Customer Reviews

Citizen Men's JY0000-02E Eco-Drive Skyhawk A-T Watch

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This watch has a great set of features that are especially good for travellers and those who work "in the field". All in all, I think this is one of Citizen's best high end multi featured watches. The functionality makes sense, it is easy to use, and except for its large size, the watch has a functional, sturdy look that is not overly gimicky, or pointlessly flashy.

It's very large size (45mm Diam excl. crown x 15mm thick) is, in my opinion, its major drawback, making the watch a bit on the heavy and clunky side. The size does, however, make it easy to read. Below is my list of its Pro's / Con's

Pro's:
- Case Accepts standard 22m wide straps, so you can change out the rubber strap for your own favorite if you want.
- 200m water resistant so it can be used for sport idving and water sports
- Full timing features (Day, Month, Year, Chronograph, countdown timer, wolrd time extra dial for UTC / other timezone)
- Alarms: 2 world time alarms and a countdown alarm
- Solar powered: No battery changes needed, this is only a pro if the rechargeable battery / solar system lasts a long time
- Visibility: Large easy to read dial. Luminous hands and markers, LCD backlight for night visibility.
- "Safe" buttons: The crown and 2 pushers operate such that it is nearly impossible to accidentally change modes or alter a setting. The crown must be pulled out to change modes / change settings. Also the buttons seem sturdy.
- Accurate: Radio corrected time from Atomic clock assures accuracy to probably within 1 second
- Slide rule bezel useful for multiplication, division, time and rate problems, conversion

Cons:
- 45mm diam x 15mm thick case is big and sits too high off my wrist making it heavy and easy to bump into things. I also think it makes the watch a little geeky (OK for me since I am a geek already). however, I don't think all of the watches features could be packed into a much smaller case.
- Main time dial doesn't have any numbers next ot the markers. Makes it a little tougher to tell time at a glance and harder to tell timein the dark (is my watch upsdie down?).
- Calendar mode only shows the date for the "away" city not the home city. You must set your away city to bethe same as the home city to get the local date. This is easy to do, but still cuts functionality. If citizen would move their label and make full digital window for the home city it would solve this issue.
- Countdown timer max's out at 99 min. Why not make it 24 hr like the chronograph. I could definitely use a longer limit on the timer (cooking, "met bakc in 2 hours", etc.)
- Backlight not useable in timer or chronograph modes. (not sure how to fix this, but it would be nice to have it)
- Digital window is a bit small, but still legible
- Case back is snap on, making it difficult to open yourself (althought there isn't much need to given no battery changes).

I bought the new Citizen Skyhawk A-T while having my old Navihawk repaired for the second time (the function button keeps breaking on the Navihawk; despite that, I love the Navihawk and it's been my favorite watch for 10 years since I bought it). The Skyhawk A-T is even better than my beloved Navihawk in many ways (has back light function; has a second hand; ecodrive; the function button that kept breaking on the Navihawk has been changed to a pull-out crown; atomic-time set every night, which works flawlessly in the DC area). The ONLY thing NOT better about this new model is that it's significantly larger and bulkier. Other than that, it's fantastic and I have only positive things to say about it.

As a science & tech minded guy, when I saw this watch I felt the stirrings of technolust that I haven't seen for some time! I had certain requirements for a new watch. I wanted something functional outdoors for biking and at the gym during workouts. I wanted something that displayed multiple time zones easily since I regularly work with people in Europe and Asia and I can never remember how many hours away they are. Easy or automatic adjustment to time zones when I fly somewhere was important. And of course I wanted something that looks great!

I have been extremely pleased with my Citizen EcoDrive. The solar power, radio-controlled updates, multiple time zone display (analog, digital, plus UTC), chronometer, and countdown timer make this watch perfect for me. I really like the soft rubber band as it makes the watch feel totally at home in the gym or on my bike. While I must admit I haven't used it all that often, the slide rule bezel is a lot of fun has been useful for a quick calculation every now and then. ($/gal divided by miles/gal most recently!)

This is a great, technically sophisticated watch that does all it promises. It effectively syncs to the atomic clocks around the world (have tried in US and Europe, not Asia yet), and makes time-zone management easy. Since I travel quite a bit, I chose this watch for its ability to show local time and home time (in the larger digital window). I also like the look and its solid, well-made feel.

The reason I didn't give it 5 stars was that the watch I received had a bug. You can read about the bug by going here: [...] and typing "2016" into the search box. Basically, there was a batch of watches made in 2007 that had a software bug, which manifested in 2010, when they suddenly changed the date to 2016 when they received the signal from the US atomic clock. As a result, the date was of course wrong. When I discovered this, I contacted the Amazon reseller, and was assured that they would find a watch in inventory that did not have this problem, test it and send it to me. Well the replacement that I got had the same exact problem. I have now fixed it by sending in the watch to Citizen, who will perform the software update for free. Altogether this took a month of sending watches around, calling people etc - not what I expect when I buy a not inexpensive watch, and not what I expect when I buy via Amazon. Citizen should do a better job informing its resellers, who should in turn be more attentive to their stock. When I called the seller about this problem, they had never heard about it.

Bottom line - I would buy this watch in a store, where I would ask them to sync the watch to the atomic clock, and then check the date. If it is accurate you are in good shape.

This is one of my favorite watches. It's great to have a watch that generates power from light, and is always keeping accurate time thanks to the atomic radio. I set the time the first time, then I can basically forget about it until I wear it next. I have peace of mind that it will be accurate and have power. Citizen even says that fully charged, it can keep time for months if stored out of the light (like in a drawer).

