CitizenMen's Classic Eco-Drive Leather Strap Watch, 3-Hand DateLeather Working Group

My first citizen watch and very happy with my decision to go with a simple and classic dress watch. I always switch to this watch from my others when I’m home and finished with my day. Had this for a while now and had to change the compensator out when it stopped working after the first year. Try to keep it in some sort of light to keep it charged.

I generally stick with stainless steel bands, but when this watch was offered at a sale price, I couldn't resist. This piece has a very classy look, and definitely draws comments from curious lookers. The solar forever aspect makes winding or batteries completely forgettable, not to mention saying goodbye to all maintenance costs. The leather band is stiff at first, but breaks in soon enough.If you can snag this piece on sale - it will easily fit into your watchware lineup...!!!

100% satisfied. This watch looks great, like a far more expensive watch. A good buy and value for me.

I chose this watch over another, similar Citizen with a standard battery. I figured if I ended up not liking it, I’d just return it and get the other one. However, I’ve decided I LOVE the look of this watch. The photos really don't do it justice ... it looks a lot nicer “live.”Take the time to learn about Citizen’s “Eco-drive.”I saw a few reviews from people who complained the watch didn't work right for them. Don’t know what that’s about, but Citizen has been making watches for about a hundred years, and I’m pretty sure they aren’t sending out many that “don’t work right.” I’m also sure they’ll immediately replace any new watch that turns out to be defective in ANY way. I suspect these reviewers never bothered to go online and read/understand all the instructions for the “Eco-drive,” and/or fully charge the watch before they started using it for the first time.For example, when the watch is low on power, it starts moving at two second intervals to tell the user it needs charging. That’s what mine was doing when I first took it out of its container, and if I hadn’t bothered to educate myself on this feature of the watch, I might also have thought at first that the watch was defective.The watch doesn’t come with any full, written instructions ... you have to go online to find/read them. When you do, you’ll learn that in order to “fully charge” the power cell in an Eco-drive the first time, you have to put the watch under a continuous light source for a pretty long time: direct sunlight: 11 HOURS; cloudy sky, 40 HOURS; 30W flourescent light, at distance of 8 inches, 130 HOURS. Once you’ve done that, the watch will then remain properly charged/working right on much shorter periods of light exposure (as pretty much everyone expects these watches to do). If you don’t do that, it will keep draining quickly, performing poorly, etc.It was cloudy and late in the day when mine arrived at my house, so I decided to start by leaving the watch under an LED desk lamp overnight (probably more juice than a 30W flourescent), and then in direct sunlight for about 8 hours the following day. After that, the watch worked flawlessly.Once I finished the initial charging, I set it very precisely against the clock on my computer, and checked it the following day (e.g., after being in the dark overnight), and found it to be exactly on time, to the second. When properly charged, I think this watch will keep time as well as any other watch out there with a Japanese quartz movement. Citizen movements are “industry standard” for most quality watches claiming a “Japan movement,” with accuracy ratings of around +/- 20 seconds a month.“Don’t make me get the strap ...”Some other reviewers have mentioned that the strap that comes with the watch looks cheap, but it isn’t really. It’s a “Citizen” strap, made in Thailand, “genuine leather” with the softer, top grain stuff on the inside; seems pliable and nicely finished to me, and a good cosmetic match for the watch. But if you wear the watch a lot, particularly in humid conditions, and/or if the skin on your wrist perspires a lot, you’ll probably need a replacement strap before too long.However, here’s the rub. If your wrist is 8 inches or more around (mine’s right around that, and this strap *just* fits at its maximum width), this band probably won’t comfortably fit you, and its 21mm width at the point where it connects to the watch is an oddball size for which very few decent replacement options are available. Citizen does not make an “extra long” replacement for the band they provide with this watch, and it literally took me days of searching before I finally found a “not-as-good” replacement band on E-bay that didn’t cost a fortune.The main “thing” with this watch is just making sure it sees enough daylight to keep the power system healthy. Just wearing the watch on a regular basis should do the trick for most users. However, if you typically wear your watch under the cuff of a long-sleeved shirt or jacket, you’ll probably want to take it off and put it under direct sunlight for a few hours once a week or so, just to make sure the power cell is regularly getting enough good back-up charges.TMK, Citizen was the first watch maker to mass produce a solar-powered wristwatch, and I’m guessing that by this time, they’ve made and sold more of them than any other manufacturer on planet Earth, so their “Eco-drive” system is probably as good as it gets for this price. It’s a “gimmicky” technology, with the same set of quirks/issues found in all “solar” stuff, but I still like it, and I’m glad I got this watch. It looks sharp, keeps good time; I can now brag that MY watch is “greener” than YOURS; I like the fact that it’ll run a VERY long time without needing a battery replacement, and I’m sure it will provide more than enough years of trouble-free service to justify its relatively modest cost.[P.S. to original review ... after about a week of checking the watch against the clock on my computer, I noted that it's creeping a little faster, probably around a half-second every 24 hours. So after a month of running, it should be around 15 seconds faster than the original set time ... within the published margin of error for Citizen "Miyota" quartz movements: +/- 20 seconds per month. Works for me ... still love the watch, and don't mind having to occasionally re-synchronize it. Anyone who wants/needs a timepiece more exact than that should spend the extra $$ on one of those atomic/radio-controlled jobs ...]

Very nice looking and great quality.

Beautiful watch. I replaced the brown leather band with a full quill ostrich band; looks fantastic. Watch is very easy to set, we'll see when next month comes around if I got the day right. A nice affordable dress watch.

Queda muy elegante! No es muy grande, y es cómodo!

I vacillated between the gold face with brown strap and the blue face with black strap. I ended up deciding to go more conservative/traditional (gold face/brown strap) and am so happy with my choice. (But I will probably get the blue/black as well, because it's even less expensive at the current price.)My other dressier watch is an older Seiko (silver with some gold trim and metal band) with a dial that is much smaller than my new Citizen. But I find the size of my new Citizen watch to be perfect: not too small, but not too big (I would never want or need a big faced watch, because I don't scuba dive, etc., which is the only time I imagine one would need such a big dial).I was concerned with all the negative comments about the strap being too stiff and too short. I did not find this to be the case for me. I believe my wrists are average width for a guy (maybe a bit narrower???) and the strap fits perfectly. (Plus, I would never want one too long, as it would loop around and back up, and thus make it too tight for a long sleeve shirt to cover the watch.) The strap is a bit stiff, but this is because it is thick and of high quality leather. (I would always prefer this over a thin nylon strap, which to me, makes the watch look cheap regardless of the price of the watch.) And I know that just like a leather belt, eventually it will soften and mold to my wrist. So a non-issue to me. Plus, I wore it all day at work yesterday (office job) and didn't even notice it was on my wrist. It's very comfortable even brand new with no breaking in period.Not only was I not sure what color to get, but I also hesitated with the price. My Seiko was a present. After that, I have been pretty much a loyal Timex guy. But I am totally satisfied with my new Citizen watch and what I paid for it. This is a high-quality and comfortable watch which I plan to use for many years.