Watch Wearing Wednesday: Citizen Weekender Eco-Drive Sport Watch

Sometimes a simple watch is the most wearable of watches.  My Citizen AR Weekender Eco-Drive Sport Watch is a simple pleasure to wear.  With hassle-free solar power, light weight, perfect proportions, and great style, this Weekender is a pleasure in every way.  I find it to be a very easy grab-n-go watch.  You can read my full review here on this blog.

The Citizen AR-series Weekender Eco-Drive Sport Watch

If you'd like to own one of these impressive everyday watches, you can find them here on Amazon.

Wristwatch Review : Citizen Weekender Men's Eco-Drive Sport Watch

For everyday wear, I often choose this Citizen Weekender Eco-Drive Men's sport watch (Model AW1585-55L).  It has a sophisticated look and is supremely  easy to read.  The perforations around the bezel subtly evoke thoughts of motorsports.  The watch is marketed in a sports watch line called Citizen AR for "Action Required."

Watch Dimensions:  This watch comes in at a sensibly pleasing size with a 45mm diameter case that is 12mm thick.  The lugs measure 22mm.  The band measures 222 mm.

Construction:  The watch is constructed of black ion-plated stainless steel with a mineral crystal.  It is rated for 100 meters of water resistance.  It's certainly rugged enough for day-to-day adventures.  The bezel does not rotate so it isn't useful for timing scuba dives or pizzas in the oven.

Technical Features:  The watch has a small date window, but no other complications.  That's probably good since my eyes are hard-pressed to pick up the nuances of complications sometimes.  Eco-Drive is the watches main technical selling point.  The watch continuously charges and, once fully charged, this watch will keep time for months in the darkness of a sock drawer.

Overall, this Citizen Weekender watch is a satisfying watch for daily wear.  I enjoy it as a no nonsense practical timepiece with great looks. 

[Update:  It looks like this watch has disappeared off of Amazon as of 2025, but you can still find similar or even better looking Citizen Eco-Drive weekender watches on Amazon here.]

Watch Review: Citizen Men's Quartz Stainless Steel Watch with Day/Date

As the Covid crisis stretches on and on, my opportunity to wear watches to work and other locations has declined. Yet, a few nice watches have still come my way.  For example, I chose this Citizen Stainless Steel watch to commemorate my fifth anniversary with my employer.  It has a cool silver-on-silver look that I've always found appealing.

 

The watch is nicely proportioned for a dress watch.  It has a case this just 8mm thick and a 38mm dial. It makes for an attractive watch that fits nicely under the cuffs of a dress shirt.  The silver-on-silver just looks competent and professional.  The watch is rated as water resistant to 50 meters or 165 feet.  So, it can bang around with most casual watches.

One aspect of this watch that isn't apparent from the Amazon description is that the bracelet achieves a two-tone affect by alternating flat brushed metal tone on the outside and an inner strip of highly polished metal.

This Citizen watch features a small but readable day and date window.

The etched clasp (shown above) is a nice touch and gives this watch a nicely finished look.  The 38mm dial diameter looks a little small on the wrist compared to some more casual watches.

Overall, it's nice to have a decent classic watch or two in your collection.  This Citizen Stainless Steel Watch with Day & Date is perfect for almost any occasion.

[Update:  It's getting hard to find classic Citizen watches like this anymore.  However, I did find one that comes close here on Amazon.]

Wristwatch Review: Citizen Stainless Steel Chronograph

For Christmas, I received this Citizen Stainless Steel Chronograph watch as a gift.  It's a great looking watch and my wife got a great sale price on it online from Belk.com.

The Citizen Stainless Steel Chronograph Quartz Watch Under Christmas Lights

Citizen Watch Design.  The Citizen Stainless Steel Chronograph has a silver-tone stainless steel case and bracelet with deployment clasp.  The design uses contrasting flat and shiny finishes to add interest.  The dial is white and very readable.  The case diameter is a manly 46 millimeters and the watch is 12 millimeters thick.  The watch is hefty, but I don't find it overly heavy at 5.6 ounces.  This watch is dressy enough to wear to an office and look quite respectable.

Citizen Chronograph Function.  This watch is actually very useful as a stopwatch. The third hand that is traditionally a second hand on most watches is a stop watch hand on this chronometer.  The sweeping second hand is confined to the subdial located at 6 o'clock.  The subdial at 3 o'clock provides the hour on the 24-hour clock.  The sub-dial at 9 o'clock provides elapsed minutes up to 60 on the stopwatch.  While some watches try to take care of all the chronograph functions with subdials, this Citizen uses a big hand that allows you to see what you are doing when you use it as a stopwatch.

