Citizen Men's Eco-Drive Skyhawk A-T Titanium Watch #JY0010-50E

 

 

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I have had this watch for over 2 years now and it has to be seen to be believed. Prior to owning this I had looked at previous Skyhawk watches and wanted to buy one, but never quite got around to it. The solar power and multifunction dials always appealed to me, but they never had as many functions as this version.

When this version came out I could not believe the specification! As well as the usual stuff: Stopwatch, alarms, multiple time zones, solar power and no battery change, two other features blew me away, namely the atomic time, which means this watch is always accurate and the fact that it is titanium making this huge watch extremely light. Not to mention the slide rule dial which can be used for calculations.

One other thing that only becomes clear after wearing this is the quality and precision of the dials and the huge amount of finely printed text on this watch. Believe me there is alot of tiny print, but the quality is absolutely second to none and all the surfaces are machined to an incredibly precise finish. I have owned many watches but never seen anything which looks so precise.

Although none of these functions is unique, I do not know of any watch which comes close in functionality, except maybe a Casio or Tissot touch and I have heard that many people have had problems with the Tissot, which is aimed at trekkers rather than a world traveller or pilot and Casio have never quite shaken the cheap disposable image of years gone by.

This watch has been faultless and 100% accurate for 2 years now. It will never be regarded with the same respect as any of the Swiss timepieces all the purists rave about, simply because it is a Citizen, but it simply blows them all away for accuracy and functionality. Most of all it works without any problems and does it at a price they could never compete with.

There are lots of functions on this watch but only two buttons and a crown, which has to be pulled out to use some of the functions and some people object to this, but overall the watch is an absolute revelation.

I have owned this watch for 3 months now and I am very impressed. As a fighter pilot having an accurate time hack is very important to me and the best aspect of this watch is that it receives a radio time hack in the middle of the night every day. You can also manually order the watch to re-hack itself from the radio signal. The ability to receive a time hack in America and Europe (plus the Far East too) is invaluable. The radio reception was strong in Ridgecrest, California and OK in Tucson but was very weak in Las Vegas. I had to go outside to receive the signal so the overnight automatic update did not receive indoors. In the east of the UK the signal is maximum strength.

Other than this, the watch has numerous additional features which make it indispensable.

The slide rule bezel is remarkably useful on the ground, not only for planning missions, but also for currency conversion, long division and percentages. Furthermore on a trail back from the US recently it was extremely useful for calculating fuel burn when the gas was a bit tight. I will definitely not own a work watch without a slide rule bezel again.

The light is bright and the watch hands are also luminous and easy to read in low light. Whilst this is a large watch (I suggest you go and try one on before purchasing), the titanium version is remarkably light. I like its purposeful looks too.

The build quality of the watch is excellent. Whilst it sounds like a small point, the second hand points exactly at each second mark on the dial as it rotates (it really annoys me if the second hand points halfway between them). Furthermore, if the hands are not correctly aligned you can manually adjust them. This is the first watch that I have owned with this functionality and whilst it arrived perfectly aligned, it is indicative of the quality and attention to detail of the manufacturers.

The watch is maintenance free too, as it is powered by an Eco-Drive (effectively a solar panel on the watch face). Mine arrived fully charged and it has remained so over the past 3 months without me having to leave it to charge in direct sunlight. I have simply worn it everyday. Coupled with the automatic radio reception time hack, it means this watch requires no effort from you. All you have to do is wear it - the watch does the rest.

Like everything, there is room for improvement. Whilst I like the watch styling in general, I think that the use of orange in the writing was a little misguided. However, there is an identical Japanese version of this watch in black with white writing so if the colour bothers you I'm sure you could track down that version.

There are 2 smaller clocks which display UTC (very useful) and a pointless 24hr clock - a pilot who doesn't understand the 24hr clock system is going to be hard to find! Given that this is marketed as a pilot's watch it is a ridiculous addition. Making the UTC display bigger would have been a much better design, freeing up space for a dedicated calendar display. The watch can either show an alternative time zone on the LCD display or the date, but not both simultaneously. Additionally another LCD display is used up showing you what your home city is set to. Personally I would have made the UTC clock larger, removed the 24hr clock and added a dedicated date display.

