Watch Review: Citizen Eco-Drive Black Ion-Plated Axiom Watch

This summer, I received an interesting watch for my birthday.  It's a beautiful watch that sits right on the border between fashion and practicality.  It's a Citizen Eco-Drive Black Ion-Plated Axiom Watch.

Photo from Amazon

If you like black, this Citizen Axiom watch is your watch.  It's a black watch with a black bracelet, a black case, a black  dial, and black hands.  As the recipient of this watch, my main question was:

Can I read black hands against a black dial?

The answer is a definite sometimes.  First you have to acknowledge that this watch is totally useless at night.  If it's dark, you won't be able to read this watch.  However, if you are in the sunshine or indoors in a room with artificial light, you should be able to read the hands.

Citizen Eco-Drive Axiom Watch Dimensions

This watch has comfortable dress watch dimensions with a 40mm diameter case.  The band is a masculine 23mm wide and the case is 8mm thick.

Citizen Eco-Drive Axiom Watch Construction

The Citizen Eco-Drive Black Ion-Plated Axiom Watch is ruggedly constructed for a dress watch.  It has a stainless steel fold-over clasp, a stainless steel bracelet, and a stainless steel case.  The dial is protected by a mineral crystal.

Citizen Eco-Drive Power

The watch uses a quartz movement powered by the Citizen's venerable Eco-Drive system.  With a full charge, this solar watch will run for six months in total darkness.  This makes it a very long lasting solar watch.  You can leave it in your sock drawer for a long time.  I suspect that Eco-Drive watches will eventually take over my watch collection.  I simply love the idea of never having to change a watch battery.

Overall Review

I really like this watch as a dress watch for work and social function.  Since this Axiom watch is not as easily readable as some of my military-style watches, I generally reserve this one for bright days, work at the office, or for special occasions.  It's an interesting watch to add to your collection.  You won't find a blacker watch around!

[Update:  In fact, I no longer see a complete black-on-black Citizen Axiom watch on Amazon.  As of 1/6/2024, Amazon does list a Citizen Axiom Watch with white hands.]

Wristwatch Review: Citizen's Stainless Steel Eco-Drive Dress Watch

For Christmas in 2015, my wife got me a very nice Citizen Eco-Drive dress watch.  It goes by the catchy name - Model BM7193-07B.  It's a great addition to my watch collection and will never need batteries.

Citizen Eco-Drive Dress watch

Style.  This men's Citizen Eco-Drive is a beautiful watch with classic retro-styling.  If you search vintage men's watch or vintage Citizen watch and look for images, it won't be long before you come across watches that look much like this one.  Vintage Citizen dress watches typically had the double baton at 12 o'clock and regular batons to denote the hours.  The cursive script on the classics was typically centered below the hands at 6 o'clock and described the number of jewels in the mechanical movement.  A vintage Citizen typically has a date window surrounded by a gold tone box and this Eco-Drive as well.  This watch even has a domed crystal.  The dial is white, but I'd almost call it an off-white or parchment white.  It's not a bright white.  At a contemporary 40 millimeters, the case diameter is probably a little larger than the classics.  It is dress watch thin at 10 millimeters thick.  I find the size just right for a dress watch.  Even though this watch is thoroughly futuristic on the inside, it is still connected to a long line of great Citizen watches.  For that, I give extra style points.

The strap is crocodile-embossed leather and long enough to fit my wrists comfortably.  At first, it was a little stiff, but it is comfortable and looks pretty good.  I like the Citizen label on the buckle to help differentiate this watch from lesser brands.  In this price category, these little touches are expected.  If I was the designer of this watch, I think I would also put some sort of inscription (perhaps a 'C') on the crown.

Construction.  This watch has a gold-tone stainless steel case, stainless caseback, and a scratch-resistant mineral crystal.  The watch is water resistant to 99 feet if you stumble into a pool or water feature while texting about important business matters.  Overall, this watch seems pretty well constructed.

Movement.  This watch has a Japanese quartz movement and is powered by Citizen Eco-Drive technology.  After a day of charging, it can keep time for a very, very, long time.  (See my post The Citizen Eco-Drive and the Sock Drawer). After a full day of charging, this watch should keep time for six months.  Despite the high tech power, this watch does not have any design features that appear to be a solar cell at all.  It is perhaps the most subtle of sun-powered watches.

Overall, I really like this Citizen Eco-Drive dress watch.  It is perfect for the office and other events.  The brown band and rose gold-tone are the perfect style for such settings.  It's not a big watch that beats you over the head with pizazz.  Instead, it's a refined, cultured, design that fits into a long line of great Citizen watches.  Perhaps, this business-like watch is a solid Citizen.