Citizen

Citizen Men's BN0000-04H Eco-Drive Professional Diver Black Rubber Strap Watch

• Light powered eco-drive Japanese-quartz movement; charges in natural sunlight or indoor light
• Durable, hardened mineral crystal
• Case diameter: 43 mm

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The men's Eco-Drive Professional Diver contains a screw-down crown on a solid one-piece case, for a fantastic water resistance of 300 meters. Enjoy the use of a one-way rotating elapsed-time bezel, luminous hands and markers, and date display, all on a comfortable black polyurethane strap.

The Citizen Story

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 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.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 5.1 x 5.1 inches ; 2.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000EQS1RO
• Item model number: BN0000-04H
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,329 in Watches (See Top 100 in Watches)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Diver for the $ Bar None, June 13, 2009

By 

N. Collins - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Citizen Men's BN0000-04H Eco-Drive Professional Diver Black Rubber Strap Watch (Watch)

Pros:

Citizen's BN0000-04H has something unique. It may not carry the weight of a TAG Heuer, Omega, Rolex, or other sport-dive watch (in cold hard $, "prestige", or actual literal heaviness for sure), but it really has charm.

With this watch you get the superior time-keeping qualities of a high-grade japanese quartz movement (quartz always runs on a battery - yes, there is a specially-engineered titanium-manganese battery in there) but without the need for any battery change, ever (at least 20 years by Citizen engineers' estimates). This movement blows automatics out of the water in time-keeping. It doesn't have the fluid sweep of an automatic's second hand (it ticks in 1-second intervals), but for me keeping time is what counts in a watch, right?

This is a set-it-and-forget-it watch. It will keep on trucking about 6-months in total darkness from a full charge. And if it does stop, it'll come out of it to full accurate time-keeping with just 15 minutes in the summer sunshine. It will run a whole 24 hour time-cycle with only 4 minutes of light exposure. Eco-Drive is the new deal in watch movement. [EDIT: Not to mention the battery inside is specially made non-toxic. It's a green machine.]

As to its pedigree, it's a real ISO-rated dive watch. There's an easy way to tell with Citizens: if there's an M after the depth rating on the face, it's ISO-rated. This isn't just my theory, this is from Citizen's own product info. This watch wants to see dive time.

The watch face, which some call cramped, feels to me like looking through a porthole in a submarine or something. It's a little deep. I can tell the time just fine. The hour dots are legible in all kinds of light situations. The lume is about as good as Seiko's lumibrite, which is to say, pretty darn good. But it's no Luminox to be sure. [EDIT: The lume, in my tests, lasts well over a 12 hour cycle in total darkness from just 15 seconds of direct charging with a flashlight. Don't think it's bright at all after those 12 hours, though. But it does have a really nice greenish glow when charged.]

The mineral-crystal is domed, but you can see the time even at a pretty sharp angle. I like the dome, goes with the porthole feel. The face also bears a really nicely done little pyramid-shaped grid pattern. That might be the solar cell, but either way, it's beautiful the way it picks up light.

With the hands, some say they're "phallic" but I think they look more like lit candles. Haven't seen hands like them anywhere, and I get bored with all the pointed-arrow and straight-line designs. And they're nice, fat and visible in the dark. Furthermore, everything's outlined in chrome. Has the look of quality engineering.

[EDIT: The second hand lines up almost perfect with the little markers on the beveled inside edge. It's perfect, spot-on precise 50-59 seconds out of a minute on mine, but it isn't perfect every single time. And it varies from minute to minute which 1-10 markers it misses (but it always nails 30-60 for some reason). You'd never notice, however, unless you put the watch right up to your face and stare at it like a crazy person like I did before writing this. That's a very small amount of play in the movement, and for this price, is impressive. You get the same movement in even the more expensive Eco-Drive divers, by the way (for example, the one with the bright blue face, and the famed "Eco-Zilla"). The minute and hour hands, however, are exact on this, every time.]

As to the date window, I like it small. Generally I know what day it is. I don't need that information taking up half of my watch face. But I even like the font used on it. Looks like it could be used on a Navy decompression table.

The bezel is 60-clicks, compared with Seiko's 120, so it feels a little rough. But I like having it at 60. It's more precise. I'm not going to need to time a half-minute of anything with the rotating bezel, ever. [EDIT: I make perfect pasta by using the bezel, by the way. Impresses the girlfriend. Thumbs up here. Also times parking meters. No more tickets for me. Furthermore, the bezel "breaks-in" after a little while and the spring doesn't feel so choppy.]

The band is really soft. It's not hard or stiff, like others say. It feels like high-grade dive rubber. But I have smaller wrists, it could press into some bigger guys'. The watch looks great on smaller wrists, by the way, due to it's smaller size. Doesn't make me look like a wuss. Big plus there. [EDIT: And due to the friction grid-pattern on the back of the band, it doesn't move around on the wrist at all. It's planted on there now.]

