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39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good with a few minor flaws., July 17, 2008
This review is from: Citizen Men's JY0005-50E Eco-Drive Skyhawk A-T Watch (Watch)
I just got mine the other day. I own four other Citizen Eco-drive models. They've all been trouble-free and continue to function to this day. The oldest is an 8-year old titaniam diver model. I wanted this new Citizen because it's all black and it's atomic clock accurate. This is a huge watch, but seems to sit well on my smaller wrist. Resizing the band was a bit of a pain as the pins are rather hard to push out. Also, the band is not very flexible, so it doesn't fit as well on a smaller wrist. The one thing that really stood out to me was that the clasp on this watch is of much lower quality than my older citizens with metal bands. This one is made of stamped stainless steel. All my other Citizens have clasps made of thicker solid steel. The watch case itself is solid steel and appears very solid. However, the back is snap-on...eek! Citizen has really gone cheap here. I'd expect that a watch at this price level to have a screw-in back...not a snap-on like a Timex! All my previous Citizen's had screw-in backs. I know that the Japan-only titanium version of this watch has a screw-in back and a solid titanium clasp. This watch is coated black and only time will tell how durable it is. I suspect that eventually the black on the clasp will start wearing off since that's usually where most of the rubbing takes place. The crystal is made of mineral glass and is slightly domed, so at certain angles, you will get reflections. Overall, I love this watch because it looks great and is super accurate. I just wish that Citizen didn't cut down on the quality of the clasp and back to save a few bucks. One other annoying thing is that to access the various functions of the watch (calendar, countdown, chronograph etc), you have to pull out the crown and rotate it. A bit annoying if you use the functions a lot.
Pros:
- very nice looking watch
- fit and finish are top-notch
- bracelet is made from solid links. Not cheap folded metal.
- 200m water resistant
- bezel rotates smoothly
- picks up atomic clock signal in Japan, Europe and North America
- LCD display is backlit, so you can see it at night at the press of a button.
- Eco-drive a proven and reliable technology
Cons:
- cheap clasp
- snap-on back
- metal band not very flexible so if you have a small wrist, you might have large gaps on the sides of the wrist.
- black coating is not protected, so it will eventually wear off.
- crystal prone to reflections
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great watch, but..., January 19, 2009
This review is from: Citizen Men's JY0005-50E Eco-Drive Skyhawk A-T Watch (Watch)
I bought this watch because I wanted a more stylish replacement for my Casio. It had to meet two important criteria:
1. It had to set itself atomically
2. It had to be self-powered.
This Citizen watch does both those things, and looks great doing it. It feels incredibly solid, and consequently is a very heavy watch. You might want to go to a jewelry store and try one on. It works amazingly well, sets itself just as advertised, and fits well (with a bit of adjustment at the jewelry store). I've had it for a few days now and it has only a couple of problems:
1. If you're left-handed, as I am, you'll have to take it off to reach the main stem to adjust some settings. Fortunately, you rarely have to do this.
2. For some inexplicable reason, the date setting is tied to the second clock. So, if you live in, say, Los Angeles, and you set the second clock to, for instance, Tokyo, the date shown will match whatever day it is in Tokyo, which is usually tomorrow. If there's a way to change it, I haven't figured it out. So, I have to have both time zones set to the same zone in order to see the correct date.
Other than that, this is an amazing watch, and unless you only value something like a Rolecks as a status symbol, this will feel great on your wrist.
Pros:
- Looks fabulous
- Sets itself
- solar powered
- a lot of dials look impressive
- a slide rule bezel
- battery gauge
- atomic sync in USA, Europe and Japan
- Incredibly solid feel
Cons:
- Not very lefty-friendly (but what watch is, really?)
- Date inexplicably connected to second clock
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Best On the Market - But Could Be Improved, February 6, 2010
This review is from: Citizen Men's JY0005-50E Eco-Drive Skyhawk A-T Watch (Watch)
I purchased this watch back in November. When I first received it, I was surprised with its weight when compared to the Casio Pathfinder Titanium that I also own. However, I've grown accustomed to the mass, and have been impressed by the durability of the black ion coating. My titanium watch is covered with scratches, and the Skyhawk's black coating hasn't received a single mark.
Agree with others - that this should be offered with a sapphire crystal, and this costs one star in my review. A retrofit is available from Citizen, with the part costing $45, so you would think that Citizen consider the marketing impact of not offering a sapphire crystal given that we are talking about a $500 watch here.
Sending the watch to Citizen costs approximately $100 for a crystal replacement (for crystal, a couple of bezel parts that have to be exchanged, and labor), and you have to be without your watch for a few weeks. Don't get me wrong - I'm glad that Citizen offers the service. Just wondering what the incremental cost of the sapphire crystal is when compared to mineral. If it were actually only $25 more for the sapphire (say $45 for sapphire and $20 for mineral glass), then you would think that they'd want to do away with all the hits they have in reviews by installing it in production. Many have dinged the Skyhawk A-T citing the ease with which the mineral crystal is scratched. It does protrude from the front face quite a bit, and seems very vulnerable. I protected mine with invisishield, but anticipate sending mine in for a sapphire crystal.
Second negative is that I wish Citizen would incorporate the U680 movement of the japanese market watch into the US version. I removed a second star for this oversight. It's really is annoying not being able to display the date in your current time zone. Citizen has fixed this in Japan, and it seems strange that they wouldn't want to address this for US market watches as well.
Comparing the functionality of my Casio to the Skyhawk, there are a few things that I miss - which causes to me to use both watches nearly equally. First is the apparent greater sensitivity of the WWV receiver in the Casio. Many nights my Casio receives an update when the Citizen does not. This when they are sitting side by side on our counter.
I wish that the Citizen had the hourly beeper function of the Casio. This helps me keep on time for appointments, and is a feature that I miss when using the Citizen.
Overall, I would still purchase the watch because the combination of functionality (solar, atomic sync and analog display) isn't available anywhere else in the market at any price. With a few minor adjustments, Citizen could have a real classic on its hands.
Another note - watch the Amazon price. It fluctuates quite a bit. I purchased mine in November for about 30% less than the current price. Wait until the price is back down around $400 and you can get the sapphire installed with the difference!
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