New Watch - Citizen Eco Drive

[gnuyork]

In a couple past WRUW threads I've alluded to an incoming that is a little outside my usual choice (yet similar)... Behold, the Citizen Eco Drive Stiletto:







This is my first Citizen watch, and my first solar quartz watch, and though I have certainly heard of Eco Drive, it never really hit my radar until I saw Peter (Shameless) post a wrist shot of one, then Jeanine purchased a couple, so I went on the Citizen sight to see if anything piqued my interest... and yes, after looking through the site, this Stiletto model did for sure... It aligns with my typical dress watch conservative tastes, with it's simple dial and with (my favorite) Dauphine hands in a 38mm stainless steel case.

So why is it outside my wheelhouse? I'm generally not a fan of quartz, and never have been - nothing against it, just not my cup of tea, as I prefer mechanical watches in principle. However, I am actually intrigued by Eco Drive and I thought if I could get one for a reasonable price, I would try one out.

It's also my first blue dialed watch, well sort of. Earlier this year I purchased another Seiko Turtle - the blue dialed Save the Ocean edition... the blue dial was quite incredible, not VC Overseas incredible, but really great none the less... however... I had just earlier purchased the black dialed version, and it didn't feel right owning both, I felt it would take away from the enjoyment of either watch, so I returned the Save the Ocean begrudgingly (I didn't wear it, or remove the tags). Anyway, I saw this Stiletto in blue and thought it would make for a good first blue dialed watch even though my preference for dressy watches is silver (or white dials).







Specs say the movement is G872, which is a two hand movement. Ordinarily I would be put off by a watch without a seconds hand, but lately I'm coming around to the idea, and this is a gateway into higher end watches that do the same. - A. Lange Saxonia Thin, for example. Another reason I like no seconds hands on this watch is that one of the reasons I don't care for quartz is the seconds ticking rather than sweeping. On this quartz watch, problem solved. No seconds hand, a good thing.

The movement is accurate to +/- 20 seconds in a month, and having no seconds hand will make that harder to track, but I don't think I will really need to. It's likely the most accurate watch I own yet. The power reserve when fully charged is 6 months so this can easily sit for a while without worry, while I rotate through some of my other watches.







One thing that's very interesting is how thin the case is... Specs say 4.7mm and that's damn thin, and quite a selling point for me on an inexpensive quartz watch. The lugs are short and angle sharply down, rather than curving, giving a sort of contemporary style, while still looking classic in the sense that the dial and hands are very simple, no numerals, and most importantly, NO date! I'm not sure what the lug to lug is, but overall the proportions are ideal for my wrist.






The crystal is sapphire, but there's no AR coating and because of that, the dial doesn't always look blue, you have to get it in the right light, and even then the level of "blueness" is different depending on the angle and the quality of the light... For most of normal wearing, the dial appears very dark blue or even black, which I like. One thing is for sure, the watch dial looks nothing like the photos on the Citizen site which was a little bit of a letdown, but at the same time I kinda like the darker look, it's almost classier.













On the wrist, the Stiletto almost feels non existent, it's so light, and the proportions are nearly perfect on my wrist. If I had to find something to complain about, it would very easily be the strap - a real cheapo. The only thing good going for it, is that it's perfectly sized for my wrist, with the tail not sticking out too much or too little...just right. I'll likely reaplce it with something nicer one of these days, the trick, finding a strap nice enough, but also thin enough to not overpower the extremely thin case. Oh. And it's a 21mm lug width.



I think I chose well with the stainless steel cased blue dial, though I went back and fourth about some other options, like the rose gold toned black dial on black strap, and the black dialed version stainless on bracelet. Citizen also have a two toned white dial version, which I have not seen in the metal, but would be interested to see what the white dial looks like. In conclusion, I'm pretty happy about this one, with its simple dial, case proportions, and light weight., and finally a blue dial that I'm sticking with.

With that said, even though my grail watches are Patek, Lange, VC, etc, The Citizen Eco Drive 0100 in white gold released at Basel (last year?) really has my interest, and I would almost choose that one first (if In had the money) as I think it would be harder to get. Tough call between that and a Calatrava 5196 though. I'll keep dreaming

[CFR]

Clean, classy design.

Interesting how the market changes: when quartz became the default choice, in my part of the globe Citizen was the brand to have, while Seiko only managed - a far - second place. Meanwhile, their relative positions have changed. However, I still have a soft spot for Citizen and I believe they offer some excellent choices.

I'm sure you'll easily get used to the simple two hands - talking from experience. Besides, being a quartz, I agree that can be seen as an advantage.

Congrats and enjoy your new watch.

[happyscrappyheropup]

Congrats on the new arrival.

The longer I wear watches, the more I appreciate thin watches. Looks great.

-- Wayne

[shameless]

Great piece Joe and super images , hard to believe I may have been an influencer but if I was one in pointing you at CItizen I'm very pleased , This is a stunning watch btw , Eco drive and quartz are not on the radar of many until they get one and reap the rewards of relative small outlay , zero upkeep , super accuracy and in many cases as with this a very classy watch I think maybe it wont be your last buddy , terrific value for money brand

[rodia77]

Congrats buddy, it's a looker.

Specs say the movement is G872, which is a two hand movement.

I'd never noticed until you said it, which (to me) means the seconds hand is not needed, which means they made the right design choice. And as you said, the lack of 1s ticking comes a bonus.

[Greg]

Congrats, really nice eco drive.

[gnuyork]

Great piece Joe and super images , hard to believe I may have been an influencer but if I was one in pointing you at CItizen I'm very pleased ,

Indeed, Peter... you started it. Ha!

[iyonk]

Simply Gorgeous! luv it Joe and it really look great on your wrist... i know it is quartz, but quartz has so many pros also..
hopefully your Calatrava dream will come true... i sincerely hope so my friend..

[tribe125]

‘Two martinis after midnight’ - that’s the vibe.

I like the Stiletto, and quartz makes a lot of sense for a super-thin dress watch. Quartz is minimalist, in its way, and especially so when you don’t need to change the battery.

It might be the only slim dress watch you need, leaving more money for other watches.

[skywatch]

Nice watch! I have often looked at the Stiletto line, as I love the dimensions. If I remember correctly, all of them 10 years ago had a metal bracelet. It's great to see a model with a strap (even if it isn't the best, alas.) It looks like a great watch to wear everyday and never worry about, or a nice dress watch to wear when needed, and also never worry about. I have had quite a few Eco-Drives, and they all run beautifully, never a problem. (Although when there is a problem, it's usually the capacitor, and maybe a $20 swap, a bit more than a battery.)