon customers. But again, I don't agree that this necessaryily gives it a cheap appearance. It is simply a matter of personal preference and I like to look at it. The things that kept my rating down at 3 stars are the following: 1) Switching between alarm setting and time display modes is indeed a pain in the neck. While it still has something charming to it when the hands are making their rounds when switching between the alarm and time modes, I don't understand why the hands are not always taking the shortest route between the two settings. For example, instead of going 9 hours backward (CCW) they spool down 15 hours forward (CW). I haven't figured out yet why this is the case since the hands can run in both directions, CW and CCW. And one thing that is really disturbing is the fact that even if one does not want to change the alarm setting but only switch the alarm on or off, one still has to wait (sometimes for minutes) until the watch has completed its entire multi-roundtrip to display the alarm time setting. Only then can the alarm be switched on or off after which the watch has to make it all the way back to the time display. Now to my taste this is pushing it a bit far. 2) The alarm is as quiet as many others have described it. You don't want to use it as a spare travel alarm clock or as a meeting reminder in any other but the most quiet office environment. It is the quietest alarm that I have ever found in any watch. 3) If a watch has an alarm and a second time zone mode, I think the alarm should also refer to this second time zone if desired. Unfortunately this is not the case for this watch. Second time zone, yes, but the alarm setting always refers to the original zone. Kind of limits the practicality of the second time zone mode. But then if you can't use it as an alarm clock anyway...So in the end I don't regret it at all that I bought it. In fact I like it a lot for its overall design and apparently fine engineering. And last not least the idea to use light and a non-toxic battery to power it. But if any of the abovementioned downsides are of any concern, one should think twice before getting this watch. These quirks are real with no workaround in sight.

I quickly understood how to use it; it's fairly simple. It's big on my wrist but not heavy. The band is top quality. It didn't get four starts because the buckle is designed with metal points that dig into my wrist when I bend my hand inward. They rounded all other areas of the buckle except the one closest to the skin. It leaves painful, deep impressions in my wrist. I've considered having a jeweler grind down the points or buying a new band. Wearing the watch more loosely is not an option. Too bad a good watch gets hurt by the band.

The glowing face could stay bright awhile longer... the luminance fades too quickly. The "blue" face is really black. You have to really search for a hint of blue-ness. The date window could be a little larger... you have to angle the watch to see the date because it is so deep in the window. Otherwise, good watch, nice features. The manual is written well, although I'm still uncertain what you use the rotating bezel for.