My Citizen Stainless Steel Chronograph has a vintage Kodak moment

Citizen Watch Construction.  With 100 meters of water resistance, a mineral crystal, and stainless steel case, I feel that this watch is solidly constructed and certainly up to all the uses I would find for it.  For example, fried green tomatoes are no match for this solid Citizen.

My Citizen Stainless Steel Chronograph with Fried Green Tomatoes

The only drawback to this watch is that it isn't an Eco-drive model.  However, it is a great looking quartz timepiece and it is attractively priced.  Overall, I really like this Citizen watch for being rugged, readable, and good looking.  It's my definite go-to watch for daily wear.

Holiday Gift Ideas: Citizen Eco-Drive Watches

When you give a watch as a gift, you like for it to have some special characteristics that make it unique.  But, when you can't fly to some exclusive watch maker in Geneva for a timepiece, you can find yourself in a pickle.  On our more affordable middle class plane of existence, many people turn to respected watchmakers like Citizen.  The Citizen Eco-Drive watch is a special watch.  It's a watch that can liberate its wearer from the tedious chore of changing batteries.  The Citizen Eco-Drive line of watches has one of the most sophisticated solar power plants in the world of horology.  Once charged, a Citizen Eco-Drive watch can run for six months in the dark.

My first Citizen Eco-Drive was called "Drive by Citizen" or some such marketing thing.  I'm wearing it as I type.  I've had it for just over a year now and it is still going strong.  The leather band remains soft and supple and the styling is masculine and appropriate for any situation.  You can read my full review of the Drive by Citizen watch here.


My second Citizen Eco-Drive watch is this classic design that obviously draws inspiration from the vintage Citizen watches of the past.  It's a great watch to wear to the office and looks great with khakis.  There is nothing to indicate that this is a solar watch, but it can run for six months in a dark sock drawer.  You can read my complete review of this stainless steel Citizen Eco-Drive watch here.

Drive By Citizen - Reviewing my New Citizen Eco-Drive Watch

I recently posted about my new Citizen Eco-Drive watch.  Now, the official review has been published.  I've always been fascinated by Citizen's seamless integration of solar technology and a quartz watch movement.  When you look at a Citizen Eco-Drive watch, you really don't see an obvious solar cell.  Instead, you see an accurate watch that never needs batteries.  I was fortunate to receive this Drive by Citizen watch for my fifteenth wedding anniversary.

Citizen Eco Drive Watch

The dial of this watch is cool because it can appear black or silver--like a mirror. 

Drive by Citizen

 If you charge it up for a day, a Citizen Eco-Drive watch should be good for 6 months of continuous operation even in the dark.  But, the manual recommends letting it charge in lamplight or sunlight about once a month.

Drive by Citizen

I really like the technology, the understated masculine style of this watch, and the comfortable leather strap.

You can read a complete review of my new Citizen Eco-Drive Watch here:

Wristwatch Review:  Drive by Citizen Men's Black Ion Plated Eco-Drive Strap Watch

Citizen Watches for Christmas

C has a new meaning in my watch collection.  I recently received my first Citizen watch as an anniversary present.  This Citizen Eco-Drive watch is a great looking timepiece with high tech wizardly within the case.  But, it's even nicer as a gift from my wife to commemorate our 15th wedding anniversary.  This watch is also called "Drive by Citizen."

Here is a picture of my new Citizen Eco Drive watch that I took way down yonder on the Chattahoochie river.

The watch is solar powered and never needs batteries.  It also has a black ion plated case, a comfortable leather band, a date window, and a high degree of water resistance (100 meters).

The dial is black and silver.  It's interesting because at some angles it will appear black and at others it can appear silver.  I like this watch because it uses various shades of black to create a very masculine design that is not necessarily military.  The watch is also understated and refined enough for office wear.  It has a sensible 44 millimeter diameter case and it doesn't exude an attitude of excess and bling.  Instead, the design of this watch sends a message of strength and no nonsense technical competence.  I like it a lot. You can read my complete review here -

Wristwatch Review:  Drive by Citizen Men's Black Ion Plated Eco-Drive Strap Watch

If you'd like one just like it, they are available on Amazon.com at pretty good prices.