Pros:
Solid watch that takes care of itself -- eco-drive, atomic radio. The rubber strap is great and I prefer the clasp over a buckle style strap. When this watch is on my wrist, the strap never snags on any jackets or shirts. Eco-drive is very efficient. Comes with a CD with "quick start" animated instructions, as well as the full user manual. Citizen's website also has animated instructions as well as the full user manual. When I emailed Citizen's customer support, got an answer to my exact question the very next day.

Cons:
My biggest complaint is the inability for the watch to show your local date, if you've set your alternate time display to somewhere significantly distant. For example, my "home" time is Los Angeles, and my "alternate/world" time is set for Hong Kong. There is absolutely no way to display the date in Los Angeles. This becomes a problem when it's already tomorrow in Hong Kong. Citizen's customer support confirmed that the only way to show the local date is to set my "alternate/world" time to also be Los Angeles. Ugh. This watch does so much -- it has a slide rule, atomic radio, eco-drive, but can't show me the local date. This really feels like a basic (and mandatory) display for a watch of this kind.

Overall I'm still really happy with this watch. The face can at first feel a little cluttered, since there is so much info being displayed between the multiple subdials and two LCD displays. If you're a fan of high tech (and have a good memory for the current date), this watch is for you!

I actually have the stainless steel band version JY0000-53E

pros - looks good, accurate time, true dual time all the time, big but does not feel that heavy (I was wearing a seiko titanium before this)

cons - can not see the date or the day at a quick glance. this is the deal breaker for me. Had I realised this earlier I would not have purchased this watch, the things it can do maybe great, but the day /date feaure is needed for daily functionality.

I've had this watch for around 18 months and I absolutely love it. The functionality is just what I need, and it is a great value for the price. Here are some pros and cons:

Pros:

1. The atomic feature--which resets the watch to the correct time every night based on the US government's atomic clock in Colorado--is fantastic. I have never reset the watch manually since I've had it, and it displays perfect time.

2. The world time feature is also great. I travel outside the US 6-8 times a year, and it is so easy to change the display to another time zone and back again.

3. It is a good size and weight. I know some people complain that the watch is too big, but it doesn't look or feel uncomfortable on my wrist.

4. The built-in solar battery charger is great. I'm looking forward to going a very long time between battery changes.

Cons:

1. As others have mentioned, you can't display the local date constantly without having both the "local time" and the "world time" set to the same local time zone. Citizen could and should have programmed the display at the "9:00" position to show the local date instead of the local city code.

2. The rubber band is comfortable, but to make it smaller, you need to permanently cut the band. That means that if you want to make it bigger again, you'll need to buy a new band. You can make small band length adjustments on the clasp, but my advice is "measure twice, cut once," because once you cut the band, there's no going back.

3. The slide rule is kind of useless. It looks cool, but most of the functions, like fuel consumption and estimated flying time, are geared towards pilots. If you're not a pilot, you don't need them, and if you are, you probably already have some kind of tool to perform these calculations.

Overall, this is a great watch which you will enjoy wearing and using.

This watch is everything it is advertised to be. The time functions are easy to read, and having the times of the principal cities of the world available by using the stem and the side-push butttons is very convenient. Adjjusting the strap is easy enough, just don't make a mistake of how much should be cut off, it is unforgiving. The radio controlled functionality is excellent, and not needing to change the battery is a big plus. The LCD windows are a little small, but functional. All in all, it is very worthwhile time piece.

The watch is Fantastic, I was able to adjust to the weight in a couple of days. I bought the watch with the rubber band because it was on sale, runs around 70.00 less then the stainless steel bracelet. The band lasted me for a year, I hardly ever take it off so as far as watch bands made from rubber go this one lasted a long time for me. I replaced the band with the stainless steel one which cost 120.00 so my advice is to pay a little extra and go for one of the metal bracelets. I say bracelets because that is how they are designed, it will slide on your wrist some but it sets beautifully on my arm and I have received a number of complements. As far as the watch goes, it is a little complicated to set up at first but comes with a small booklet that is very helpful and explains things in an easy to understand way. The website is also interactive as well. I would not use the two alarms to wake you up as they are not loud enough for that but are plenty loud enough to get your attention when awake. Take care with the crystal because it will scratch, as I said I hardly ever take mine off but I did put a couple of small scratches on it. However if you did not know they were there you would not see them so the crystal is of fine quality. The main feature for me is the Eco-drive, when my watch arrived the charge level was low. I placed it in my window cell facing the sun and it was fully charged in a couple of hours and has stayed that way to this day. The slide rule is very useful, I am not a pilot but I do find myself using most of the features. I also love the fact that I do not have to keep setting my watch to the correct time, the radio receiver updates the time every night, the watch itself if it for some reason is out of range is accurate to 1 second a month. I have looked at other more expensive watches but I was always drawn back to this one, it is truly maintenance free, you wont be sorry.

I recently bought the Citizen Skyhawk-AT JY0000-02E & am completely 'sold' on this watch. Some reviewers have stated that this is a heavy watch, it is not, however, it is a large watch. I find the face & all the sub-dials easy to read & my eyesight is not the greatest. At first glance the watch seems complex but after 45 mins of reading the manual it's easy & intuitive to carry out all the functions. Download the manual from [...] in A4 format it's a lot easier to read & use than the very small manual that comes with the watch. It is great not to ever change the battery, correct the time or date or alter the setting back & forth to Daylight Saving Time, all these things are carried out automatically.The slide rule bezel is a standard E6B which will be familiar to pilots, there are instructions in the manual on how to use it but even if you never use it does look cool! This is a 'wear it & forget it' watch. Brilliant!