CitizenMen's Promaster Dive Eco-Drive Watch, 3-Hand Date, Polyurethane Strap, ISO Certified, Anti-Reflective Curved Crystal, Screw-Back Case and Crown
T**S
Built like a tank & worth every penny on sale
The "Ecozilla" (as this model of Citizen watch is informally called) is a big burly beast. The steel case has a 48mm diameter and 19mm height, with a 29mm band width: truly monstrous dimensions. But it's not too heavy given the size and thickness of the case/crystal, so your arm won't drag or leave you complaining too much about the mass (at least in my opinion -- this is subjective of course). The mineral crystal is clear with no significant distortion, but with a thickness of 6mm it's more bulletproof than probably any other watch you own. The unidirectional 60-click bezel is situated entirely within the diameter of the case, so to turn it you must press down from the top rather than grab it by the edge -- a bonus because you're much less likely to move the bezel by accident. The markers, chapter ring and bezel are perfectly aligned, unlike most of the new Seiko divers which have notorious alignment problems (just google "Seiko misalignment" and you'll see what I mean). Citizen's high torque Japanese-made B873 quartz movement oscillates at 32,768Hz and is solar powered with a six-month power reserve when fully charged, and two warning functions, the first indicating low power that doesn't affect timekeeping, and the second indicating low power that does affect time-keeping. Second hand alignment is about 95% perfect around the dial, but literally every Ecozilla I've seen has a few dial positions where the second hand slightly retrogrades off alignment before advancing to the next pip on the chapter ring. This appears to be a consequence of the high torque and very robust movement design, and is not due to loose hands, damage or poor quality control. After all, this watch is rated for saturation diving in a helium-rich environment up to 300m, or almost 1/6 of a mile below the surface of the ocean. Accuracy is rated at +/- 15 seconds/month at 41°-95°F, with an operational temperature range of 14°-140°F, but mine runs only about 3 seconds fast per month. The lume on all three hands, plus the hour markers and bezel 0 index is good -- not as bright as a Seiko but sufficient for diving. The florescent-outlined minute hand is especially highly visible. My only complaint is the common one with many watches these days that don't have a "cyclops" magnifier bubble over the date window: "the date display is too small," which is fairly trivial as it just takes an extra second or two to focus your eyes and read it. With this baby on your wrist you won't have to worry about your watch failing for just about any reason -- it really is the Ecozilla, a solar-powered marine monster dominating all comers! Best of all is when it's on sale for under $200 new. Highly recommended!
E**H
Purchased Used-Like New and saved a few hundred!!
Purchased this watch as used-like new for $355 and change and it was exactly that, unboxing had all the Citizen original packaging, the only thing missing was the hang tag, but otherwise perfect. Citizen has this watch on their site for $595 and currently on sale for $446 and change, so overall I am very happy with the purchase. The best part about saving this much money on another quality Citizen Professional Diver (have the green on green EcoZilla too) is that if it's not as advertised, you can send it back ... this one has a permanent in my watch case. The watch was completely dead on arrival, but less than a minute after exposing it to light, the second hand started the 2-second tick indicating a low battery and under bright light, it wasn't long before it was operating normally. Setting was a breeze and 12-hours later it is still running to the second with the Atomic reference ... all that to say, while Amazon has some great pricing, check out the Used Like-New when available. Highly recommend this watch series ...
J**Y
THE ULTiMATE iN CLASSiC BiG HONKiN ULTRA COOL DiVERS: THE HOCKEY PUCK
i've wanted one of these for a long time, and it may have satisfied my need for any more watches. admittedly, i've already purchased some 50 amazing dive watches, so that's part of the reason, but this is such a satisfying 'hockey puck' (as it's called) for someone in love with giant legit dive watches, that it may be all i've ever needed. and if that's your thing, maybe you too. as a review, we already know it's huge, however because of there being no lugs, it wears shockingly well for such a huge watch (i'm a 7" wrist). while heavy and 18mm thick, it balances and sits quite well, if that's a concern. as for everything else, it's all good (as they say). no bezel alignment issues with this or any Citizen as with one other infamous Japanese powerhouse brand. in fact everything is superbly and accurately built and put together. the lume is stunning and equal to first class anywhere. the bezel is what diver nuts dream about: locked in, no backplay, perfectly aligned. that strap is a stiff one, like none other. but since this is foremost a world class diver, the strap qualifies as that and will after a half-dozen wearings conform to your wrist as if molded. personally i love the slight dome on the crystal, and in true diver fashion it is mineral glass to prevent shattering for use as a pro-diver. the bezel is one of the most enjoyable to dial, and even the 60 clicks are a joy...who needs 120. the only issue i should mention is one common to all quartz: the secs hand hitting the markers right on. after fully charged i've found it does one of the better quartz movement jobs of nailing markers...this one hitting right on virtually 100% of the time after a day of being charged (was hitting a little off, but after more of a charge it's amazing). Citizen is one of the best in this dept, tho i did need to return one of these (the yellow strap) a year ago over that issue. thankfully that wasn't the case here as i fell in love with this out the box. speaking of which, given that this was first offered in 2013, it's truly 'vintage'. not sure when this one was made, but it barely had a charge from being in the box. once sunlight hit it, it have a 2sec/2single sec movement, which means it had totally lost it's charge. after research i found when that happens, to charge it with the crown fully out for at least a minute, then if wanted you can keep charging with it in. that tells the watch to reset, and it will begin going in the normal undercharged 2sec intervals. at that point it was so low it took 10 hours under a fluorescent light to get to one sec intervals, and another few hours as well to hit the markers spot on. i've found that with solar watches, if they're low charged, even if not 2sec intervaling, they tend to be slightly less accurate on the markers (clearly an issue with me). Citizens are scads better at quartz/marker accuracy than that other Japanese maker, but the only quartz watches i've found to literally nail the markers with the sec hand are very high end: the $600 Citizen satellite controlled solar diver and the $1800 ($2700 retail) solar diver...both of which i have. do note, i love this $325 Citizen every bit as much as those, and it indeed has just as much wrist presence or more.
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