Citizen Men's Eco-Drive Professional Diver Rubber Strap Watch #BN0070-09E

I purchased this watch just a few days ago, so I won't be able to speak about it's longevity or timekeeping, but I will tell you a bit about the watch which in turn may aid your buying decision. (I am holding back the 5th star until I have some months of use with the watch).

First, this is a very solid, somewhat heavy pro diver's watch (but not as heavy as Seiko's classic dive watches, such as the "Orange Monster" #SKX781). This watch was made with scuba and skin divers in mind. But surfers, swimmers, water skiiers and other sports and outdoor enthusiasts would like it too. While it is rated for 300 meter depths, it is not meant for helium dives. Of course, like me, you may not be a diver but still want a sturdy, good looking, solid watch that you can use in wet or dirty conditions, requires a minimum of maintenance, and will take some punishment along the way. While it is too early to say definitively, so far I am impressed with the weight, feel and solid construction.

It is a handsome watch, with alternating grey and black "waves" on the dial, which when viewed in the light, is really gorgeous. The hands and dial are easy to read, and they glow quite well in the dark, especially if exposed directly to a light source just before the lights go out. The date feature is nice, though the window and type size seems a tad small to me. The sides of the one way rotating bezel are highly polished steel, and very good looking. By the way, it's absolutely silent.

The wide rubber strap is comfortable and attractive -- but take note: the band that comes with this watch is extra long -- made to go over a wet suit, or other article of clothing, like a long sleeve cotton pullover shirt, for example (The band is nearly 11 inches, end to end. By comparison, a typical man's dress watch band might be 6.5 to 7.5 inches). You can certainly wear the watch on your bare wrist, but if you have an average size wrist, chances are good you will see the end of the strap facing up at you when it is closed around your wrist. Not a big deal, but non-divers may not like this.

Due to the design of this watch, only the Citizen brand rubber strap that comes with this model will fit the watch. No other brand will fit. So if you do buy this watch, and plan to keep it, do yourself a favor and buy an extra strap or two for future use. Rubber does eventually wear out and break, so eventually you will likely need a spare.

I am not as enamored (yet) of the Eco-Drive light powered system that needs no batteries, only for the reason that you do need to put some thought into how you will keep the watch charged. For example, to fully charge it you will need to expose it to sunlight for many hours or to incandescent light (bulb) for even more. Now of course you can place it under a lamp (not less than 20" from the lamp to the watch dial) and leave it to charge. Or you can place it near a window* that gets sun for most of the day. But however you do it, you will need to keep this in mind. The good news is that, fully charged, this watch can go up to 6 months -- in the dark -- without an additional charge! And of course, if you are out playing tennis or golf outdoors, or even just out for a walk, it's automatically recharging itself. (If you keep the watch covered with your sleeve however, it is my understanding that you are not recharging)

I will provide updates when I better understand what exactly is needed. One more thing -- the capacitor, or energy storing "battery" in this watch NEVER needs replacement. It is simply a temporary storage device, holding the electrical energy that you direct into it via the light sources mentioned above. Furthermore, you need never open the watch to replace a battery, thus the watch stays factory sealed, providing much better protection from moisture, dust and other foreign contaminants.

I suppose the primary benefit of Eco-Drive is fewer batteries into the landfills (a good thing); on the other hand, putting in a battery every 2 to 4 years was never an inconvenience for me.

Overall, a handsome, eye catching watch that many men would love to own, especially as a weekend watch, a watch to wear if you make a living outdoors, or just knocking around the house on Saturday. This is a "guy" watch, which looks especially great when you're wearing short sleeves. I would not say that it would pair well with a tuxedo, but hey, you could always start a new trend.

Psssst. Ladies, don't tell the guys, but this model is available in a women's size too. You can also get it with an orange band instead of black.

Hope this has been helpful. Feel free to ask questions and I will try to answer.

UPDATE (November 14, 2011): I've lived with the watch for over two years now. I easily adjusted to the concept of a solar powered watch within a month of buying the watch. There's really nothing to it. Just leave it out on a table or near a window that you know gets good sun. (A couple of times over several months should do it.) The watch does the rest.

No problems with the band whatsoever. So far it shows no sign of deterioration or excessive wear. I am very happy with the watch and would recommend it highly.

**Don't leave it on a car dashboard (to charge) in the sun. The owners manual warns that this could wreck the watch.

I've got this solid build, solar powered, sports watch for little over a month now. After 5 weeks of use it's only 2 seconds off, which is very good. The watch is a pleasure to wear and even easy to read in the dark. 11 hours of sunlight is enough to charge it for half a year and office light will keep it going too, according the manual. Well that's easy enough and so far I did not take any special precautions to charge it and wear it to the job and every where else. The mineral glass must be pretty hard because I already hit a few times quite hard and was afraid that I scratched it, but no it is still like new. The strap seems a little longer than on other watches but on my wrist (6-3/4" circ.) it is no problem at all and fits great and comfortable. A minor thing that I don't like is the small date window, without my reading glasses I can't see the date well. But besides that it is a 5 star watch and for me this watch is definitely a keeper!
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UPDATE I have this watch now for almost a year and it still runs great and I don't even think about it that it's a solar watch and needs light every now and then. I wear this watch every day and amazingly there is still no scratch on the glass and still waterproof in the lake and swimming pool. When I had to change the Daylight Savings time back this last fall it was about 15 seconds off, what means that this is a very good watch.

I have this watch for less then a year.
At first I loved it and it has a great potential.
It's looks good a very rough yet elegant.

Initially I gave it 5 starts on Amazon.
So you ask why did I change it to 1 star?
3 month after I got the watch (last March) the rubber strap (where the connecting pins pass through) has broke down.
Initially I though that the rubber was dried out (although the rubber looks as a very high quality rubber).
I removed the strap and found out that the connection point to the watch (where the pins pass) is not really rubber but it is hard plastic covered with rubber.
The plastic is very thin where the pins pass through and now I know that they tend broke very easily.

I contacted customer service and took the watch to an authorized dealer.
I have been told that the strap is not under guarantee so I had to buy a new one.
Well, I liked the watch so I didn't want to throw it away for a strap so I got a new one hoping it will last.
Less then 6 months passed and the new strap broke in exactly the same place as the old one.

It is clear now that the straps of this model is defective and hence I wouldn't recommend this watch to anyone.
A wear of the strap in a common thing (had it also with Seiko) but 3-5 month of lifetime for a strap (~30$) is not very reasonable for a 220$ watch.
Moreover, this is not a standard strap which one can easily find a replacement for.
I tried to ask customer service if they are aware of this issue and got a laconic reply that the strap is not covered under the warranty and I need to get a new one.
It reminded me the answers that customers received from Apple when their 1st gen iPods battery died.
"We don't offer a technical service so you need to get a new iPod" :)
Maybe this is the logic behind this watch????

Bottom line, stay away from this watch unless you would like to visit the service center frequently.