However these points are minor when compared to the quality, styling and overall utility and functionality of the Citizen Skyhawk A-T Titanium. I researched various pilots' watches before buying this, including allegedly dedicated specialist watchmakers. None came close to this watch. As a pilot it offers the near perfect solution to my chronograph requirements and I unreservedly recommend it.

...except when I check the time!

For me, it's not the fancy world times. Don't get me wrong it was fun playing with this, but I'll use this once (twice if I'm lucky) a year to go on holiday. Even then I've got kids so the amount of exotic places I might go where this is actually useful will be few, since I can generally manage to add or take away a couple of hours. It would have been really useful in my wandering days, but that alas is a few years ago (or away hopefully).

Anyway you don't want to know that, you want to know what I think of it.

Well I don't have to think about batteries, which was my number one criteria, since I have a collection of really nice watches which nolonger go and aren't possible, practical or economic to have the batteries replaced.

Because it is titanium, it's light and comfortable and I hardly notice it's on, which was my number two criteria. Added to that it seems to be very resilient, this is a bonus for someone as clumsy as me.

Also I don't have to worry about it being the right time when I look at it, because the radio updates work brilliantly. This was a nice to have, but I'm glad I got it now. It's particularly galling to a friend who has a kinetic watch which cost more than my car, weighs nearly as much and has to be adjusted too regularly for his liking. Not to mention having to have it overhauled every few years, for a small fortune.

As suggested I'd have bought a cheaper watch with less features but the same quality. Because of the functionality the watch face is too busy for my needs. But I think the dials make it look interesting, it is still a pretty watch which tells the time and date clearly. The other options on the market which satisfied my criteria don't have good reviews and didn't seem to offer the same quality and where still quite expensive. I simply don't want to have to buy another watch after this one. So I am very happy with the watch, but it loses one star for me because of the price. That said, it is Citizen and I'm told they are bomb proof so I might just come back and put that star back in ten years if it's still perfect and turns out to be good value after all.

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› See all 23 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

 

5.0 out of 5 stars So far so good
I am pleased I bought this Watch. It wasnt the exact Citizen I wanted but the titanium case made all the difference. Read more

Published 10 days ago by The Don

4.0 out of 5 stars Very well made and very light !
I have developed a liking for Citizen watches ... because they are extremely well made, good looking and good value. This model is no exception. Read more

Published 1 month ago by John H

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic piece of technology
I was considering to purchase this watch already sometime ago and now finally got good offer and I must say - I am very satisfied. Read more

Published 1 month ago by akalk

5.0 out of 5 stars Two years on and still fantastic.
My wife bought me this watch from Amazon two years ago and it has never failed to please in any way. I really struggle to find any negatives at all! Read more

Published 3 months ago by Mr. Ian Culley

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Timepiece
Citizen Men's Eco-Drive Skyhawk A-T Titanium Watch #JY0010-50E
Simply fantastic watch. I can only praise such a product. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Takis

5.0 out of 5 stars Eco Drive
I bought my watch on a British Airways flight back from Tokyo three years ago so I had the benefit of getting it duty-free. Since then it has continue to perform faultlessly. Read more

Published 7 months ago by Old Seadog

2.0 out of 5 stars 2nd Hand or maybe ex demo
Very poor quality sold as new clasp quite badly scratched

Could have bought it for a similar price elsewhere but trusted Amazon's quality, thought their sellers would... Read more

Published 8 months ago by Carlos of Wales

5.0 out of 5 stars What a watch !
Citizen Men's Eco-Drive Skyhawk A-T Titanium Watch #JY0010-50E

I had done extensive research on this watch before I bought this watch but nothing can prepare you for... Read more

Published 9 months ago by Mr. G. J. Perkins

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant timepiece!
Have had many watches in my time but this has to be the best! It looks good as well as doing everything you would want. Read more

Published 10 months ago by EricG

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent watch with a decent price
Prior to this watch, I had also a Citizen EcoDrive, the Blue Angel Limited edition. Unfortuntatelly, it was stolen. So I had to buy another one. Read more

Published 10 months ago by Valentin M.

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