And did I mention the case IS ONE SOLID PIECE OF STAINLESS STEEL? I can't get over that. I haven't seen that on any watch in any price-range. [EDIT: The case is specially cast in a mold from molten steel, not machined.] Just cool. Citizen is so confident in their engineering, they make it that much harder to open. And for water to get in, remember, 300M = 1,000 ft.

Cons:

The screw-down crown. Don't get me wrong, it has a quality feel (doesn't wobble when pulled out) and does it's job. But I'm not going to lie, it's hard to get it screwed down and hard to get it unscrewed because of the steel lip that surrounds it. Seiko's design on the classic SKX007K, for example, is better. However, remember that quartz movement? You'll only need to unscrew that crown about 5 times a year, to set the date for the months without 31 days.

The bezel has printed numbers. These seem pretty durable, whatever they're made of, and I haven't scuffed them yet even after some direct hits. But how much harder would it have been to have the numbers pressed into the bezel?

The crystal is not recessed in the bezel much at all. It'll pick up dings/surface scratches. But hey, it's an affordable watch. It deserves some character. Do not get that crystal anywhere near a brilo-pad though, say, when washing dishes. You'll regret it. It ain't sapphire. [EDIT: And it ain't 2K so who's complaining?]

Summmary:

All in all, great watch with a lot of character. Keeps great time. Comfortable = Not one sharp edge on the thing. Not heavy = forget it's even there. No battery change! One piece of steel! Eco-Drive is fail-safe technology. This watch will give you at least 20 years of maintainence-free time-keeping. And look good doing it.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Citizen Eco-Drive Men's Professional Diver Watch, March 17, 2008

By 

Gary (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Citizen Men's BN0000-04H Eco-Drive Professional Diver Black Rubber Strap Watch (Watch)

I got this watch about 5 years ago in Nassau. I am a very active person and I have worn it 24 hours a day since then and subjected it to high abuse. I have only taken it off occasionally to set the date, time, etc. I have used it to scuba dive dozens of times in fresh and salt water, to over 100 feet depth as well as snorkeling, wearing it in the pool, shower, etc. It has been exposed to soaps, detergents, solvents, scraping across concrete and rocks, dropped on a hard surface, etc. It keeps very good time and never misses a beat. The band loops that hold the excess band broke off a couple of years ago. I replaced them with 2 O-rings slid over the strap on the buckle end to secure the excess strap. I have scratched the crystal pretty badly and worn the numbers off the bezel and the dive tables off the strap. The stainless steel case doesn't show much abuse but the rest does. The strap is cracked through the edge to the little holes in the sides a few places and needs to be replaced.

The things I really like about it are the durability, maintenance free battery (eco drive), accuracy, and low profile. I have been in the dark for most of a couple of days and never had a power failure from lack of light and never paid special attention to exposing it to light except for holding it under a flash light or aircraft overhead light some times for a few seconds to try and get some more illumination from the hands at night. It seems very thin compared to other watches the same thickness (11 mm)due to the edges of the bezel being rounded and beveled to be unobtrusive. I like the small diameter low profile and light weight that keep it out of the way.

My only complaints are: the strap is $45, I wish the bezel had the numbers engraved instead of printed on it (for cosmetic reasons due to wear), I wish the crystal was harder, and the hands more luminous. All these things are pretty much par for the price point.

I am looking for a replacement due to the cosmetic wear and the band costing $45 and the fact that I haven't had much luck with cheap replacement bands in the past for other watches. I am considering a Seiko or Luminox to get more durable cosmetics on the bezel, maybe a tougher crystal, and better night illumination but they all feel thicker and heavier. If this just had an engraved bezel I would get another one and maybe will anyway.

I recommend this watch and rate it highly especially considering the price.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Diver's Watch without the hassles!, August 9, 2008

By 

Kurt Normandin (Montreal, QC Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Citizen Men's BN0000-04H Eco-Drive Professional Diver Black Rubber Strap Watch (Watch)

I just bought this watch to replace my Seiko Diver's (quartz movement model- quite frankly the only way to go...don't even think about perpetual or automatics) and I can tell you that I'm quite pleased with my new purchase. It will have some pretty big shoes to fill since the Seiko has lasted me 24 years (and still looks and works great!). If you own or have owned a Diver's watch you'll know the pains of having to deal with the jewellers - either it's a battery issue (they don't install the proper battery or if they do it lasts a year because it's shelf life expired the moment they installed it), a ridiculous service charge ($45 to $100 and often weeks before you can get it back) or they simply don't want to touch it because it's a "Diver's".
This watch will solve all these problems. It looks as rich as the Seiko but not quite as large or as heavy. The rubber band is made in China and I know that I'll have to one day replace it (just like I had to with my Seiko) but this aside the watch itself does look of equal quality. The date works just like any other analog watch and its size is just right for this model (remember we're not diving for days at a time). Also, a lot of people forget that the date changes at twelve AM and fail to distinguish am/pm when setting the time, and, like any other analog date watch, it will cycle through 31 days (so for months that don't have 31 days, yes you will have to manually reset the date). Overall, for the value, this is a great watch to buy!